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Still from ‘The Ocean Floor is a Green World’, short film by Jules Charlton & Ronan Concannon 2021.

Take Me to the River

A collaborative vision between Solstice Arts Centre and architectural practice Cineál Research & Design, Take Me to the River is a creative public engagement project bringing communities together in the fostering and long-term preservation of our local waterbodies in County Meath. It combines artistic activities, scientific knowledge and playful activism, to raise awareness about our relationships and responsibilities to our local waterways as citizens and residents of the county.

Join us with a network of artists and environmental experts engaged in research and community participation, and experience our rivers from a creative perspective through a series of free workshops in May, June and July. Listen, create, record, and engage within local areas of the Boyne and River Nanny. Collectively respond by mapping these sites through print, sound, film, sculpture, and spoken word for a 'Creative Catchment Map', a visual, sensory and audio display to celebrate and expand knowledge of our natural water resources.

Supported by Creative Ireland, The Arts Council, Meath County Council, Swift Cultural Centre, BirdWatch Ireland, and Inland Fisheries Ireland.

 

LAUNCH & INFORMATION EVENING

Wednesday 8 May | 6pm - 7:30pm | Free, booking essential | Solstice Arts Centre, Navan

Join us at Solstice to hear more about this immersive community project, meet the artists, and find out how you can get involved.

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GET INVOLVED

Following the launch on 8 May, a series of free workshops will be made available to sign-up for, bringing members of the public together to learn, create, and creatively map local areas of the Boyne River catchment.

With informative engagement from our artists and environmental experts, these outdoor workshops invite members of the public to learn about and share their experiences and relationship with the river.

Take a sensory ‘art walk’ exploring the relationship of watercourse, soil and agriculture on the River Nanny, experience the dusk chorus from the urban setting of the Ramparts, or use print, camera and drone footage to study the Boyne river’s ecology from beneath and above at Swifts Wave, Trim.

 

WORKSHOP 1 – The River Nanny: Water, Soil, & Sculpture
Saturday 25 May | 9:30am – 2pm | Free, booking required | Staffordstown House, Co. Meath

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WORKSHOP 2 – The Boyne Ramparts: Ecology, Sound, & Written Word
Saturday 8 June | 8pm - 10pm | Free, booking required | The Ramparts, Navan

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WORKSHOP 3 – The River Boyne: Above, Along, & Within
Saturday 6 July | 9:30am – 2pm | Free, booking required | Swifts Wave, Trim

This event has concluded.

 

 

EXHIBITION & PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT – Take Me to the River Creative Catchment Map, with & for our community

Date & time to be confirmed (Early October) | Free, booking essential | Swift Cultural Centre, Trim

To conclude and celebrate our rivers’ conservation, a public conference and exhibition will take place at Swift Cultural Centre, Trim. The exhibition will display the interactive 'Creative Catchment Map' collated by Cineál, incorporating the workshop participants’ creative, visual, sensory and audio responses to our waterways along with video installations, information and immersive sound works.

The workshops’ findings and explorations will act as a focal point for public discussion.  Invited speakers, environmental activists, ecologists, landowners and artists will explore positive and creative future actions for individuals, families, community groups and others concerned about the preservation and enjoyment of our waterways.

Join the conversations, sharing of information and experiences with the wider community. Discover what actions and new collaborations are possible that take us to the river collectively.

 

For more information, please contact Deirdre at deirdre.rogers@solsticeartscentre.ie

 

Supported by

Creative IrelandThe Arts CouncilMeath County CouncilSwift Cultural CentreCineálBird Watch IrelandInland Fisheries Ireland

Project Partners

Solstice Arts Centre & Swift Cultural Centre

Solstice Arts Centre is an award winning, bustling, multi-disciplinary arts venue located in Navan, County Meath. Home to a range of spaces suitable for all types of artistic practice, Solstice programme and commission performance, exhibitions, workshops, conferences and informal meets. We present local, national and international events in visual art, theatre, music, dance and film, while supporting professional artists in our associated artist programme with space, financial resources and expertise to develop and explore their practice. Solstice is primarily funded by Meath County Council and the Arts Council of Ireland, and is a member of Meath County Council Cultural committee.

