Turas - Pilgrimage

Turas | Pilgrimage

Le Frances Hegarty & Caoimhighín Ó Fraithile

Rachaidh an ‘turas’ seo fríd tírdhreach chultúrtha Dhún na nGall a bhuíochas do thaispeántas in il-ionaid ina mbeidh ealaíontóirí na linne seo, atá ina gcónaí in Éirinn, ag fiosrú athruithe na sochaí a chruthaíonn ár bhféiniúlacht chomhchoiteann.

Mairfidh Turas ó mhí na Bealtaine go dtí Lúnasa 2021 mar pháirt den cheiliúradh náisiúnta ar ‘Colmcille 1500’ agus cuirfear i láthair saothair reatha ó rogha d’ealaíontóirí bhunaithe agus ealaíontóirí ag teacht chun cinn, a roghnaíodh le hionadaíocht a dhéanamh ar réimse leitheadach cleachtais chomhaimsire ar fud na hÉireann.

I measc na hionaid taispeántais, beidh an tIonad Cultúrtha Réigiúnach, An Gailearaí, Gaoth Dobhair, Teach & Gailearaí na Gléibe, Mín an Lábáin agus Amharclann An Ghrianáin, Leitir Ceanainn. Tá an comhoibriú il-ionaid seo ar lorg deiseanna luachmhara a chur ar fáil do chleachtóirí chruthaitheacha maraon le réimse leathan de shaothraithe chruthaitheacha.

Coimeádaithe ag Jeremy Howard, Adrian Kelly and Úna Campbell

Frances Ó hÉigeartaigh

Turas: Máthairtheanga 2021

Teilgean físe ó scannán Super 8, le fuaim steirió
Fad na lúibe 4n 50s

Taibheoirí, guthanna (1988): Sarah Ní Éigeartaigh, Frances Ní Éigeartaigh
Taifeadadh fuaime (1989): Inbhear an Fheabhail, An Fheabhal, An Fhinn, Loch Finne
Curtha in eagar ag: Frances Ní Éigeartaigh agus Andrew Stones 2021

Ciallaíonn an focal ‘Turas’ go simplí ‘aistear’ nó ‘triall’ agus tig le ‘oilithreach’ a bheith i gceist leis fosta. Tá togra Frances Ní Éigeartaigh, darbh ainm Turas, lena éagsúlacht iarmhairtí bainteach leis na féidearthachtaí do chúiteamh cultúrtha i ndiaidh na céadta bliain d’imirce a ba chúis le diaspóra na nÉireannach.

Lárnach don togra seo, tá turas a rinne an t-ealaíontóir sa bhliain 1989. Ag taisteal le rothair, lean sí féin agus a páirtnéir/cúntóir An Fheabhal agus a chraobh-abhainn, An Fhinn, isteach ón chósta ó inbhear an Fheabhail go Loch Finne i gCo. Dhún na nGall. Ag campáil ar an bhealach, rinne siad an turas a thaifeadadh le taifeadeadán fuaime agus le ceamara scannáin Super 8.

‘Sé an rún a bhí ag Ní Éigeartaigh ná ghabháil siar ar cheann de na príomhbhealaí a ghlac imircigh Éireannacha óna contae dúcháis, Dún na nGall, go dtí an port mara ar inbhear an Fheabhail.

Thart fáoin am chéanna (1988), rinne an t-ealaíontóir sraith idirghníomhaíochtaí a scannánú lena máthair féin, a bhí ina cónaí i nGlaschú ag an am sin. Iontu seo, rinne sí achoimre i sraith de bhearta siombalacha ar athfhoghlaim a teanga dhúchais (Gaeilge) ó fhoinse dlúth-theaghlaigh: analóg teanga agus cultúrtha den imeacht droim ar ais (idir an imirceach agus a b(h)aile) a bhí dúchasach dá haistear Éireannach.

Tá an suiteáin Turas: Máthairtheanga (2021) sa ghailearaí dírithe ar an ealaíontóir agus a máthair, ag úsáid scáileán teilgeora amháin mar sheomra laistigh de sheomra. Tá na haibhneacha An Fheabhal agus An Fhinn i láthair mar chogar mogar fuaime óna dtagann giotaí de chaint Gaeilge.

