Críocha an Chroí - Heartland
Críocha an Chroí
Christina McBride
Is é Críocha an Chroí – Heartland an chéad chnuasach saothair a d’eascair as cónaitheacht a rinne an t-ealaíontóir Christina McBride i nGaoth Dobhair ar an mallaibh. Thacaigh Ollscoil na Gaillimhe, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Ealaín na Gaeltachta, An Gailearaí, Gaoth Dobhair agus Ionad Réigiúnda Cultúir, Leitir Ceanainn leis an chónaitheach. Thug seo deis don ealaíontóir díriú ar dhá phríomhthionscadal: corpas nua saothar lionsa-bhunaithe a fhorbairt chomh maith le cartlann ghrianghrafadóireachta a chruthú a dhíreoidh ar dhiaspóra Ghlaschú - Gaoth Dobhair.
Díríonn taispeántas Críocha an Chroí - Heartland ar shaintréithe thírdhreach an réigiúin seo agus baintear úsáid as táirgí ón talamh agus ón fharraige chun forbróirí grianghrafadóireachta inbhuanaithe a chruthú. Cothaítear naisc idir an íomhá, an áit agus an próiseas – agus fosta leis an am a chuaigh thart, an lá atá inniu ann agus an todhchaí. Beidh saothar ó Chartlann Ghlaschú - Ghaoth Dobhair le feiceáil níos moille i mbliana i seanscoil Bhun an Inbhir.
( greim dúchais )
Sceitheann an solas, agus sileann an talamh isteach chun íomhá a ghiniúint san áit a bhfuil na heilimintí bailithe le chéile. Íomhánna iad atá ar maos i ndriogthaí ailceimiceacha le gur féidir leis an áit seo í féin a nochtadh dúinn. Bíonn modhanna áitrithe á lorg againn agus bímid ag suirí le teanga dá bhrí sin toisc gur bealach í, ar deireadh thiar, chun íomhánna a chruthú chomh maith.
Cónaímid le go n-éirímid feasach. Bímid ag siosarnach trí chuimhní, ní hamháin chun filleadh ach chun iad a chur i dtaisce. Tá na hiarmhairtí sin fíorthábhachtach. Tá ar tháinig romhainn ina fhaoiseamh dúinn, agus cuirimid ina gcisil iad, ina sraitheanna, ceann ar cheann.
Bailímid píosaí ónár stair phearsanta chun áit sheasmhach a aimsiú dúinn féin – seans gurb í sin an chúis a mbaineann braistint torthúlachta leis na bloghanna sin. Scaoileann sé isteach muid. Is féidir leis an t-ealaíontóir déanamh amhlaidh, agus íomhánna a sholáthar mar iatáin shealadacha agus meicníochtaí cosanta a chuireann scáthanna gearra buaine ar an méid a chaillfí, seans, murach é.
Próisis mhaotha dhlútha iad seo, ach guagach chomh maith, atá ar an tairseach idir a bhfuil ann agus a raibh ann. Ní díreach scáileanna íomhánna. Déantar íomhánna a athraonadh trí phointí cleamhnachta agus is de dhlúth agus d’inneach na háite seo iad.
Bhailigh Sarah caonach ón imeall, mar a rinne Sally roimpi, agus Nellie ina diaidh. Tugann achan duine acu an chuid eile léi agus, dá réir seo, tugann léi iarsma dá raibh ann roimhe. Leanann Christina, samplaí á ndéanamh aici agus í ag teacht san fhearann seo a bhfuil clú an doichill air ar spás atá in ann friotháil ar na leaganacha sin den stair phearsanta.
Tarraingíonn sí ón talamh, agus fios aici nach follasach gach líne, agus gur minic gur naisc thrialacha agus bhrathribeacha a bhíonn againn lena chéile. Bíonn bomaití timthriallach, agus foghlaimímid go bhfuil ginealach ciorclach agus macallach. Tá teacht aniar i gcartlanna na sinsear. Rinneadh gach rud as a raibh ann, agus rachaidh sé ar ais go dtí an áit inar thosaigh sé.
