Exhibition & Off-Site Projects 13 th September – 5 th October 2008

Seminar / Saturday 13 th September / 2pm - 5.30pm
Opening Reception in Sirius Arts Centre / Saturday 13 th September / 6pm
Sonic Wells Project -Ryan’s Bar, Cobh / Saturday 13 th September/8.30pm
Walking Tour with Jim Wilson / Sunday 14 th September 2:00pm

'Cork Harbour Project - Beyond the Myths' was developed in Sirius Arts Centre’s Artist in Residency Programme. In 2007 a series of interactive meetings and workshops called laboratories took place in the Sirius building. International and local artists, community groups, experts in natural history and representatives from the local authority were brought together with the aim of raising awareness about Cork Harbour Beyond the Myths is the first phase of projects drawn from these laboratories. The resulting projects are a reflection of unique partnerships that formed during the 2007 laboratories. Beyond the Myths includes an exhibition, a seminar, a schools project, walking tour and site specific installation Cork Harbour is in the process of change, this vital natural resource offers a remarkable opportunity for investigation for visiting and local artists. The size and unique mixture of environments provide a perfect backdrop with which to develop a project of this type. The natural places of Cork Harbour hold great significance for us in terms of industry, agriculture, fishing and other maritime enterprise, and leisure activities. Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, Co. cork, Ireland Tel: 00353 (0)21 4813790 / email: cobharts@iol.iewww.siriusartscentre.ie Gallery Open Wednesday to Friday 11am – 5pm Saturday & Sunday 2pm –5pm / Monday & Tuesday Closed Office Open Monday to Friday 9.30am – 5pm

Seminar Saturday 13 th September / 2-5.30pm
Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, Co. Cork €5 (booking required)
1. Introduction to the project and welcome address by Sarah Iremonger
2. Case studies between participants from the Lab process: Lieutenant Commander Cormac Rynne from Houlbowline Naval Base; artists Martin Sims, Allan Giddy from Australia and Danny McCarthy from Cork.
3. Presentation by Cork Greenmap Walking Tour project, Cork.
4. Presentation from John McHarg & Ned Cotter ‘Rocky Shore Harbour Project’ with the Windy Lane Puppet Theatre, Youghal, Co. Cork, school -workshops and puppet performance.
5. Presentation by Allan Giddy, SonicWells project, Cork Harbour & Sydney Harbour.
6. Open discussion / Questions & Answers.

Offsite Project Sonic Wells – Ryan’s Bar, Cobh & The Mercantiles Hotel, Sydney, Australia 13 th September – 5 th October Ryan’s Bar, Casement Square, Cobh Allan Giddy (Australia) Wells, water holes, hot springs and billabongs were until recently central meeting points for communities worldwide. Two ‘sonic wells’ have been built one in Cobh, the other in Sydney, creating a virtual hole (12,720 kilometers long) through the Earth connecting Ireland with Australia. Each well will collect ambient sounds which, transmitted live, will be emitted from its sister well. Thus, for instance, people seated around the well in Cobh will hear live audio as it is incident at the well in Sydney, and vice versa.

School Workshops

As part of the Cork Harbour Project – Beyond the Myths2008 John McHarg & Ned Cotter will run a series of school-workshops titled ‘Rocky Shore Harbour Project’ with the Windy Lane Puppet Theatre, Youghal, Co. Cork. (A performance of this project will follow later in the year.)

Walking Tour with Jim Wilson from Passage West to Hop Island Sunday 14 th September 2:00pm

Meet at Passage West Playground Contact Sirius for information regarding this event (021) 481 3790 Cork Greenmap have produced a guide, which maps a walking route along the shore of Cork Harbour from Hop Island to Monkstown Creek. A myriad of history, wildlife and natural beauty is waiting to be experienced from Hop Island to Monkstown Creek in Ireland's largest natural harbour. As part of the Cork Harbour Project – Beyond the Myths 2008, Cork Greenmap have produced a walking guide of this beautiful stretch of the harbour. Home to industry and terminus to the first railway line in Cork, it was also a favored holiday destination during the 19 th Century. It continues to be much-enjoyed by walkers, cyclists, sailors and fishermen who appreciate its natural setting and character. The walk passes through Passage West on its way to Monkstown. Inhabited by local and migrant birds the ecology of the area is of international importance. The guide will provide information for you as you take to the trail. Cork Greenmap is a sustainable community development project, the overall aim of which is to raise awareness of sustainable living issues. Through mapping and other events, Greenmap engages people in the enhancement of the social, ecological, environmental and alternative economic aspects of their communities.

