Sea Change cross-border partnership project with ARTLINK launches 8-15 November

Causeway Artists: Bernie McGill / Niki Nemec / Andrea Spencer

Donegal Artists: Cathal McGinley / Tim Stampton / Cliodhna Timoney

Showcase at Saldanha Gallery, Fort Dunree

Initiated through partnership work with ARTLINK Fort Dunree during 2023, Sea Change offered three Causeway-based artists and three Donegal-based artists the unique opportunity to work collaboratively to explore our shared cultural heritage of living and working along this stunning island coastline - from the creative inspiration it provides to artists, to our maritime heritage and also the current environmental crisis and its impact on coastal communities.

Sea Change is a long-term project which we hope will ultimately result in an ambitious touring exhibition potentially involving three venues/organisations on the island of Ireland - Roe Valley Arts & Cultural Centre, Artlink and a venue yet to be identified.

In this pilot four-month project, all six artists met on-site at Artlink Fort Dunree to discuss their individual practice, discover mutual creative connections and influences and also collaborated through various mediums including technology and postal artwork/writings.

From 8-15 November, the group present elements of their ongoing project work at Artlink with a day of public participation on Sunday 12 November.

A Day of Public Participation

Sunday 12th November 2023

10.30am - 4pm

All six artists and representatives from Artlink and Roe Valley Arts will be on site at Fort Dunree to deliver a programme of FREE events for the public.

PLEASE NOTE It is essential to book by email info@artlink.ie for the Writing and Walking Workshop as it may involve leaving the venue.

All other events are at Saldanha Gallery Fort Duree. It would be appreciated if you intend to attend/participate that you drop us a line to info@artlink.ie or contact us through social media sites

10.30am-1pm / Writing and Walking Workshop with Bernie McGill

Join writer Bernie McGill for a writing workshop that takes inspiration from the history and natural environment of the site at Fort Dunree that overlooks Lough Swilly and the North Atlantic. This workshop will offer prompts and writing exercises to initiate ideas and will use as inspiration the works-in-progress in the Saldanha Gallery, created by the artists and makers who have been working in response to the Sea Change project. We will also use as inspiration the work of writers from across these islands who have written in response to the sea. Participants will have the opportunity (weather permitting) to explore the site and to write in response to their surroundings at Fort Dunree. Dress for the weather and in comfortable walking shoes and bring writing materials, preferably a hardback notebook (or equivalent) for note-taking outdoors.

11am-12noon / Sound Recording with Cliodhna Timoney

Over the duration of the Sea Change Project Cliodhna has been making sound recordings and will continue throughout the day to make recordings of the ongoing activities. Have a chat wih Cliondhna about the technology she uses and why sound is important in her practice.

12noon-1pm / Public Participation Niki Nemec

Listen to the artist talk about her work and practice: 'My painting practice frequently explores the contrast between distinctive man-made and natural forms. The landscapes I produce operate between memory, intuition and the physical reality of painting. Inspired by Fort Dunree, the other Sea Change participants, and the history of the shipwreck ‘Laurentic’, I have been investigating the power of the sea as a place of loss. The exact location of a shipwreck is impossible for us to imagine. In response, the Shipping Forecast’s ability to transport us to another imagined geographical space has been prominent in the prints and mixed media works on paper I have produced. This in turn has led to recurring themes of maps, co-ordinates, and the sound of radio waves across the sea.'

1-1.30pm / Lunch with the artists

This is an opportunity to have a nourishing chat with the artists involved in the project. Bread, water, tea and soup will be provided but you are invited to bring a contribution if you wish.

1.30pm - 2pm Maritime Stories with Tim Stampton

Artist and printmaker Tim Stampton has long been making artworks in relation to the myths and legends of the coast. For this event Tim has hand engraved images of seminal ships which he has printed as postcards, a traditional way of sharing our stories from the coast. Tim has a wealth of knowledge on maritime history and he will treat us to these stories in the afternoon.

2-3pm / Meitheal Líniochta (Drawing ‘Work Team’) with Cathal McGinley

Join visual artist Cathal McGinley’s to create a team drawing or Meitheal Líniochta. The idea of ‘Meitheal’ or ‘work team ’as it is the Irish term that denotes a community collective working towards a common goal, an act of neighbourly help and cooperation. This social concept is embedded in our Irish consciousness and Cathal utilises this approach not just as an instinctive methodology for his practice but also as a way to include and engage with both his own community and the audience. This activity will be accompanied by a live fiddle player.

3-4pm / Flameworking Talk & Demonstration with Andrea Spencer

Glass artist Andrea Spencer will give a talk about her recent work in relation to this project. She has been exploring stories, myths and superstitions influenced by the sea, guided by themes of shipwreck. Through this work she hopes to express the powerful dichotomy of loss and allure found at the shore line and that which perpetually draws me back towards the sea. As part of the talk Andrea will demonstrate the ‘hot glass’ process she uses using specialist equipment.