Síothlú ama an scéal atá á reic ag smionagar an tsléibhe. Tugann an chothroime leid maidir le seasmhacht stuacánach na neamhsheasmhachta. Is de nádúr achan rud an t-athrú agus is as an dosheachantacht sin, seans, a shíolraíonn an claonadh chun cartlannaíochta. Chuige sin a thagaimid le chéile, é sin agus an mothúchán go raibh sé ag fanacht orainn i gcaitheamh an ama.
Agus rófhlúirse íomhánna inár dtimpeall i gcónaí, agus muid báite le hábhair spreagtha, tagann fonn orainn cuid de na cásanna seo a mhíniú ar dhóigh éagsúil. Ritheann sé linn go bhféadfaí amharc ar íomhá mar mheandar faoi shuan. Féachaimid, mar sin, lena bhfuil beartaithe aici, agus an fhoinse as ar tháinig sí, a cheadú. Tá frámaí inar féidir coibhneas a éascú á lorg againn.
Freagraíonn Críocha an Chroí / Heartland do mhiondifríochtaí na dtírdhreach seo, agus d’fhuaimnithe sainiúla a ngnéithe fisiciúla. Tagann an saothar chun solais ansin faoin teideal déach seo, áit a dteanntaíonn an dá théarma na bríonna arna spreagadh ag an teideal eile agus, leis sin, athshondas úr. Seans nach socróidh sé go ciúin, ach déanann sé bisiúlacht na díse míshuaimhní seo a shoilsiú, agus an t-iliomad bealaí inar féidir rud amháin a rá agus, ar an gcaoi sin, ciall a thabhairt dó. Mar tá teanga in ann a bheith corraitheach agus taghdach ach, dála an tsolais, aimsíonn sí i gcónaí áit éigin, agus bealach éigin, le teacht i dtír.
Touchstones
Cascella, Daniela, Chimeras (Seattle, WA, 2022)
Haraway, Donna, ‘Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective,’ Feminist Studies, 14, 3 (Fómhar, 1988), 575–99
Latimer, Quinn, Like a Woman: Essays, Readings, Poems (Beirlín, 2017)
Magan, Manchán, Thirty-Two Words for Field (Baile Átha Cliath, 2020)
Nelson, Maggie, Bluets (Londain, 2019)
Ní Ghríofa, Doireann, Lies (Baile Átha Cliath, 2018)
Shepherd, Nan, The Living Mountain (Dún Éideann & Londain, 1996)- Sara O’Brien
Cá ndeachaigh mé? – Where am I Going?
Cá ndeachaigh mé? – Where am I going? Is scannán turgnamhach 16mm é a fhiosraíonn conas gur féidir leis an eisimirce ár dtuiscint ar ár nádúr féin a athrú, uaireanta a éilíonn orainn ní hamháin ár mbaile a fhágáil ó thaobh na tíreolaíochta de ach freisin ó thaobh na teanga de. Leanann an scannán aistear mothúchánach lánúin óg ón tuath i nDún na nGall go Glaschú, agus iad ag dul trí thírdhreacha cultúrtha nua.
Trí fhuaimdhreach dinimiciúil agus tochtmhar, leagann an scannán béim ar na dúshláin a bhaineann le bogadh agus ag dul i dtaithí ar áit nua, agus an dóigh go minic a d’fhéadfadh athrú ar fhéiniúlacht agus ar chaidrimh a bheith mar thoradh air seo.
Stiúrthóir: Fionnuala McCormack, Léiritheoir:Lia Campbell, Stiúrthóir Fuaime & Comhchruthaitheoir: Étáin Saoirse Sweeney, Cuideachta Léiriúcháin: Dumbworld.
Heartland
Christina McBride
Críocha an Chroí is the first body of work to emerge from a recent residency undertaken by the artist Christina McBride in Gaoth Dobhair. The residency was supported by the University of Galway, Údarás na Gaeltachta, Ealaín na Gaeltachta, An Gailearaí, Gaoth Dobhair and the Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny and enabled her to focus on two main projects: the development of a new body of lens-based work as well as the creation of a photographic archive which focuses on the Glasgow - Gaoth Dobhair diaspora.
