Seeing Across Boundaries
Community engagement arts programme, EU Peace III Funded
Commissioner: Cavan Arts Development Office, County Cavan, Ireland
2009-2011
Included for reading is an in-depth summary of an example community project Sylvia co-designed with community groups in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland.
Project overview
Sylvia was commissioned to work with arts organizations in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to create a community engagement artist programme that addressed cross border identities, land, mapping, and the Troubles. She utilised surveillance as art as theme to examine, particularly through the history and medium of the camera obscura.
Her wrork led to a Master class art programme for the benefit of cross border regional artists in Northern Ireland (County Fermanagh) and the Republic of Ireland (CountyCavan & Monaghan), Exhibitions at Leitrim Sculpture Centre (2010) and Bluewall Gallery (2011); Community outreach programme; Proposal for Public Art Monument (Camera Obscura chamber Dates: September 2009 - February 2011
The mentorship programme ensured that both the lead artist and participants responded to how both architectural and digital forms could illustrate how surveillance can be a theme to comment on the recent Irish socio-political histories as well as be part of a larger contemporary art vocabularies. The project succeeded in producing a new civic ontology that explored how audiences respond to geography, borders, information mapping and architectural space within their own familiar landscapes through exhibition and cross-border dialogue.
Community engagement arts programme, EU Peace III Funded
Commissioner: Cavan Arts Development Office, County Cavan, Ireland
2009-2011
Included for reading is an in-depth summary of an example community project Sylvia co-designed with community groups in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland.
Project overview
Sylvia was commissioned to work with arts organizations in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to create a community engagement artist programme that addressed cross border identities, land, mapping, and the Troubles. She utilised surveillance as art as theme to examine, particularly through the history and medium of the camera obscura.
Her wrork led to a Master class art programme for the benefit of cross border regional artists in Northern Ireland (County Fermanagh) and the Republic of Ireland (CountyCavan & Monaghan), Exhibitions at Leitrim Sculpture Centre (2010) and Bluewall Gallery (2011); Community outreach programme; Proposal for Public Art Monument (Camera Obscura chamber Dates: September 2009 - February 2011
The mentorship programme ensured that both the lead artist and participants responded to how both architectural and digital forms could illustrate how surveillance can be a theme to comment on the recent Irish socio-political histories as well as be part of a larger contemporary art vocabularies. The project succeeded in producing a new civic ontology that explored how audiences respond to geography, borders, information mapping and architectural space within their own familiar landscapes through exhibition and cross-border dialogue.
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Mentorship Programme outputs included curatorial and artist participant projects delivered at the Leitrim Sculpture Centre (Scoping Worlds exhibition 2010); Blue Wall Gallery (Seeing and Being Exhibition 2011); and a series of community and artist led projects at the Irish FLEADH Festival (2011) |
SCOPING WORLDS exhibition at the Leitrim Sculpture Centre brought together distinct projects that share a concern for
the relationship between vision, technology and social history.
These projects variously employed perception, observation, instrumentation and interpretive response in exploring the social histories of the ‘border’ and ‘rural’ landscapes of Ireland mediated through the lens of past and contemporary visual technologies. Some of the works parodied known factors that have shaped how we see, map, construct and control the world, functioning either as ‘field research’, ’scientific analysis’ or ‘surveillance installations’.Others used metaphor and the imaginary to play with our common sense notions of reality and time and by simulating the use of technology within the making of historical geographies.
