Exhibition is celebration of West Cork islands creativity

An exhibition that celebrates creativity on the West Cork Islands will open at LHQ Gallery at the Cork County Council Library Building on Saturday, March 22.

Running until April 25, the ‘Sea and Stone’ exhibition will showcase a selection of works from the past two years of the ‘Creative Places West Cork Islands’ project, presented alongside creative artefacts that are unique to the islands including painted plaques, knots and ropes, Irish knitting, leatherwork, books, paintings and films. Creative Places West Cork Islands is an islands initiative funded by the Arts Council and Cork County Council. The project aims to build sustained arts investment and create opportunities for local arts programmes across the seven islands of Cape Clear, Sherkin Island, Heir Island, Long Island, Whiddy island, Bere island and Dursey island.

The exhibition title ‘Sea and Stone’ is borrowed from the islands’ cultural newspaper published as part of the ongoing project. Over its three-year period, Creative Places have enabled many artistic projects, some of which are presented in ‘Sea and Stone’.

Also, ‘Sea and Stone’ includes other works from the islands which are part of the ongoing cultural practice.

At the exhibition, stories from the islands will be presented in various books and films including My Townland, My Story, a book that tells the unique and important stories of the West Cork Islands from the perspective of its children. The project takes influence from the The Schools’ Collection, which channeled the folklore and local tradition of home dating back to 1937.

Mayor of County Cork Joe Carroll is looking forward to the exhibition. “Cork County Council is delighted to present ‘Sea and Stone’ at our dedicated visual arts space LHQ Gallery. Creative Places West Cork Islands is a placemaking initiative that leverages the arts to bring island communities together.

“We are very proud of the results of this three-year initiative and look forward to launching this unique exhibition.”