A Public Seminar with Nessa Cronin and the X-PO mapping group

A Public Seminar on Community Mapping

with the X-PO Mapping Group

and Nessa Cronin  

on Monday 1^st Oct…. 8 – 10pm.

In the Gallery

Dr. Nessa Cronin, Lecturer and Co-Director, MA in Irish Studies

In 2003 Nessa Cronin did her doctoral research in Irish Studies at NUI Galway. Her doctoral thesis, The Eye of History: Spatiality and Colonial Cartography in Ireland (2007), focuses on the visual and linguistic construction of the modern Irish map through a critical examination of four key moments in Irish cartographic history.

Research interests:

My work is concerned with the interdisciplinary study of issues relating to the social, cultural and political production of space and place in Irish society. Research from my doctoral work centred on the visual and linguistic construction of the modern Irish map, through a critical examination of four key moments in Irish cartographic history. My current research project on Irish Literary Geographies is embedded within the Ómós Áite and Mapping Spectral Traces research networks and seeks to critically examine the role and importance of place and regionalism in contemporary Irish culture and society. This engages with questions as to how individual and national identities, cultures and communities, ground themselves and construct their sense of place in a world that is becoming increasingly globalised, contested, and is sometimes perceived as being ‘placeless’.

 Nessa Cronin

 The seminar will take place in the Gallery where the Exhibition ‘The Full Story? Is currently showing.

Nessa Cronin Selected Publications


‘Ireland after Tara?: National Legacies and Changing Landscapes of Celtic Tiger Ireland’, in Ireland: Myth and Reality, edited by Irene Gilsenan Nordin, Reimagining Ireland Series (forthcoming, Berlin: Peter Lang, 2012).

‘Geographies of Hunger: Colonialism and the Political Economy of An Gorta Mór’, Dialogues in Human Geography (forthcoming, 2012).

‘Lived and Learned Geographies: Literary Landscapes and the Irish Topographical Tradition’, in Irish Contemporary Landscapes in Literature and the Arts, pp. 106-118 edited by Marie Mianowski (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).

‘“The Sea of Orality”: An Introduction to Orality and Modern Irish Culture’, Nessa Cronin, Seán Crosson, John Eastlake, Anáil an Bhéil Bheo: Orality and Modern Irish Culture, edited by Nessa Cronin, Seán Crosson and John Eastlake (Newcastle-Upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2009), pp. 3-14.

‘Gaining Ground and Mapping Time: A Cartographic Response to William J. Smyth’s, Map-making, Landscapes and Memory: A Geography of Colonial and Early Modern Ireland’, Journal of Historical Geography, 2008, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 148-52.

“Disciplinary Ghettoes”: Irish Studies and Interdisciplinary Negotiations’, Journal of Nordic Irish Studies Network, 2007, Vol. 6, pp. 1-16.

The Full Story?

The Full Story?

Tracing Kilinaboy Townlands

The X-PO Mapping Group

Brendan Beakey, John Kelleher,

Deirdre O’Mahony, Francis Whelan, Sean Whelan

Sept 28^th – Oct 25th

Official opening by Fr. Denis Crosby on Friday 28^th Sept. at 8pm

The Mapping Group have been meeting on a weekly basis from September to May since the X-PO space opened in 2007. During that time they have traced the history of human occupancy as shown on maps, in documents and in the ruins of houses, ‘cabhails’ and castles of Killinaboy Parish. The present exhibition represents the culmination of their research; a combined re-presentation of documentation of the names of the householders of Killinaboy Parish for the past 150 years approx. These names are sourced from the Griffith Valuation sheets of 1855, the subsequent cancelled Valuation Sheets and from local knowledge and folklore. The names provided may be the owners, occupiers or rated occupiers. In its combined form the exhibition marks an important stage in the group’s research into the townlands of Killinaboy.

 

There will be a Public Seminar in the Courthouse Gallery on Community Mapping with the X-PO Mapping Group and Dr Nessa Cronin, (NUIG) on Monday 1^st Oct., 8 – 10pm

This exhibition has been kindly supported by the NUIG Centre for Irish Studies, GMIT, X-PO and  Clare County Arts Office.

In The Red Couch Space

THE MARK OF EDEN

An exhibition of paintings 

by Grace O’Sullivan

Sept 28 - Oct 25

Offical opening Friday Sept 28th at 8pm            

Ever wondered why the apple is such a strong symbol in our society… the Garden of Eden has a lot to answer for.

The story of Adam and Eve establishes a way of thinking about gender that advocates disparity and has left its mark globally on gender identity down through the ages. This way of thinking is encoded into society’s psyche so long now, that we can hardly identify the effect it has had on meaning, particularly what it means to be male or female.

