Old Stories Brought to Life in a Unique new Walking Tour Experience in Stoneybatter
What happens when a young artist begins attending a weekly knitting club with a group of older residents from Stonebatter? In the case of Louis Haugh and the Tuesday Club, you get a walking tour of Stoneybatter narrated on an app through the stories of the knitters.
Louis Haugh took his inspiration for this project from the name of the Grangegorman Public Art Project, ‘..the lives we live’1 . He approached the senior residents of Stoneybatter through Alice FitzHarris, founding member of local knitting and social group, the Tuesday Club, and asked if he could attend some of their meetings to explore their wealth of knowledge and memory.
Three years later and these conversations have culminated in a walking tour around Stoneybatter, where the participants will be accompanied by the voices and stories of the senior residents. These stories are personal but give a great insight into Stoneybatter’s rich past.
‘One Hour Archive’ was officially launched on Wednesday 29th May in Grangegorman and is yet another inclusive public art project for Dublin 7 which was funded through ‘…the lives we live’1.
Speaking at the launch of ‘One Hour Archive, Christina Kennedy, Head of Collections at the Irish Museum of Modern Art and member of the Grangegorman Public Art Working Group said “Louis Haugh’s public art project with the Knitters of the Stoneybatter Tuesday Club has evolved from a wonderful collaboration between the artist and the community. This was brought about by the artist’s research, imagination and rapport with those involved and which, through sound, text and a walking tour, gives expression to personal and social histories of the area that might otherwise be lost.”
Commenting on the launch of his project Louis Haugh said “I’m thrilled to present One Hour Archive to the public. Working with Alice and The Tuesday Club to bring alive the memories of local residents via a digitally guided walking tour has been a wonderful and enriching experience. I hope that this work helps to open new channels of engagement for the broader community of Dublin 7 and sheds a light on some forgotten gems in the area.”
‘One Hour Archive’ is accessed by downloading the ‘PocketSights’ app to your smartphone. This is available from the Playstore on Android and the Appstore for iOS.
This project has come about in partnership with An Síol, Fingal County Council and ‘…the lives we live’1 , the Grangegorman public art project.
OHA has been commissioned under Pathway 2 (Round 2) of ‘…the lives we live’1, Grangegorman Public Art. This pathway aims to support community-based projects and events and to increase local participation and engagement with life through the arts. Projects are chosen through an open call and by an independent panel of assessors. For full information on all of the pathways go to www.ggda.ie/public_art.
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1: Extract from ‘Dreams of a Summer Night’, New Collected Poems (2011), by kind permission of the author, Derek Mahon, and The Gallery Press.
