In Summer last year, a few women responded to a call from Mary Robinson to Climate Change groups all over Ireland to create a square for a quilt that would travel to COP 30 in Belen. This became the Interwoven subgroup of Dolmens Climate Change Network- environmental work through arts and crafts. This autumn, this same group were successful in being awarded participation in CAP, Community Arts Partnership- CEMENT project – Community, Engagement, Mentoring, Education, Network and Training.
This project gave the group 2 artists, a mentor and a mentee, for a series of 6 workshops. The group met before hand to discuss this opportunity; the theme of water, considering the poor health of our seas and rivers and the general problem of waste was the emerging issue.
Over the next 8 weeks a group of women have come together each week in Turnip House with artists, Caroline Shimmons and Elaine Mc Combe. Each week participants combed the shores and became more aware of the sea, saddened by the marine litter. All sorts of trash -plastic, glass, rope, and also the beautiful shells, mermaids’ purses, starfish and varieties of sea weeds were gathered. Weaving started and a rich tapestry emerged, accepting everything and turning all into something beautiful.
As time passed, this tapestry becomes a cloak. With St. Brigid’s day and the festival of Imbolc coming up to mark the beginning of Spring, the cloak becomes St. Brigid’s cloak. And the Interwoven group are busy now creating an effigy of Brigid, saint, Earth goddess, healer, and poet all in time for Imbolc.
This piece of trash art will be completed and launched at a special event at Turnip House on the evening of Saturday 31st February and will be on view there on Sunday 1st February. For the rest of the month of February, Castlewellan library will display St. Brigid’s Cloak. Dolmens are hoping to offer some events around raising awareness of the environmental impact on our rivers and sea over the month of February. More information as it unfolds will be available in the library.
Dolmens Climate Action Network wish to acknowledge the support of Community Arts Partnership in making this possible.