Taispeánadh leagan níos luaithe den saothar seo (darbh ainm go díreach ‘Turas’) go hidirnáisiúnta. Rinneadh atheagar iomlán ar an leagan atá anseo ó scanacháin digiteach ardtaifigh úrnua de phíosa scannánaíochta Super 8 le Ní Éigeartaigh, agus ó na taifeadtaí allamuigh a rinneadh ar thuras 1989.

Caoimhghín Ó Fraithile

Rinne an t-ealaíontóir de bhunadh Chiarraí, Caoimhghín Ó Fraithile, staidéar ar an Mhínealaíon i gColáiste Ealaíne Luimnigh óna blianta 1991-95 agus tá sé ag bogadh ó áit go háit riamh ó shin.

“Déanann an t-ealaíontóir Éireannach Caoimhghin Ó Fraithile dealbhóireacht agus líníochtaí i ngach cearn den domhan—san Áise, san Eoraip agus i Meiriceá. Coinníonn sé a shlí bheatha taistil siocair go nglacann sé cónaitheachtaí in áiteacha difriúla ar fud an domhain.

D’ainneoin a chuid fánaíochta agus nádúr sealadach agus corr uair na súimh iargúlta dá chuid oibre mhórscála, tá grúpa éagsúil léirmheastóirí ag tabhairt á struchtúir adhmaid agus á chuid líníochtaí galánta ar aird an t-saoil ealaíne idirnáisiúnta.”

– Jonathan Goodman, 2011

Baineann Caoimhghín Ó Fraithile úsáid as suiteáin ar mhórscála agus as líníochtaí mínlíne ar mhaithe le fiosrú a dhéanamh ar ár ngaol atá deiglilte ón nádúr agus na fréamhacha miotaseolaíocha agus béaloideasa á Éire dhúchais. Taispeánann An Gailearaí trí cinn de na saothair mhionsaothraithe agus mhionsonraithe iontacha 2D anseo, áit a bhfuil…….

“…na micreadhomhain seo atá ag teacht chun cinn ar foluna os cionn farraigí atá trasnaithe ag bádaí tine, maoirsithe ag cloigthithe le drochshúile orthaí; cruthaíonn mo thírdhreacha osréalacha, is dócha, comharthaí rabhaidh dár ndíoma nuair atá muid scartha ón saol nádúrtha agus á stair fhrithráiteach. Déanaim tagairt go minic do Bhuile Shuibhne agus an t-oileán finscéalach Hy-Brasil.”

– Caoimhghín Ó Fraithile, 2021

Do dhuine ar bith atá eolach ar an scéal ‘Buile Shuibhne’, tífidh tú i saothar Uí Fhraithile anseo ins An Gailearaí gur tharla droim ar ais ar imeachtaí, áit a mbaineann Mac Suibhne díoltas amach ar an eaglais a dhíbhir é isteach san fhiantás. Glacann na saothair ealaíona 2D cuid mhór ama, tá grinnstaidéar ciúin de dhíth idir an lucht féachana agus an saothar – ní thig é seo a dhéanamh faoi dheifir mar go bhfuil an oiread sin ann le glacadh isteach. Tá na saothair seo suaimhneasach siocair go mealltar muid leis na mionghnéithe fineálta galánta den insint samhlúcháin seo, ár dtarraingt isteach i ndomhan anaithnid – a chaithimid a thuigbheáil. Cé go bhfuil siad bréagach, ní léirionn siad ar dhóigh ar bith ‘parthas’ nó ‘na flaithis’ agus ní dócha ‘ifreann’ ach an oiread – ach léiriú ar na rudaí a d’fhéadfadh tarlú. Chun an saothar seo a mheas, bhí mé spreagtha fosta leis an riachtanas de chomhrá nó de bhreathnú ar fréamhacha agus ar chaomhantas dár miotaseolaíochta.

Pilgrimage | Turas

By Frances Hegarty & Caoimhighín Ó Fraithile

This ‘journey’ will traverse through Donegal’s cultural landscape via a multi-venue exhibition featuring fifteen contemporary Irish based artists exploring the societal shifts that shape our collective identity.

Turas will run from June to August 2020 as part of the national ‘Colmcille 1500’ celebrations and present current work from a selection of established and emerging artists, chosen to represent a wide range of contemporary practice throughout Ireland.

