Artist’s eco showboat to visit Drumshanbo lake
On Sunday, August 7 the Mayfly will dock at Acres Lake, Drumshanbo and the public is invited to come along and experience an afternoon of art, workshops and talks.
The Eco Showboat Expedition 2022 is a four month arts voyage from Limerick to Enniskillen aboard the Mayfly, flagship of the Eco Showboat project, and the first solar electric boat to make this journey.
The project is the brain child of artists Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly, aka School of Looking.
The Mayfly will be moored at Acres Lake on August 7 for an afternoon of waterside events in the extraordinary Pangolin Pavilion, pop up shelter made from 30 striped umbrellas.
Artist Christine Mackey will tell you about her project for Blackrock Pond, Mesocosm. She has been engaged with new research into how the capacity of some plants can heal damaged water and land systems. Here she has woven a series of floating gardens, utilizing local materials, plants. and mycorrhizal fungi.
Over the spring of 2022 she also extended the project to include the Corryeolous Women's Group to construct a number of individual floating Islands based on the traditional ‘skib’ basket.
Biologist Dr Dolores Byrne will be there on the day to talk to visitors about plant extinction in Ireland, while the Leitrim County Council waters programme team join the Mayfly to look at invertebrates from the river along with marine biologist Rachel O’Malley.
Throughout the afternoon the School of Looking opens visitor's eyes to the wealth of biodiversity surrounding us with an experience in Slow Looking, and projects the first scenes from Cleary and Connolly’s epic River Movie.
The Eco Showboat project has received the Arts Council Open Call Award, the SFI Discover Award, the Limerick Arts Strategic Award and is supported by Creative Ireland, Waterways Ireland, Dublin City Council, the Local Authority Waters Programme, Leitrim County Council Arts Office and local authorities and universities right across the country.
Bookings can be made for the day by checking out the following links: https://ecs.page.link/XR2ZT and https://ecs.page.link/3N3FE
You can also get further information on the project and the Mayfly's visit to Drumshanbo by contacting: [email protected]