Swift Cultural Centre is a sister theatre for Solstice Arts Centre. Opened in June 2023, Solstice will collaborate with Trim Library to provide a diverse and enriching community engagement and performance programme in Trim.

 

Cineál: Research + Design architectural practice - Phoebe Brady & Sarah Doheny      

Phoebe Brady is an architect whose work spans teaching, design, exhibition and mapping. As a Design Fellow at the School of Architecture, University College Dublin, she is a studio tutor focusing on landscape, design communication and the role of public engagement in architectural practice through workshops and presentations with 2nd year students of architecture. Practising in Dublin, previously working with ABK Architects and GKMP Architects exhibiting at the Chicago Architecture Biennial 2015 and the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018. She has also worked with the Irish Architecture Foundation as coordinator of Open House Dublin and a contributor to publications such as Architectural Ireland.

Sarah Doheny is an architect and artist from Ireland, based between Navan and Berlin. Having received her architectural qualifications from University College Dublin, she practised with RKD and Paul Keogh Architects (PKA). With PKA she fulfilled the role of project architect on projects involving re-use and remodelling of protected structures including the project at 57 Dawson Street, which was awarded the RIAI award for Adaption and Re-Use. Past academic research has focused on architecture and the senses, memory, psychogeography and mapping through the act of walking. Her recent work has involved collecting field recordings and experimenting with the production of soundscapes, often incorporating found sounds.

Artists

Jules Charleston is a film artist based in Leinster. His 2017 installation ‘i aM eLLIS bELL’ won a prize from the EU. His film ‘Memory of Mariga’ screened at Disappear Here Film Festival, Louth International Film Festival, Fastnet Film Festival and Elizabethtown Film Festival. His documentary ‘H. P. Lovecraft and the Moon-Bog’ has screened at Chicago Irish Film Festival, Waterford International Film Festival and the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival. His co-authored video installation with Ronan Concannon - ‘The Ocean Floor is a Green World’ has screened at the Mayo International Film Festival and International Underwater Film Festival Belgrade.

 

Grace Collender is an actor and writer. Her play, The New Friday, was shortlisted and published by ESB and Fishamble: The New Play Company. Acquired by Educate.ie it is included on the Junior Certificate English Syllabus 2022 – 2025. For younger audiences, Who’s Aunty Jane? was shortlisted for the George B. Miller Award by Youth Theatre Ireland and Scripts Playwriting Festival and Befriending My Monster, recently showcased as part of First Fortnight Festival 2023 and in Solstice Arts Centre. As an actor, Grace has worked with Screen Ireland/RTE/Shinawil, The Abbey Theatre, BBC, RTE, Screen Ireland, Cork Midsummer Festival and Kilkenny Arts Festival. She is currently filming on Harry Wild for Acorn TV, Dark Water for BBC and Treasure Entertainment.

 

Ronan Concannon is a film artist and aerial photographer / cinematographer based in the West of Ireland. His practice focuses on capturing unique perspectives on the natural and built worlds. His debut piece, Passing Time - capturing the vibrancy of Galway City through video time-lapse - premiered at the Galway City of Film One Minute Film festival in 2016 and was an Official Selection in the New Jersey Irish Film Festival in 2017. His recent credits include ‘Memories of Mariga’, ‘H.P. Lovecraft and the Moon-Bog’ and ‘The Ocean Floor is a Green World’ which he co-authored with Jules Charlton.    

 

Penelope Lacey is a sculptor, socially engaged artist, and owner of Staffordstown Farm near Navan. Inspired by social connections, environmental issues and nature, she has worked collaboratively with private and public organisations, schools, youth groups and other community sectors on co-creative projects.  She uses sculpture and creative practice as a way of allowing others to explore their personal lived experience and realise their creative potential. Areas for artistic enquiry include harvesting wild clay from various points in County Meath including from the riverbanks of the Nanny on their farm, where it forms a semi permeable membrane to guide and (hold) water flow.

