PEACE IV - Townhall Cavan Project facilitated by Marie Smith.
Exhibition on Culture Night, 20 September 2019 at Townhall Arts Space Cavan, 8.30pm
Download the project information (pdf) here »
A Day in the Life of a Border Town
The project began as Cavan artist Marie Smith responded to a request for quotation by Cavan Arts Office for a visual arts project to be realised during the Summer and showcased on Culture Night 2019. Workshops with 15 participants took place at The Bridge Street Centre, Cavan over 26 hours. As a figurative sculptor, Marie designed the project to give participants the opportunity to make sculptures in clay, which were glazed and fired into ceramic.
The Project Brief
The project brief was to explore the legacy of peace in our border area and the wider positive implications for culture, social and economic stability and to celebrate the journey of this work since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
The artist and participants held group discussions on the lived experience and remembrance of Cavan during the Troubles and before the Good Friday Agreement taking note of the past, where we are today and how life in a border town has changed.
The Project - Part 1
For the first part of our project, each participant made a figurative piece of sculpture thinking about the theme. Some are reflective, but all are positive showing resilience, standing together in a group with heads held high and looking to the future. The ideas explored included tolerance, integration, solidarity, hope, multicultural communities, embracing diversity, memories, peace of mind in everyday/ordinary lives - family, friendship, sports and music.
Article by Thomas Lyons - The Anglo-Celt - 5th September 2019
Download The Anglo Celt article (pdf) here »
Images of the clay figures in progress
The Project - Part 2
The second part of the project involved looking at the freedom of movement we enjoy today. Open roads and rivers, borders which were never respected by animals who could always cross freely. We wanted to celebrate the creativity and freedom of expression at Townhall Arts Space Cavan and in doing so to find creative ways in which we could cross a border - birds in boats, flying fish (hot air balloon) water flowing freely, the enjoyment of travelling and theatrical characters. These pieces of sculpture were worked on collaboratively and during the process local stories and experiences influenced some of the artworks.
Images of the border crossing works in progress
Some of the stories behind the artworks
The lady holds a small rose in both hands. The rose is a fragile culmination of the thorny growth within her. This represents all the suffering and struggles through the troubles. Out of the thorns a fragile rose is held. Roses are fragile and must be cared for and nurtured or there will be no future flowering.
A full basket of fruits signifies a bountiful harvest and is considered a symbol of joy and happiness. This also brings people together as they share and enjoy the fruits. The young woman represents the African youth growing up in Ireland. They carry the weight of the history of their ancestors, but rather than pain and sorrow, they celebrate with pride because they have been given the chance to have lives full of peace.
"What's in the boot?" A question drivers would often be asked at checkpoints in the past. Rabbits are common in the border areas and would freely hop from side to side. The magicians rabbit represents the contraband that smugglers might have wanted to disappear when asked “What’s in the boot?”!!
The group of ceramic figures on display at the newly refurbished Townhall Arts Centre Cavan on Culture Night 2019
Facilitator Marie Smith
“The first part of the project involved each participant working on an individual artwork. It was a serious process which made everyone reflect on where we have come from and on what we hold dear today.
In the second part of the project the participants explored the freedom of movement we have and we wanted to express this in a fun, creative way. We also wanted to celebrate the re-opening of Townhall Arts Space Cavan and all of the creativity that happens in this place.
Artworks were made collaboratively and it was wonderful to see the participants embrace the opportunity to work together. By letting go of ownership and control, becoming less possessive of the works and understanding that we all wanted to achieve the same goal. This led to wonderful outcomes of shared ideas and creative expression. It also made for better friendships and a greater enjoyment of the experience”
Participant Chris O’Brien
"The project gave a good insight into what others had experienced living on the border and gave everyone the opportunity to reflect upon this time and the changes/progress we have made.
The art process which we were facilitated through gave me similar insights. I was particularly struck by how we were encouraged to let others work on some of our pieces. I found this particularly useful as it reflected the process of peace which also involved letting go of previous ideals and trying to have total control of the outcome. It involved trusting that we were all similarly involved and working towards the same end. The results were far greater than I could have imagined"
Participant Idara Udo
"I have gained a deeper understanding of how much progress Ireland has made, and how easy it is to forget the bigger picture in the day-to-day life"
Participant Niamh Creamer
"The project itself was fun and the project leader showed the same spirit as those who looked at how to move Peace forward. Let's focus on the challenges, don't think about what we can't do and focus on what we want to achieve"
We would like to sincerely thank our funders PEACE IV and Cavan County Council for this opportunity. The restoration of Townhall Cavan is a Cavan County Council initiative supported by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht through the Arts and Culture Capital Scheme and with Small Peace IV Capitol support.
The project participants:
Christine O'Brien
Clare Chamberlain
Colleen Quinn
Cornelia Stuart
Elizabeth Weir
Idara Udo
Jenine Smith
Jo Maher
Mary Leonard
Niamh Creamer
Oonagh Gaffney
Roisin Fegan
Sinead O'Reilly
Susan Caffrey
Veronica Smith
Special thanks to:
Our funders, PEACE IV and Cavan County Council
Catriona O'Reilly and Narissa Cosgrove - Cavan Arts Office
Joey Burns
Shane Carroll
Thomas Lyons - The Anglo Celt
The Bridge Street Centre, Cavan
This project has been supported by the EU’s PEACE IV Programme, managed by the SEUPB
Many thanks to Dimitry Germanov at Jago Studio for these photos of the exhibition.