Exhibition 13 September – 5 October

The Exhibition artists & texts
1. Ciara Healy (Ireland / UK) When a sense of place or home is lost through social or environmental change we often attempt to make tangible what is missing and absent. In order to come to terms with this loss, we romanticise what has been left behind precisely because it is no longer physically tangible.
2. Dieter Buchhart (Austria) Critically tackling the relation of society and nature in his installation work, Dieter invites the visitor to participate to complete the work. In the project ‘House for Urtica - Cork’ the weed Urtica dioíca, the great stinging nettle, is part of the artwork.
3. Meaghan Schwelm (USA) Meaghan makes art to find things again. She develops installations, dwellings, garments, and artifacts from mechanically reproducible or industrial materials and ephemera.
4. Julia Pallone (Cork) Over the last 10 years I have been developing my art practice involving drawings, photography, sculpture, installations and performances. My work is conceptual and focuses on expression with a poetic and surrealistic vision of the world, be it by analogy, similarity or evocation of ideas.
5. Colette Lewis (Cork) The Harbour was experienced as a natural extension, bridging communities across the water. In this era of the car it is considered more of a barrier separating and dividing communities. I’ve created a collection of 'greeting postcards' which function as 'views' to engage communities that inhabit the Harbour.
6. Mara Scrupe (USA) The activity of borrowing and interpreting images from the natural world – whether mediated or wild - is an ages-old process, one which is deeply etched in the human psyche and memory and belies a seemingly insatiable human need for associations with nature.
7. Tom Fannon (Cobh, Co. Cork) I love the way you can play with the paint on the canvas until you find something that works. The hardest part is to know when to leave it alone. I paint simply for the enjoyment and to leave behind a piece of myself.
8. David Kavanagh (Cork) Science is constantly opening up new frontiers of knowledge, but ignorance expands in tandem, it often seems that every new discovery gives rise to a number of new questions. This results in an enormous playing field of theory and counter theory, mystery and revelation.
9. Mary Gough (Conna, Co. Cork) Loves to paint "en plain air" where the stimulus of the immediacy gives a unique vibrancy and liveliness. Works also from sketches made on location.
10) Allan Giddy (Australia) His sound and video work 'Stations of the Cross' shows crows vying to roost on St. Colman's Cathedral in Cobh. They 'recompose' The Wild Colonial Boy through (Bells/organ/choir), as each point of the cross is made active to their touch.
11. Martin Sims (Australia) The artwork is envisaged by inverting most of the physical characteristics of a Martello Tower through transcribing its shape and essential contours - both interior and exterior – into transparent, visible form.
12. Danny McCarthy (Midleton, Co. Cork) "Sounding d (harbour)" This work is created from field recordings made at various sites around Cork Harbour including boat trips made as part of the "Lab. Days" which formed an integral part of the project. A soundscape is created making the listener aware of the acoustic ecology of the area.

Acknowledgments

The Cork Harbour Project was created, managed and realized by Sarah Iremonger for Sirius Arts Centre, with help from Jim Wilson who initially conceived the idea of connecting artists with the unique environment of Cork Harbour. The Cork Harbour Project could not have taken place without help from the Arts Council through a New Project award 2007 and the Cork County Council’s Arts Award Scheme 2007 & 2008. Special thanks to all the artists and speakers who participated in Lab 1 & Lab 2 in 2007 For the realization of this exhibition and related events, thanks to everyone at the Sirius Arts Centre; Cobh and Passage West Town Council; Paul and Gemma O’Halloran of Ryan’s Bar, Cobh; Danny Halligan; The Mercantile Hotel, Sydney, Australia; Birgit O’Driscoll & ECAD East Cork Area Development; Alice D’Arcy, Sophie Le Roch and Sébastien Bertrand of Cork Greenmap also Naomi Fein; Lieutenant Commander Cormac Rynne, Irish Navy; Ted Creedon; O’Leary Insurance; Jane Smith, Office of Public Works Ireland OPW; Jamil Yamani Technical Programmer, College of fine Arts COFA; University of New South Wales UNSW; The Environmental Research Institute for Art ERIA; Sydney Olympic park Authority.