The exhibition venues will include Regional Cultural Centre, An Gailearaí, Ghaoth Dobhair, the Glebe House & Gallery, Churchill and An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny. This multi-venue collaboration seeks to provide valuable opportunities to both creative practitioners as well as a broad scope of professional creative workers.

Curated by Jeremy Fitz Howard, Adrian Kelly, and Úna Campbell.

Frances Hegarty

Turas: Mothertongue 2021

Video projection from Super 8 film, with stereo sound
Loop duration 4m 50s

Performers, voices (1988): Sarah Hegarty, Frances Hegarty
Sound recordings (1989): Foyle Estuary, River Foyle, River Finn, Lough Finn
Edited: Frances Hegarty and Andrew Stones 2021

The Irish word ‘Turas’ means simply ‘excursion’ or ‘journey’, can also refer to a pilgrimage. Frances Hegarty’s project Turas, with its variety of outcomes, is concerned with the possibilities for cultural restitution following the centuries of emigration giving rise to the Irish diaspora.

Central to the project is a journey undertaken by the artist in 1989. Travelling by bicycle, she and her partner/assistant followed the river Foyle, and its tributary, the Finn, inland, from the Foyle estuary to Loch Finn, Co. Donegal. Camping en-route, they recorded the journey with a portable sound recorder and Super 8 film camera.

Hegarty’s intention was to retrace one of the main routes taken by Irish emigrants from her home county of Donegal to the seaport on the Foyle estuary.

Around the same time (1988), the artist filmed a series of interactions with her own mother, then living in Glasgow. In these, she distilled into a series of symbolic gestures the possibility of re-learning her mother-tongue (Gaelic) from a close familial source: a linguistic and cultural analogue of the reverse leave-taking (between emigrant and home-place) inherent to her Irish journey.

The installation Turas: Mothertongue (2021) is centred on the artist and her mother, employing a single projection screen as a room-within-a-room, in the gallery. The rivers Foyle and Finn are present as an audio undercurrent from which snatches of Gaelic speech emerge.

An earlier version of this work (called, simply ‘Turas’) has been shown internationally. The version shown here has been completely re-edited from new, high-resolution digital scans of Hegarty’s 1988 Super 8 footage, and field recordings made on the the 1989 journey.

Caoimhghín Ó Fraithile

Kerry based artist Caoimhghín Ó Fraithile studied Fine Art in Limerick College of Art in 1991-95 and has been on the move ever since.

“The Irish artist Caoimhghin Ó Fraithile (Quee-veen O Fra-ha-la) makes sculptures and drawings all over the globe—in Asia, Europe, and America. He maintains his peripatetic lifestyle by taking on residencies in different parts of the world.

Despite his wanderings and the temporary nature and sometime remote locations of his large-scale work, a geographically diverse group of critics is bringing his wooden structures and exquisite drawings to the attention of the international art world.”

– Jonathan Goodman, 2011

Caoimhghín Ó Fraithile uses both large scale installations and fine line drawings to explore our fractured relationship with nature and the mythological and folkloric roots of his native Ireland. An Gailearaí shows three of these intricate and super detailed 2D works here, where…….

“…these emerging micro-worlds hover over seas breasted with boats of fire, round towers overseen by talismanic evil eyes; my surreal landscapes I suppose create warnings of our disillusion when separated from the natural world and its contradictory history. I often reference the Sweeney epic and the fabled island Hy-Brasil”.

– Caoimhghín Ó Fraithile, 2021

For anyone aware of the story ‘Buile Shuibhne’ or The Story of Mad Sweeney, you will see in Ó Fraithile’s work here in An Gailearaí that a reverse turn of events has occurred where Sweeney takes revenge on the church that banished him into the wilderness. The 2D artworks take time, they require quiet contemplation between the viewer and the work – this cannot be rushed for there is so much to absorb. These works are soothing in that the delicate and beautiful detail of these visual narratives beguiles us, pulls us in to an unknown world – that we then must fathom. Whilst fictional, these worlds certainly do not depict ‘nirvana’ nor ‘heaven’ and probably not hell either – but rather expressions of what could occur. In appreciating this work, I felt provoked too for a need to dialogue or a look at the roots and conservation of our mythology.