Wednesday 17 July 2013

Donegal Artists of the Diaspora


R-M222: Contemporary Artists of the Donegal Diaspora

PhD researcher/artist Rachael Flynn is exhibiting work as part of this exhibition at the Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny, from 8th July - 24th August. 

The R-M222 project brings together a number of artists of the first, second, third and fourth generation Donegal Diaspora. The exhibition features artworks in different media by a line-up of highly regarded international artists that will include Liam GIllick, Frances Hegarty and Padraig Timoney among others. The title of the project R-M222 refers to the Y-chromosome associated with people whose roots lie in the counties of Northwest Ireland, Ulster and Lowland Scotland.

In her memoir Why be happy when you can be normal, Jeanette Winterson writes:
“Where you are born–what you are born into, the place, the history of the place, how that history mates with your own– stamps who you are, whatever the pundits of globalisation have to say.”

The R-M222 project extends this argument further to the diasporic context of parents, grandparents and great grandparents.

Scottish artist Rachael Flynn’s mixed media exhibition is a creative exploration of the memories of migration handed down within the Irish Diaspora, in particular a celebration of the women’s stories. There will also be another opportunity to see the wonderful PEACE III funded Local People art and social history exhibition featuring the stories of 40 people from Derry and Donegal this summer. One of the biggest exhibitions ever commissioned in Donegal, Local People is an entertaining, informative and enjoyable experience. It is a great way to learn about a wide spectrum of life in Donegal and Derry over the past 50 years from people’s first hand accounts.

Creative Futures Institute: Gdansk Summer School

Here is the outline programme for the Summer School in Gdansk that has been organised by PhD researcher Roman Sebastyanski, bringing together students from the MA in Creative Media Practice at UWS with students from the Gdansk Academy of Fine Art. 


PROGRAMME OF THE SUMMER SCHOOL IN THE GDANSK SHIPYARD

Day 1 (Tuesday, 6th August) – introduction to the different views of the Gdansk Shipyard

Morning session; 9:30-13:00
-        introduction (1 hour) - chair Katarzyna Kosmala
-        guided tour around the site by Roman Sebastyanski (1,5 hour)
-        brief (20 min) presentation (by dr Waldemar Affelt) of the Gdansk Shipyard historical heritage issues followed by discussion (40 min)

Lunch; 13:00-14:00 bar “U Kazia” in the Gdansk Shipyard

Afternoon session; 14:00-18:00
-        brief (20 min) presentation (by prof. Jacek Dominiczak) of the urban regeneration planning issues followed by discussion (40 min)
-        brief (20 min) presentation by artist Michal Szlaga on the artistic engagement issues followed by discussion (40 min)
-        concluding the introduction to the Gdansk Shipyard and brainstorming; problems and potentials for positive transformations (1 hour) – chair Graham Jeffery
-        reflections of the CCI/UWS students on the UK experience of similar post-industrial urban regenerations followed by discussion (1 hour) – facilitator Graham Jeffery


Day 2 (Wednesday, 7th August) – alternative urban development thinking

Morning session; 9:30-13:00
-        Subjective Bus Line[1] (0,5 hour)
-       guided tour through exhibition the “Alternativa – Till Tomorrow! Ideologies of City Planning and the Tactics of Dwelling”[2] (by Hubert Bilewicz, curator of educational program, and ASP students of prof. Dominiczak, presenting their works followed by discussions (3 hours)

Lunch; 13:00-14:00 – bar “U Kazia” in the Gdansk Shipyard

Afternoon session; 14:00-18:00
-       artistic tactics to engage public for transformative action (15 min presentations by Katarzyna Kosmala, Graham Jeffery and Roman Sebastyanski) followed by discussions (1,5 hour)
-       workshop 1; looking for ideas – time for independent students’ work (2,5 hour)

Dinner; 19:30 (free evening for all participants)

Day 3 (Thursday, 8th August) – imagining alternative futures of the Gdansk Shipyard regeneration

Morning session; 9:30-13:00
-        discussion with prof. Grzegorz Klaman, author of Subjective Bus Line (0,5 hour)
-        presentations and discussions of the initial ideas (1 hour) – chair Graham Jeffery
-        workshop 2; developing initial projects’ concepts for engaging citizens in creation of alternative vision (2 hours) - facilitator Roman Sebastyanski

Lunch; 13:00-14:00 bar “U Kazia” in the Gdansk Shipyard

Afternoon session; 14:00-18:00
-       presentation and discussion of the initial projects’ concepts (1,5 hour) – chair Graham Jeffery
-        workshop 2; developing projects proposals for engaging citizens in creation of alternative vision (2 hours) – facilitator Roman Sebastyanski


Day 4 (Friday, 9th August) – outcomes’ presentation

Morning session; 9:30-12:30
-       Public presentation of the workshop’s outcomes and open discussion (3 hours) – chair Katarzyna Kosmala and Graham Jeffery, facilitation Roman Sebastyanski

Farewell Lunch; 13:00-15:00 – “Panorama” restaurant (at the 16th floor with a view toward the shipyard)

-       Arrival at the Lech Walesa Airport (16:30) and departure to Glasgow (18:55)

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