The Críocha an Chroí exhibition focuses on the specifics of the landscape of this region and utilises the produce from both the land and the sea to create sustainable photographic developers which build connections between the image, the place and the process - and also the past with the present and future. Work from the Glasgow - Gaoth Dobhair Archive will be seen later this year in the old school, Bun an Inbhir.
( placehold )
Light leaks out and the land seeps in where elements have been collected to yield an image. Images that have been bathed in alchemical distillations so that this place can disclose itself to us. We seek modes of inhabitation and so we court language because that, after all, is a means of composing imagery too.
We dwell to come to know. We rustle through memories, not only to return but to retain. These residues are vital. We draw succour from that which came before us and we layer these remnants, like strata, one upon another and the next.
We piece together our pasts to situate ourselves, which might be why the fragmentary can feel so fruitful. It lets us in. The artist can do this too, providing images as temporary enclosures and protective mechanisms that bestow brief veils of permanence on what might otherwise be lost.
These processes are tender and intimate but volatile too, with the shifting and the sifting between what is and what was. But images are not only reflections of the seen. They are refracted by vantage points of affiliation and, here, they are literally infused with the produce of the place.
Sarah gathered moss from the edge. Sally before her. Nellie next. Each brings the other with her and, with this, carries something of before. Christina follows, making samples and finding in terrain that has historically been deemed inhospitable a space that can host these histories.
She draws from the land, knowing that not all lines are explicit and that our connections are often tentative and tentacular. Moments repeat themselves and we learn that lineage is circular and reverberant. There is resilience in these archives of ancestry. All is made with what was and will go back to where it began.
Dislodged from the mountain, debris tells of passing time. The precision of balance hints at the stubborn persistence of instability. Everything is wont to change and it is perhaps from this inevitability that the archival impulse stems. It is for this that we assemble. That and the feeling that it has been waiting here all along.
From an ever-increasing preponderance of images and in a world drenched with stimuli comes a desire to qualify some of these instances differently. We find that an image can be a moment at rest. So we seek to negotiate its intentions and origins. We look for frames that can facilitate affinities.
Críocha an Chroí / Heartland is attuned to the nuance of these landscapes and the particular pronunciations of their protrusions. The work then comes to unfold under this dual-title where each term props open the meanings conjured by the other, stirring up fresh resonances. It may not settle simply but it illuminates the fecundity of an uneasy pairing and the many ways one thing can be said and thus given sense. For language can be restless and uncooperative but, like the light, it always finds somewhere and somehow to land.
Touchstones
Cascella, Daniela, Chimeras (Seattle, WA, 2022)
Haraway, Donna, ‘Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective,’ Feminist Studies, 14, 3 (Autumn, 1988), 575–99
Latimer, Quinn, Like a Woman: Essays, Readings, Poems (Berlin, 2017)
Magan, Manchán, Thirty-Two Words for Field (Dublin, 2020)
Nelson, Maggie, Bluets (London, 2019)
Ní Ghríofa, Doireann, Lies (Dublin, 2018)
Shepherd, Nan, The Living Mountain (Edinburgh & London, 1996)- Sara O’Brien
Cá ndeachaigh mé? – Where am I Going?
Cá ndeachaigh mé? – Where am I going? is a 16mm experimental film that delves into how emigration can transform our sense of self, sometimes requiring us to leave not only our home geographically but also linguistically. The film follows a young couple's emotional journey from the countryside of Donegal to Glasgow, as they navigate new cultural landscapes.
Through a dynamic and poignant soundscape, the film highlights the challenges that come with moving and acclimatising to a new place, and how this often can lead to a morphing of both identity and relationships.
Director Fionnuala McCormack, Producer Lia Campbell, Audio Director & Co-Creator Étáin Saoirse Sweeney, Production Company; Dumbworld.