Six Artists from Inishowen, Norway and East Iceland were invited by Artlink to participate in an International Residency at Inishowen 2007. The title of the residency and exhibition was “Edge Centring” and enabled artists to explore themes about “edges” in a geographical and cultural sense.
Inishowen Artists
Maria Mc Kinney – explored ideas around measurement of time and physical borders, using sculpture and installation.
Locky Morris – used the ‘Inishowen 100’ as a starting point to gather sounds and images for a work of multiple viewpoints, on the theme of escape.
East Icelandic Artists
Sandra Mjöll Jónsdóttir –created photographic images using darkroom processes such as pinhole and camera obscura.
Ōlöf Björk Bragadóittir – created large scale paintings and drawings using rich tones and stains of color.
Norwegian Artists
Oili Puolitaival –combined cast concrete with drawings in dynamic new forms, to leave a lasting public art sculpture at Dunree
Ingrid Larssen – created sculptural forms using Hessian and hand stitching to create a 30 foot sculpture based on An Ghrianan Fort in Burt, Co Donegal.
All the artists created new work during the Residency based on proposals that were curated by Terre Duffy, Public Art Manager Donegal County Council and Adrian Kelly, Glebe Gallery curator, OPW, Churchill. Edge Centring was realized by Artlink in co-operation with, and supported by the Cultural Councils of Eastern Iceland, Cultural Council of Vesteralen, Norway, and Donegal County Council. Fort Dunree Military Museum kindly made the site and facilities available to Artlink.
EDGE CENTRING INISHOWEN 2007:
Background to the project:
Artlink exists to inspire and enthuse people to become involved with the visual arts, and is based in the northernly Inishowen peninsula of County Donegal. Working with professional artists, involving children and young people, and those with a range of abilities, Artlink creates diverse opportunities through which to become involved with the visual arts, including projects, exhibitions and public art activities.
At Fort Dunree in Inishowen Artlink maintains an exhibition space aimed at site specific projects and exhibitions with an international focus, and a programme that includes established and emerging artists. In Tullyarvan Mill, Buncrana, outreach educational and cross border projects take place on an ongoing basis, and Artlink has studio facilities equipped for painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics and fused glass jewellery, a Darkroom and a Mac digital suite.
‘Edge Centring’ took place in Inishowen in September 2007, literally at the edge of the peninsula at Fort Dunree, where the depths of the Swilly meet the deep waters of the Atlantic. From the 15 to 26 September this International Residency pilot project took place at the Artlink Studios and culminated at the exhibition spaces at Fort Dunree, where six artists came together to create new work in response to the myriad associations of the Inishowen peninsula and the unique site of Dunree.
The origins of Edge Centring began in the previous september when Erik Bugge from Norway and Skuli Gunnarrsson from East Iceland visited Donegal as part of their research to locate a west european partner for the ongoing Gulf Stream cultural project. This exchange of cultural partners and processes was established originally as a Millenium project between Vesteralen in Norway and Egilsstadir in East Iceland, using the Gulf Stream an an actual and metaphorical link between the regions, circulating down the western seaboard and historically linking the maritime traditions of areas such as Norway and East Iceland, and also the west coast of Ireland and including Inishowen as the most northernly peninsula.
From this visit to Donegal a reciprocal research trip took place in December 2006 when Mhairi Sutherland and Audrey Crawford from Artlink visited Vesteralen in Norway to meet with artists and visit cultural organisations throughout this area of northern Norway. Early in 2007 Mark Hill, Chairperson of Artlink, visited Egilsstadir in East Iceland and continued the dialogue with Directors and artists that led to the Edge Centring project taking place later in the year.
‘Edge Centring’ was advertised and a call for artists resulted in 22 submissions. The selected artists were curated by Terre Duffy, Public Arts Manager for Donegal County Council, and Adrian Kelly, Curator of the the Glebe Gallery in Churchill, Donegal, based on submissions received from practioners in each of the three regions. The artists addressed aspects of the Inishowen peninsula through their art practice, and proposed individual works ranging from cast concrete and photography, to wall drawings made with wool and an installation created with hand stitched hessian.
During the the time of the residency and exhibition the artists spoke about their work and the impetus to become involved with Edge Centring, to an invited audience of young people from Inishowen, and each gave an Artists’ Talk to the general audience attending the seminar and exhibition launch event on the 26th September.
The Edge Centring 2007 International Residency is a pilot for an expanded project planned for 2009 that will build on the achievements and partnerships created in Inishowen. Key to the overall project is the communication and strong relationships developed with the Directors and practioners from Norway and East Iceland, grounded in our shared sense of the power of the peripheral, the distance from the urban, and the value of exploring the ‘Edge’ of remoteness, the literal fringe between sea and land.
Edge Centring is an powerful example of international collaboration that has been established through hard work, good will and good humour, a sharing of resources and the willingness of the artists and curators to share their skills and experiences, giving simultaneously a sense of achievement about what has been achieved to date, and a sense of excitement about what might happen in the future.
Mhairi Sutherland is an artist and curator and was the Creative Director of Artlink from 2003 to 2007.
