Mayo Festival of Change explores Art in the Landscape
AN exciting festival looking at art in the landscape is coming to Mayo this month.
The Festival of Change takes place on Friday and Saturday, April 12 and 13, in north Mayo.
A collaboration between Offaly County Council, Mayo County Council and Visual Artists Ireland, funded through the Arts Council’s Invitation to Collaboration Scheme, the festival will offer an eclectic programme of events and activities, looking at the impact art (both physical and intangible) can have on place and people, socially, economically, and culturally.
The festival will be based on two sites in the respective counties: the Tir Saile Sculpture Trail in Mayo and Lough Boora Sculpture Park in Offaly.
In Mayo, the festival will kick off at Áras Inis Gluaire in Belmullet on the morning of Friday, April 12, with Tionól, a gathering of big and small ideas about art in the landscape. Through an open call for ideas about the possibilities ‘art in the landscape’ can hold, a number have been selected for presentation to the public as part of the festival. Lunch and an opportunity for attendees to network will follow.
Throughout the afternoon there will be talks and discussions, including:
An illustrated talk by photographer and film maker Tim Smith and multi-disciplinary artist Hardeep Singh Sahota. They have been inspired by the local landscape and stories gathered from local people in Offaly and north Mayo, talking about their employment in industries such as peat extraction and the making of textiles. The talk will explore how the artists have used creative expression to explore the rhythms of people’s working lives and discuss how their commissioned project has adapted and evolved through collaborating with different people and in different places in the two counties.
A practice share with artist Eileen Hutton, who will discuss her proposed site-specific response to Tír Sáile, Soil Portraits of Tír Sáile, which is based on soil chromatography, an alternative photography process that creates a ‘soil portrait’ on light sensitive filter paper. Eileen will demonstrate the process and talk about some of her current and past projects.
A scoping session with the Wilderness project for artists, living and working in Mayo. The session will be particular interest to those who are interested in developing sustainable arts practices, and will include a short, illustrated introduction to the project and a discussion on how the project can respond to local need and the announcement of an exciting opportunity for Mayo-based artists.
On Friday evening the festival moves to the new Oweninny Wind Farm Visitor Centre, for the Bhangra Ceilí, an evening of dance that will leave you feeling energised. For the very first-time ever, the traditional Irish céilí, led by local people, will meet Bhangra, led by UK-based practitioner Hardeep Singh Sahota. The evening will include live ceilí music and a demonstration with some easy to learn Bhangra moves!
On Saturday, April 13, the focus shifts further west to the new SOLAS Centre on the Mullet Penninsula.
Presented in partnership with Community Futures, Culturally Rich Neighbourhoods invites communities to come along to a facilitated panel discussion exploring how local economies can benefit from collaboration between the arts, heritage, local business, tourism, and local government. Lunch will be followed by workshops and tours, all seeking to look at practical ways in which the mornings conversations might be applied by communities in Mayo.
Buses for this event will run from and return to Ballina (Ballina Arts Centre, departing at 9 a.m.) and Castlebar (new Lough Lanngh Leisure Complex, F23 A257, departing at 9 a.m). Advance booking is essential.
Central to the festival is the commissioning of two new art works - one in Offaly and one in North Mayo. The commission was curated by Dr. Helen Pheby, Associate Director of Yorkshire Sculpture Park and invited curator for the Art in the Landscape project.
Bringing the festival to a close in Mayo on Saturday evening in Ballina Civic Offices, Hardeep Singh Sahota and Tim Smith will present an exhibition and commission showcase - Rhythm of Light, which will be launched by cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Councillor Michael Loftus. The evening will include the opening of the exhibition, a seanós dance performance, a film screening, a Bhangra dance performance and a Tabla performance.
Hardeep and Tim have many years of experience in collaborating with communities, using Bhangra dance and the ephemeral qualities of light-painting.
The exhibition will run at Ballina Civic Offices, from April 15 to 26, and will be open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.
All festival events are free, but booking is required. Early booking is advised given the limited capacity of many of the events.
For the full festival programme and booking information, please visit https://www.mayo.ie/en-ie/your-council/services/arts/arts-programme/art-in-the-landscape to book.
Art in the Landscape is a project initiated by Offaly County Council in partnership with Mayo County Council and Visual Artist Ireland and funded by the Arts Council’s An Invitation to Collaboration. Earlier projects included a research project in 2021 and an online symposium in 2022.