 

Cosette Olohan is a graduate in Fine Art, TU Dublin (2016) and Bray Institute of Further Education (2013), spending her early career as a Chartered Building Surveyor. Now a full-time multidisciplinary artist she uses paint, print, photography and found materials in her work. Taking inspiration from her local surroundings in Meath, exploring and interrogating both the natural world and the built environment, her artwork is processed-based, and experimental in nature, introducing an element of unpredictability, inviting the observer to look again and re-evaluate what they are seeing.

Experts & Organisations

Eimear Clowry Delaney - Wild About Navan is an urban nature conservation project to protect, explore, improve, share and learn from the diverse environment and natural habitats in Navan. A group of Navan residents, the team consists of activists, biologists, educators and geographers. In late 2019, Wild about Navan commissioned Ecologist, Simon Barron, to develop a Community Biodiversity Action Plan (CBAP) for Navan town which now informs their work. The actions outlined in the CBAP 2021-2025 involve encouraging participation in a range of Citizen Science initiatives, the development of local Pollinator Plans, actions for Swifts, creation of a dispersed urban orchard, updating the way we view areas of long grass, dandelions and brambles.

 

Terence Cassidy is a volunteer with Birdwatch Ireland and has been active in its Meath Branch since its foundation in 2011. The Meath branch holds events, outings and talks to help people recognise and appreciate birds in their locality and strengthen the protection and improvement of the various habitats found in Meath.

BirdWatch Ireland is the largest independent conservation organisation in Ireland.  A registered charity, its aim is the conservation of wild birds and their natural habitats.  Established in 1968, it has over 15,000 members and a growing network of 30 local branches.  It manages nature reserves which protect threatened habitats and the wildlife that rely on them, it works to conserve Ireland’s biodiversity, produces a range of media to raise wider awareness of nature conservation in Ireland, and carries out important education, survey and research work.

 

Fionnuala McCabe, Fisheries Protection Officer, Inland Fisheries Ireland, is an expert in fauna and flora in and around our rivers and passionate about protecting our native species against the many invasive plants and fish living in the waterways of Ireland.

Inland Fisheries Ireland is the Agency that has the statutory responsibility for the protection, development, and management of Ireland's 74,000 km of rivers and streams together with 128,000 lake hectares. A coastal 12-mile jurisdictional limit is also included.

 

Michael Monaghan, Emeritus Professor, farmer and owner of Staffordstown House & Farm was formerly Dean of Veterinary Medicine and later Principal of the College of Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine and Food Science at UCD. He now spends his time looking after 180 beef cattle and a small amount of tillage. His objectives are to preserve water quality and minimise the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides while maintaining sufficient levels of production to make the farm viable.

Staffordstown House & Farm is a commercial beef and tillage farm of 200 acres in central Co Meath. The river Nanny and its tributaries flow through the farm. Historical ‘scars’ on the land are evident where Man has manipulated water flow for agricultural purposes in the past. A working cattle farm, it includes crop fields for winter food and bedding for the animals. In recent years, farmer Michael Monaghan has moved toward regenerative farming practices, including multi species pasture to optimise nutrition for cattle, improving carbon sequestration and soil condition, smaller paddock rotation and solar panels to support a water system for the animals ensuring they are kept out of the waterways.

 

Goska Wilkowska is an Environmental Scientist. Graduating from Adam Mickiewicz University, she has a Masters in Science, Environmental Biology and Environmental Protection and Shaping Postgraduate Course in Wroclaw University. Goska specialises in habitat and botanical assessment, undertaking ecological surveys and assessments for both commercial and community projects in addition to extensive ecological work for the Irish Wildlife Trust and Nature’s PATCH Network. She is part of a community group Meath / Westmeath Peatland Heritage Group and board member of The Boyne Rivers Trust, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to enable and empower communities in the Boyne catchment to develop community-led activities and projects that will help make the rivers in the catchment thrive once again.

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