Agreement is reached by consensus as to the meaning of ourselves and the things around us, and the meaning is continuously changing. The self is not absolute or fixed but is constructed over time through the repetition of visuals and words. The basic structure of the self is set down in childhood through observation. These observations build up an impression of how we should behave and where we fit in the power structures that form the glue of society. As we mature, this basic structure is continuously reinforced or challenged by what we see and hear every day.

This new exhibition of work is a result of a combination of the artist’s interest in the power of visual representation and religious belief systems, as well as a fascination with signs and symbols, myths and illusion which are important elements in the work to create layers of meaning. At the core of the exhibition is the argument that by portraying groups repeatedly in a certain way, either positively or negatively, the group may be sufficiently influenced to behave accordingly. The work is an attempt to interject in the everyday, causing the viewer to consider, question and reflect.

                                                   Grace          O’Sullivan graduated from the Limerick School of Art and Design in 2006 with a BA in Graphic Design and this training is evident in her painting where the idea is everything and colour palette is minimalist. She went on to complete an MA at MIC/University of Limerick in Media and Communication in 2008. Her MA thesis was an analysis of newspaper visuals and was presented at the International Communication Association Conference in Chicago in May 2009. This study has had an enormous influence on her photography and painting. Grace has exhibited work in group shows throughout Ireland and had her first solo show last year in The Ivy House in Dublin.

Friday 21st Sept.  in the gallery - free event

Culture Night / Film Night

7pm

Fungie 4 min

Fungie…as Gaeilge

 Filmed and edited by Carles Casasin

Loophead Studio

Twilight 2000 -7 min

Filmed and directed by Naoimi Wilson

In TWILIGHT we are drawn into a magical world where discarded objects and beach debris take on a life of their own. A flotsam and jetsam fairy dance is disturbed and all hell breaks loose. Beautifully filmed using real objects with a complex textural soundtrack.

Rehy Fox 2002 -6.5 min

Adapted from a tale told by Marty Keane from West Clare

Directed and animated by Naoimi Wilson

Sound and music by Brian Doyle

An ancient tale from the Loop Head peninsula about a fox who outwits all those around him. Told in drawings made of local sand

Among Strangers 2005 -11 min

Director/Writer/Animator – Naoimi Wilson

Producer Nessa King, Metropopitan Films

On a beach in the 1920's a young boy sneaks into an old fisherman's hut and encounters the magical world of the 'selchie' or grey atlantic seal. Based on a true story and told in drawings made of beach sand - the place where the world of the land meets the world of the sea...

An Cailleach Bheara 2007-  8 min

Director/Writer/Editor –Naoimi Wilson

Cailleach Bhearra was dependent on this one thing... every 100 years she must return to the water, for as soon as ever she bathed herself, her youth was renewed and she became again a young girl... filmed using pixilation and time lapse techniques with large puppets on location... treated to look like old scratched footage, AN CAILLEACH BHÉARRA attempts a poetic treatment of an ancient myth...

Sphere – 3.12min

Hoji Tsuchiya

A man working in office and he going to travel during the his work time.

Also another animation piece by Hoji Tsuchiya

Animation Works

Tides of Change - 25 min

'Casadh na Taoide' / 'Tides of Change'  by Ken O'Sullivan 

 from theTG4 series called 'Farraigí na hÉireann' -   Sea Fever Productions

 The film is 25 minutes long and examines the changing nature of our relationship with the sea and it’s creatures from the original subsistence coast folk of 9,000 years ago and the traditions they have handed down, to the ‘super-trawler’ fishing fleet and the current state of our oceans

Break….

at 8.30pm

Lay There Little Baby  - 8 mins.

Lay There Little Baby'  film with Paddy Mulcahy.  

Fergus Tighe 

Gallivanting Media

West Cork -5 min

West Cork is set at St. Gobnait’s monastic site and is based on the poem West Cork - Gobnaits' Bed ; Rag Tree ; Holy Well  by the late Seán Dunne

Filmed and edited by Carles Casasin

Voice and original soundtrack by Mick O'Riordan

Produced by Tony Kirby of Kilnaboy

Ollie Age Seven - 2.30 min

'Ollie Age Seven'.a film by James Skerritt 

 This is a short film about surfer Ollie O'Flaherty as his seven year old self talks about the winter ahead.

