Artists re-jig trad music for public art pieces
Standing at back: Savina Donohoe, Edwin Lynch, Martin Donohoe, Joey Burns, Catriona O'Reilly, Joseph Doherty and Sally O'Dowd; (seated) Laura O'Connor, chairman of Cavan County Council Winston Bennett, Padraig Cahill and Anne O'Reilly.
Firstly, a couple of explanations: Mórtas An Chabháin (meaning Pride Of Cavan) is a sub-committee of the Fleadh Executive Committee working on a programme of events to involve the community countywide in Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Cavan this August 16-22. A symposium, then, is a meeting for the discussion of a particular subject or a collection of scholarly contributions, usually published together, on a given subject.
The Anglo-Celt was informed that the Mórtas An Chabháin symposium was on at a location out the Ballinagh Road for a week in April.
Through the doors of an industrial-looking building was a workshop full of noisy, complicated machinery normally used by Cavan Institute for their furniture-making course. In it for a week were a group of sculptors and artists beavering away imaginatively at 3D projects on the theme of all things traditional and musical.
There was the beginnings of a huge wooden fiddle-head, a growing number of pretty Irish dancing shoes made from sellotape and wire, the start of group of seven-foot pyramids (Pythagorus theorem inspired, naturally enough), eight-foot-tall cylinders to represent the brass, woodwind, percussion and string instrument families and lots more going on besides.
The good news, for all who didn't know this beehive of creativity existed, is that all these unique pieces will be complete and on public display this June, July and August, so public, in fact, that you probably couldn't miss them.
There'll be imposing structures, including the aforementioned, dotted about the town in prominent places, such as on the side of the Dublin Road into Cavan, bang in the middle of the roundabout at the bus station, at the flower bed in front of the town hall, on the Main Street, on the Cavan Institute campus and in other locations. They hope to have the works on display starting from mid June, on time for Cavan Summer Festival and International Hen Weekend (June 18-20).
Local councillors have vowed that Cavan will put its best foot forward for the Fleadh this August by showcasing homegrown talent and displaying the town in a good light. That's exactly what the artists working at the Mórtas An Chabháin symposium were all about.
Joey Burns, a native of Oldcastle living in Ballymachugh, is a wood sculptor and is on the Mórtas An Chabháin sub-committee. He suggested getting local artists to do some temporary public sculptures to put around the town to embellish it as an idea for incorporating the arts with the massive event in August, which is expected to bring 200,000-plus people into Cavan over the week.
They put out an invite to local artists and, as Joey says, "the standard of proposals that we looked at and accepted have been really good".
Nine artists are taking part, each having a sculptural 3D background, although not all the pieces will be 3D. To kickstart the project the week-long symposium was organised.
"A symposium is where you get a group of artists together and give them a theme to work with and they create artwork in a specified space and time," explains Joey, who represented Ireland in one in Brittany in France about five years ago.
His experience of being treated like a king and paid a princely sum in France wasn't going to be repeated for this project which is a totally different ballgame and in all-round leaner times. Funding has been allocated for materials only, so the artists are all giving their time free of charge.
They are, however, happy to do so, and although the symposium was only the first of many weeks' work (the remaining being solo) energy and enthusiasm were infectious.
"A lot of people here work on their own so it's really good to create that environment where we're learning from each other, motivating each other and getting to know each other's background; they're sort of the by-products of making the art and, probably, the more important aspects of it as well.
"I think it's a very positive reaction from the artists to say, 'well, we know there's no money there'," says Joey. "It's not even that we were thinking that we'd be giving something back, but that's the way it's turning out. We're doing it for the love of it. That's definitely part of the buzz here; people know it's not a paid engagement, it's a community thing. The town will benefit from it because the standard is really good."
The artists want to thank Cavan Institute for the symposium space and Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann for the opportunity.
• Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2010 in Cavan, August 16-22.
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