Seeing and Being in the Landscape | Blue Wall Gallery, February 26 – March 26, 2011
For many of the exhibiting artists their work illustrated a sense of freedom in reciting and using local histories as subjects, thereby creating new vocabularies with an impetus towards innovation in the form of the content, methodology and media application. The artists utilised video, performance art, photography, drawing and bookmaking to address complex cultural and artistic issues in an attempt to transform our understanding of visual culture and being. In this process the artists addressed cultural hybridization as a personal, political and cultural issue with a special emphasis on place. Ultimately the artists in Seeing and Being in the Landscape have placed an emphasis on the culture-scape and cultural identity, they transverse on a daily basis. Rather than inviting viewers to experience the works as a daily log, the artists, akin to John Berger’s ideas, follow the hope that the rationalisation of the work will arise through ‘Seeing (which) comes before words’
These projects variously employed perception, observation, instrumentation and interpretive response in exploring the social histories of the ‘border’ and ‘rural’ landscapes of Ireland mediated through the lens of past and contemporary visual technologies. Some of the works parodied known factors that have shaped how we see, map, construct and control the world, functioning either as ‘field research’, ’scientific analysis’ or ‘surveillance installations’.Others used metaphor and the imaginary to play with our common sense notions of reality and time and by simulating the use of technology within the making of historical geographies.
Seeing and Being in the Landscape | Blue Wall Gallery, February 26 – March 26, 2011
For many of the exhibiting artists their work illustrated a sense of freedom in reciting and using local histories as subjects, thereby creating new vocabularies with an impetus towards innovation in the form of the content, methodology and media application. The artists utilised video, performance art, photography, drawing and bookmaking to address complex cultural and artistic issues in an attempt to transform our understanding of visual culture and being. In this process the artists addressed cultural hybridization as a personal, political and cultural issue with a special emphasis on place. Ultimately the artists in Seeing and Being in the Landscape have placed an emphasis on the culture-scape and cultural identity, they transverse on a daily basis. Rather than inviting viewers to experience the works as a daily log, the artists, akin to John Berger’s ideas, follow the hope that the rationalisation of the work will arise through ‘Seeing (which) comes before words’
Sylvia Grace Borda discusses the concepts behind the Seeing Across Boundaries project (2011)
Detailed description:
'Seeing Across Boundaries' was an artist led project that aimed to foster an appreciation of both cultural identities and geographical histories. Mentored artists from Co. Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth, each of whom had an opportunity to re-examine the art of observation in the context of the Border areas between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Artists were introduced to the camera obscura, as well as stereo and macro photography, photogrammetry, and cartographic drawing as alternative ways of recording and observing. Work culminated in a series of exhibitions and public debate.
The mentorship programme ensured that both the lead artist and participants responded to how both architectural and digital forms could illustrate how surveillance can be a theme to comment on the recent Irish socio-political histories as well as be part of a larger contemporary art vocabularies. The project succeeded in producing a new civic ontology that explored how audiences respond to geography, borders, information mapping and architectural space within their own familiar landscapes through exhibition and cross-border dialogue.
Detailed description:
'Seeing Across Boundaries' was an artist led project that aimed to foster an appreciation of both cultural identities and geographical histories. Mentored artists from Co. Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth, each of whom had an opportunity to re-examine the art of observation in the context of the Border areas between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Artists were introduced to the camera obscura, as well as stereo and macro photography, photogrammetry, and cartographic drawing as alternative ways of recording and observing. Work culminated in a series of exhibitions and public debate.
The mentorship programme ensured that both the lead artist and participants responded to how both architectural and digital forms could illustrate how surveillance can be a theme to comment on the recent Irish socio-political histories as well as be part of a larger contemporary art vocabularies. The project succeeded in producing a new civic ontology that explored how audiences respond to geography, borders, information mapping and architectural space within their own familiar landscapes through exhibition and cross-border dialogue.
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Upper left: Seeing Across Boundaries exhibition (2010) at the Leitrim Sculpture Centre; Right: Seeing Acoss Boundaries participants learning to construct functional camera obscura boxes for landscape recording, and drawing. Lower left: Group ready with completed camera obscura boxes to record, draw, and photograph the local area.
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REVIEW:
Hogan, Sinead. ‘International experts in Cavan for Seeing Beyond The Lens’ Arts Feature, Anglo-Celt, Cavan, July 14, 2010.