School of Looking artists Anna Cleary and Denis Connolly launch the Eco Showboat expedition at the Hunt Museum on Sunday, May 1. Over the course of four months, the Mayfly, a solar electric boat, will voyage upriver to Enniskillen.
Twenty artists have been commissioned through the project to create work that engages with climate change. Throughout the voyage waterside workshops and talks will take place in a specially designed pop-up space, the Pangolin Pavilion. The first of these takes place on May 1 in the Hunt Museum Garden on the banks of the River Shannon.
The Eco Showboat expedition is supported by the Arts Council, Science Foundation Ireland, Creative Ireland and Waterways Ireland.
Register for FREE via Eventbrite.
2:20pm
Water Paths presents THE MAYFLY FLAG to Eco Showboat
The MayFly Flag, designed by artists Deirdre Power and Chelsea Canavan , responds to the life and ecology of our rivers, reflecting the short lived aquatic insect of the northern hemisphere, the ephemeral Mayfly. The 2.5 metre biodegradable flag fashions an interconnected creative resonance between oceans in relation to the fragility of freshwater habitats and ecologies found around the world. Selected for The Flag Project, in New York City, supported by The Rockefeller Center, the Climate Museum and the United Nations Environment Programme, the flag will fly over the iconic Rockefeller Center Rink during Earth Day Celebrations in April 2022. On its return, it will continue its journey aboard the Mayfly, the flagship of the Eco Showboat
2:30pm
The Local Authority Water Programme (LAWPRO) works to identify issues affecting water quality in Ireland and collaborate with the water stakeholders to find a solution. Community engagement is the cornerstone of this approach. Meet Ruairí Ó Conchúir, LAWPRO officer for the South West Region, who joins us to chat about what you can do to help.
3:15pm
Dr. Margaret McCaul, Limerick born scientist and Assistant Professor in Analytical Chemistry at Dublin City University, demonstrates a new innovative water sensor recently developed by INSIGHT Centre for Data Analytics. Sensors will be deployed on the Mayfly to collect continuous real-time data providing information on the water quality status.
11am-5pm
WATER PATHS ARCHIVE – Exhibition
The results of a year long creative engagement between the artists Deirdre Power and Chelsea Canavan and the Limerick waterside communities, The Water Paths Archive is a collection of notebooks and journals kept by Limerick residents recording their relationship with the river, accompanied by photographs, video and sound records made by the artists throughout their creative process.
11am-5pm
LJUSNE STICH’N LIMERICK
The artists Deirdre Power and Chelsea Canavan invited two groups engaged in the craft of embroidery to participate in a curated strand of the Mayfly Flag project. Connected by the water that divides us, participants from Limerick and Sweden are invited to respond to riverine ecology, respectively. The delicate nature of stitches, the tiny nature of insects, bacteria, and hidden ecologies along the river are brought into a tangible display alongside the ceremonial flag. The outcome, highlighting the fragility of our natural world, a space we must collectively stitch together, for the good of all.
If looking for one of our objects, please click here