Three Instrument Makers -14 min

‘Three Instrument Makers’  a short film made by Packmule Films  documenting three  instrument makers Paul Dooley, Davy Spillane and Martin Doyle who live and work in North Clare

Packmule Films

Dylan Phillips

Marcus Campbell  

Circus Man. -12min

Tom Duffy has travelled the roads of Ireland with his family circus  since the day he was born. His ancestors have made the same journey  since 1789. 'Circus Man' moves through Tom's memories as he fights to stay on the road.The film subtly explores his world, as thoughts of tradition, family,  home and his ailing body occupy his mind..Circus Man presents a unique insight into the curious and enduring  world of traditional circus."

Twopair Films 

Jill Beardsworth and Keith Walsh

A Room in Air - 22 min

In the summer of 2010 poet and visual artist Frank Golden left the Auxiliary Workhouse in Ballyvaughan

where he had lived for over a decade. He wanted to mark his departure from this stark and still resonant space.

He decided to make a film.

When the space itself had been fully prepped Golden cast the film, co-opting the talents of seven local actresses, Theresa Leahy,

 Aja Daly, Marie Flanagan, Judith McGann, Jenny Morton, Tamar Keane, and Dympna Hyland.

A ROOM IN AIR, which runs to 22 minutes, is in two parts. The first part is contemporary, the second a symbolic re-enactment. The film explores the R way in which the famine proved to be a psychic and emotional fault line for Ireland and its people. It suggests that the implosion of society which occurred during the famine, and the institutionalisation which was initiated through the workhouses had a lasting impact.

Writer – Frank Golden

Filmed by Fergus Tighe

Break ….

at 9.45pm

Melodious Conversation  -1min

The poetry of a conversation with the melody played on violin mimicking the human voice.

Josie O'Connor

Blowing Ribbons -2 min

The piece is entitled Blowing Ribbons by Fiona O'Dwyer

The Road of Souls - 18min

The Road of Souls' is about a moment in time that captures the imagination of an eleven year old boy. The story follows Patrick as he discovers a stranger in his life has more to offer than he first thought. Set in County Clare in the 1950's, the film is a charming tale of childhood memories and the moments that we remember forever. The cast is lead by 11 year old Emmet O’Doherty who shines as Patrick

                                                                                                                                          

Cast

Patrick – Emmet O’Doherty

Rory Dubh – Michael Keane

Patrick Senior – Peter Daffy

Mary – Maura Clancy

Voiceover – Pat Costello

Crew

Director – Garret Daly

Writer – PJ Curtis

Producers – Garret Daly, PJ Curtis

Sound – Carl Mullan

Camera Assitants – Robert Murray, Lorna Gargan

Camera – Garret Daly

Mixed Bag Media

Salmon Poetry with An Evening of Poetry

Salmon Poetry

with
An Evening of Poetry

on Thursday 13^th September 2012

at 7pm

Admission Free

Featuring

Thomas Lynch's  5th poetry collection 'The Sin-eater: A Breviary' was published by Salmon Poetry in June, 2012. His collection of essays, 'The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade', won the Heartland Prize for non-fiction, the American Book Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award. His second collection of essays, 'Bodies in Motion and at Rest', won the Great Lakes Book Award. Lynch's work has appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, The Paris Review, Harper's, Esquire, Newsweek, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Irish Times, and The Times. He has been broadcast by BBC Radio, RTÉ and NPR, and is the subject of two documentary films; 'Learning Gravity', broadcast by the BBC and RTÉ, and the Emmy Award (2008) winning 'The Undertaking' (PBS).

       

Michael Heffernan's  'The Breaking of the Day' is his fourth poetry collection with Salmon Poetry.  His other books include 'The Man at Home '(University of Arkansas Press, 1988); Love's Answer (which won the Iowa Poetry Prize in 1994) and 'The Night Breeze Off the Ocean' (Eastern Washington University Press, 2005). His work has earned three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (US), two Pushcart Prizes, and the Porter Prize for Literary Excellence. He teaches poetry in the MFA program in creative writing at the University of Arkansas.

Ilsa Thielan's  first poetry collection 'Night Horses' was published by Salmon Poetry in June, 2012.  After studying literature and arts in Germany Ilsa made her home in Ireland. She joined the North Clare Writers Workshop and her poems and stories appeared in their annual anthology. Her work was published in Stet, in "Women's Work", The Burren Meithal, Revival, with the North Clare Three Legged Stool Poets and in Dogs Singing: A Tribute Anthology (Salmon, 2010). She read at Cúirt, the Ennis Bookclub Festival, Glór Music Centre and in the Courthouse Gallery, Ennistymon. Her poetry and stories are borne out of her experience and observations in life, the natural environment of her Burren home, her travels, her relationship with people she meets, her love for animals and time she spent in the Sahara, in the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico and in the wilderness of Northern Canada. She is also a visual artist working with photography and tapestry.