Press release · Wednesday May 8, 2013

“festa” BARGES sets sail to reflect the STORY OF DUBLIN’S GRAND CANAL

On May 11^th and 12^th, Dublin’s Grand Canal will see a flurry of activity as the floating artworks of the FESTA project – including a floating mirrored shed and a floating vegetable garden – make the two-day journey from Suir Bridge, Dublin 8 to Grand Canal Dock, Dublin.

Visual artist Kathryn Maguire was awarded a residency by arts organisation Common Ground and Rialto Development Association and while artist-in-resident in their joint initiative - Studio 468 - Kathryn developed FESTA.

FESTA is an “artistic nuisance” created by visual artist Kathryn Maguire on the Grand Canal to celebrate the impact and influence the Grand Canal has had on labour and leisure in Rialto and other areas through which it flows. Kathryn has produced floating artworks ‘US’ Again (a floating mirrored shed) and The Exchange (a floating vegetable garden created by a Dublin 8 Men’s Gardening Group using the iconic Dolphin’s Barn bricks), which will take part in Inland Waterway’s Dublin Rally on the Grand Canal on May 11^th and 12^th 2013.

Siobhan Geoghegan, Director of Artistic Programme in Common Ground said, "Studio 468 is 10 years old this year and we are delighted that the studio gives professional artists and the local community to meet within a diverse and culturally rich locale like Rialto.  Over 18 professional artists have been in residence in Studio 468 and they have created strong connections with children, young people, older people and sports and activity groups. Festa is evidence that the arts can and should be alive and active in local neighbourhoods across Ireland enriching local initiatives, bringing new opportunities and kick staring diverse ideas.  It’s our first Grand Canal event and we are delighted to resource and support FESTA with all our partners.”

Artist Kathryn Maguire added: “I see Dublin 8 as the lungs of the city. History has taught me, and I hope us the land and waters are fertile.  Through my artworks ‘US’ Again and ‘The Exchange’ the past is celebrated whilst the future is possibly presented.

Continued….

The floating artworks of Festa will be accompanied by a series of events including public talks – the Festa Dialogues –on a barge docked at Suir Bridge on Saturday May 11 from 2pm, featuring experts in the field of ecology, the built environment and the Grand Canal.

Festa will culminate on Sunday May 12 at 4pm with a spectacle in Grand Canal Dock, when hundreds of origami boats, made by young people from the Canal Communities, will be launched around the floating artworks. Children (aged 10+) are invited to a free workshop at 2.30pm at the Waterways Ireland Visitor Centre in Grand Canal Dock to make the final origami boats to be included in this spectacular launch.

For more on the events at Suir Bridge on Sat May 11: www.commonground.ie

For more on the events at Grand Canal Dock on Sun May 12: www.waterwaysirelandvisitorcentre.org

Artist Kathryn Maguire and FESTA was supported and resourced by Common Ground and the Rialto Development Association through a Studio 468 residency in St Andrew’s Community Centre. The project is further funded by Dublin City Council, Waterways Ireland and supported by Inland Waterways.

For media information, contact

Annette Nugent · annette@annettenugent.ie · +353.86.6820971

FESTA: EVENTS ON SATURDAY MAY 11

AT SUIR BRIDGE, DUBLIN 8

FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

 1-5pm                        BOAT RIDES

Inland Waterways volunteer Mick Kinahan to host boat rides and demonstrations of the locks.

This activity is free but will be ticketed. 

3-3.45pm            NATURE TRAIL

Two volunteers from the Irish Wildlife Trust will bring groups of children & adults (aged 7+) along the bank of Suir Bridge Canal, close to where the Museum Barge is parked, and give them a tour of the wildlife, animals, plants etc. (Parents must accompany their children).

FOR ADULTS: FESTA DIALOGUES

A number of experts in the fields of ecology, heritage and local initiatives will host the Festa Dialogues on the Museum Barge (approx 30 places for each). Alan Mee, Director of Urban Design UCD School of Architecture, will chair the FESTA Dialogues.  Alan is an architect working in urbanism, architecture, research and education. These are free event for adults only. To register a place email info@commonground.ie

2-2.45pm            ECOLOGY TALKS

Ornithologist Eric Dempsey is Ireland's leading professional bird guide, speaker, broadcaster, writer and photographer and has published work on Ireland's birds in Europe, North America and Australia.

Cormac McCarthy has been Environment Officer of Waterways Ireland since 2004. Cormac will be talking about the environment and heritage of the canals.

Mary Gunning is a local Rialto environmentalist, volunteer and founder of Dolphin’s Barn Clean-Up Group.  She is devoted to the regular cleaning of the canal and raising awareness of the canal as an important area for wildlife and bio-diversity.

3-3.45pm            HERITAGE TALKS

Susan Roundtree is a senior architect with Dublin City Council and an RIAI accredited Grade 1 conservation architect. Her post-graduate research includes an architectural history of Mount Pleasant Square in Ranelagh and an in-depth study on the history of clay brick as a building material in Ireland.

