THE
PEOPLE'S MILLENIUM FORESTS : EVENTS
NATIVE
WOODLAND MOBILE EXHIBITION:
The
People's Millennium Forests mobile
exhibition toured the country in 2001 and 2002 and visited
major towns and events.
The exhibition was in an eye-catching trailer with a vibrant forest
scene on the exterior.
Inside you would have found:
-
Introduction and explanation of the project
- Woodland sites and their locations
- Native trees panel
- Cultural information
- Woodland fauna
- Sustainable Forest Management
- NGO logos and briefs
- An audio-visual unit housed in native tree trunks.
The
interior of the exhibition
focused on the use of images and tactile materials such as leaves,
acorns, bark, etc., resulting in a more visual and interactive
experience. A display cabinet on board was used to display timber
exhibitions produced by woodturners and other craftsmen.
SCULPTURE
COMMISSIONS:
As part of the overall programme for The People's Millennium Forest
project, three Irish timber sculptures were commissioned to be
located at three of the sites; Cullentra, Lough Gill, Co. Sligo,
Ballygannon, Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow and a third site to be determined
in consultation with the Tidy Towns competition (the winner of
2000 Tidy Towns Competition was Kenmare). Sculpture in Woodland
was appointed to project manage the commissioning process, which
involved an open competition. The People's Millennium Foret project
also funded a sculpture
in Killarney National Park to celebrate Groundwork's 20th Anniversary
in September 2000.
Derek
Whitticase's proposal was selected for Ballygannon and was
completed in early November 2000. The sculpture, entitled Black
Stack, is constructed from a length of oak, sixteen feet high
and approximately two feet in diameter at the base. The completed
piece was then charred and invokes images of both a classical
column and an industrial chimney stack. It is a part of the natural
environment where it is sited and at the same time, through its
construction and colouring, slightly at odds with it. Black
Stack is intended to operate as a monument to Ireland's indigenous
woodlands and is sited in an intimate setting, surrounded by mature
oak trees.
French
artist, Frederic Subtil, was selected to realise his proposal,
Tearmann, at Cullentra, Co. Sligo and this was completed
in October, 2000. The site is different to that at Ballygannon;
it is very open and faces towards Lough Gill and the Isle of Innisfree,
which was made famous in Yeats' poem. Frederic took inspiration
from the idea of the island as Yeats' sacred space and the focal
point of the sculpture is the space that it encompasses. He was
also inspired by megalithic tombs in the surrounding area and
the associated spiritual quality. The title Tearmann is
an Irish word which can mean shelter, refuge, retreat and sanctuary
and the deliberate architectural quality of the work suggests
this and also allows visitors to enter the work itself. Tearmann
is 6 metres in height and 5.5 metres in diameter and was created
using 39 lengths of Scots pine, a native Irish conifer, which
died out in Ireland around 1000 years ago and was re-introduced
some 400 years ago.
The
three sculptures are a unique and stunning way to mark the new
millennium through the People's Millennium Forest and they are
now on view at Cullentra, Ballygannon and Kenmare.
