Art of the Ordinary - Folk Archiving Art and Living Memory
In 2007 CityArts, Dublin and Interface, University of Ulster, Belfast worked in partnership to develop The Folk Archive project. The purpose of the project was to consider issues of cultural 'ownership', the means by which material is defined as 'folk' and is held and/or distributed through organisational mechanisms, and also to examine the meaning of the connections (if any) between recent contemporary art practice, folk art practice and folk memory. CityArts and Interface invited others to participate in this discussion and the organising group expanded to include The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum; The National Folk Lore Archive, University College Dublin; and the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life.
A roundtable was held in late 2007 to bring practitioners - arts, academic, institutional - together, to work through these questions. Chaired by Pat Cooke of University College Dublin, the format was informal and conversational and participants included artists Jeremy Deller, Alan Kane and Richard Wentworth; academics Bjarne Rohan, University of Norway; Des Bell, Queen's University, Belfast; and Declan McGonagle, Director of Interface.
The Folk Archive project developed into 2008 with the idea of presenting a public manifestation, Art of the Ordinary - Folk Archiving Art and Living Memory. This programme of events seeks to examine further the nature of folk and art, through the presentation of selected works by contemporary visual artists who use folk material in their work or whose work already occupies borderlines between definitions of 'art' and definitions of 'folk'. The title, Art of the Ordinary is intended to provoke further questions in this debate, for example, high art vs. low art, fine art vs. community art, process vs. product. The title is also intended to reference Art and the Ordinary, the seminal Arts Council report (1985-1989), edited by Ciaran Benson, which set out to develop an understanding of the area of activity, then loosely labeled 'community arts'.
In November 2008, work was presented by a number of artists: Dingle based Andrew Duggan whose artworks and participatory projects have been described as a 'collision between the past and the now', collate fact/folk/lore, with a new visual syntax, as can be seen in the two short looped video/audio pieces Bare I & II, created in collaboration with dancers from The National Folk Theatre of Ireland. Sonia Boyce's interest in the Crop Over carnival, a harvest festival that originates out of the conditions of plantation life and sugar production in Barbados in the Caribbean, and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, led to the creation of a film installation of the same name. Crop Over comes out of the convergence of these different histories and spaces. Alanna O'Kelly imbues her art with a strong sense of history and of continuity of tradition from one century to the next, in her performance Ómós she keens, or sings a wordless song of lament for the dead. Loraine Leeson works with inner city communities, focusing on issues of regeneration, identity and education. She uses folk memory and media art to validate and document the experiences of these communities, for example the Precious Places series, which gives a glimpse into some of the personal meanings that lie behind public space.
Shattering the Developers' Illusions, Photo-mural from the Docklands Community Poster Project, 1982. By Loraine Leeson and Peter Dunn.
In addition, two roundtable forums were held:
Forum 1: Building Memory (Saturday November 22nd 2-4pm)
Memory building, archiving and art in the context of communities going through the process of regeneration, especially in terms of docklands in Dublin, Belfast and London - what role can artists play in this process?
Speakers: David Boyd, The Beat Initiative, Belfast; Gerry Brown, Folklorist; Elizabeth Eve, Kidbrooke resident; Dr. Kelly Fitzgerald, National Folk Lore Archive, University College Dublin; Sean Millar, musician; Sophie Hope, artist, curator; Loraine Leeson, artist; Mary McCarthy, Art Manager, Dublin Docklands.
Chaired by Sandy Fitzgerald, Director, Olivarte, Cultural Agency
Forum 2. Creating Memory (Friday December 5th 12-2pm)
Memory building and archiving in the context of current visual arts practice - to what extent and why, are artists exploiting the 'folk' memories and traditions of the past?
Speakers: Linda Ballard, Curator, Ulster Folk and Transport Museum; Sonia Boyce, artist; Tony Candon, Director, National Museum of Ireland - Country Life; Pat Cooke, Lecturer, University College Dublin; Andrew Duggan, artist; Sandy Fitzgerald, Director, Olivearte; and Aisling O'Beirn, artist
Chaired by Declan McGonagle, Director of the National College of Art and Design, Ireland
Art of the Ordinary was curated by Jane Speller, CityArts and Gráinne Loughran, Interface
Art of the Ordinary research is on-going and an illustrated publication, Art of the Ordinary Folk Archiving Art and Living History, comprising texts from 2007 and 2008 will be published in the 2009.
With the financial and technical support from The Arts Council, Dublin City Council, St. Andrew's Resource Centre and Interface at the University of Ulster
You can download the Art of the Ordinary Brochure here (PDF Format 4.3MB)