Dr Ellen Rowley is the White Post-Doctoral Fellow in Irish Art, Trinity College Dublin and Assistant Editor of the forthcoming Irish Architecture 1600 - 2000, Vol IV Art and Architecture of Ireland for the Royal Irish Academy and Yale University Press.  Since 2011 she has been working closely with the Heritage Office of Dublin City Council in making the first extensive research survey of Dublin’s twentieth-century architecture. She recently edited a compilation of writings on Irish architecture 1940 – 2010, i.e. Patterns of Thought, and her study on Dublin housing 1930 – 70 is due for publication in early 2014.

4-4.45pm            LOCAL INITIATIVES

Men’s Fishing Group, Bluebell CDP -Mick Mooney and members will talk about the importance of the Canal, their clean up group and recently formed fishing group that operates on the Canal.

Denis Geoghegan (Men’s Shed Group) works for Canal Communities Partnership and coordinates work with men in the Canals area. Denis set up the Inchicore men’s shed group in 2012 to expand the opportunities for local men from across the Canals area.

Roisin Ryder is a Rialto resident and community development worker at Fatima Groups United, Family Resource Centre.  Roisin represents Fatima in the Canals Campaign for Equality and Fairness challenging the cutbacks that are affecting community projects in the Canals area.

5pm                        WRAP UP   Us Again, The Exchange and other barges leave Suir Bridge.

FESTA: EVENTS ON SUNDAY MAY 12

AT GRAND CANAL DOCK, DUBLIN 2

FOR CHILDREN

2.30-4pm            ORIGAMI WORKSHOPS

Artist Kathryn Maguire and Waterways Ireland volunteers will host free workshops to show the children (9yrs+) how to make the multicoloured shiny-paper origami boats.  The workshops will take place in Waterways Ireland Visitors Center at Grand Canal Dock.

FOR ALL

3-4pm                        WATER MUSIC

Musicians Nick Roth, Keith Lindsay and Olesya Zdorovetska of The Water Project will perform live ‘water music’ which will be heard inside Visitors Center for the children’s workshop.   

4pm                        ORIGAMI BOAT LAUNCH

Volunteers/staff will supervise a fleet of over 150 multicoloured shiny-paper origami boats, crafted by tiny hands, being released onto the water around the artist’s mirrored shed.     

ABOUT FESTA

FESTA is Kathryn Maguire’s fourth intervention on/along the canals of Dublin. Her fascination with a man-made transport system that has been colonised by nature has led her to see a new symbiotic relationship between nature, labour, leisure and us. Her “attractive nuisance” on the Grand Canal comprises of two floating artworks: US Again and The Exchange.

US Again, a 6’x4’x4’ shed is clad in vinyl acrylic mirror. It reflects who we are, public space and the potential of possible futures, disrupting the everyday flow of movement. The Exchange celebrates locality and a history of labour and leisure colliding. Constructed of Dolphin’s Barn brick and vegetables, the past is celebrated while the future is presented

ABOUT KATHRYN MAGUIRE

Born in Ireland, Kathryn Maguire lives and works in Dublin. She studied in Cork (Bachelor in Fine Art Sculpture, Cork College of Art & Design, Cork) and Dublin (Master of Art in the Contemporary World, National College of Art & Design). She has participated in several group exhibitions: Dublin Contemporary, Dublin, 2011; Notes of Protest, Wyspa Institute of Art, Poland, May, 2010; No Soul For Sale, Tate Modern, London, 2010; Video Killed the Radio Star, RHA, Dublin, 2010; No Soul For Sale, Dia Centre, New York, 2009; Cork Caucus, Cork, 2005.  Kathryn Maguire's practice uses text, sculpture, video, and installation work. She has used sculpture and signage as a means to highlight the historical in public spaces, making diverse cultural references that link the historical to the contemporary.

ABOUT COMMON GROUND

Common Ground is an arts organisation based in Inchicore, in Dublin’s south west inner city. They make art happen in the urban villages of Rialto, Bluebell and Inchicore. They bring local people and artists together, creating opportunities for them to make art and imagine what’s possible.

They connect every day with people living in the Canal Communities. They find out what local people want and need from the arts. They give advice and are a link to a world that’s unfamiliar to them. They introduce artists - theatre makers, musicians, visual artists, dancers and more - to communities they believe will work well together. They pave the way for art to come to the neighbourhood.  

www.commonground.ie

ABOUT INLAND WATERWAYS OF IRELAND

The Inland Waterways Association of Ireland is a voluntary body of inland waterways enthusiasts. The association was founded in 1954 to campaign for the conservation and development of the waterways and in particular their preservation as working navigations. It is the voice of waterways users and enthusiasts and has approx. 3,500 members mainly organised in branches across the island. IWAI organises rallies, cleanups, etc. on the Royal Canal, Grand Canal and River Liffey, advocates the use of these waterways as living waterways/navigations for leisure and commercial use and has been involved in restoration activities. www.iwai.ie

ABOUT WATERWAYS IRELAND

The Waterways Ireland Visitor Centre is a family friendly visitor attraction located on the waters of the Grand Canal Basin. We will take you on a journey of Ireland’s waterways in history and culture. You will hear the story of Dublin’s two canals and the race to reach the Shannon, the glory days of canal travel and legends of monsters living in the locks. The tour includes stories of the Guinness barges and the rebirth of the ‘45M’. Hands on activities demonstrate driving a barge, navigating a canal lock system and an interactive quiz testing your knowledge of Ireland’s waterways.

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