CREATIVE DRUMMIN

DRUIMÍN CHRUTHAITHEACH

Creative Drummin launched on 2 December 2017, with an inaugural participatory post-card and online Hidden Reveal exhibition fundraiser event to celebrate Drummin bog and Irish wetlands at VISUAL Carlow to support and promote awareness of the newly formed Drummin Bog Project. The Hidden Reveal event was organised by Jules Michael, with Cathy Fitzgerald and the active and generous support of the Drummin Bog Project Committee.

In the following four years, Carlow-based community artist and painter Jules Michael and ecological artist and educator Dr Cathy Fitzgerald teamed together, with the active support of the Drummin Bog Project Committee, to develop and apply for funding to create, design and deliver a long-term, embedded-in-place, arts-led ecosocial programme: Creative Drummin.

Creative Drummin will be a platform for a range of art practices, from artists’ responses to Drummin Bog itself to collaborative practices, cumulatively providing a meaningful and inclusive programme. This will engage nearby residents of Drummond and St Mullins in South Carlow, and the communities across Carlow, to the unique and important natural and cultural heritage that is Drummin Bog. Such creative and artist-led inter-connecting activities have much social power to inspire understanding that thriving, healthy places are essential for personal, collective and planetary wellbeing.

As Drummin Bog is the last remaining raised bog in the South East of Ireland, it has real and symbolic importance and still has further potential to foster deep community engagement to care for its place whilst addressing local, national and global efforts urgently needed ecosocial education and ecosystem restoration. Globally, an increasing focus for ecosystem restoration is a priority for this UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 as a crucial means to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Creativity as never before can empower, inspire and guide us in imaginative, inclusive ways so we meaningfully think and act for sustainable cultural renewal.

Although small, the Drummin Bog project is advancing two important strands:

1) It presents a template of how an innovative, inclusive creative-led ecosocial art programming can connect and engage communities to care for place. This further deepens understanding of how thriving environments are fundamental for personal, collective and planetary wellbeing.

2) it also advances conceptions of how collective co-creative participatory art practices that evolve over the long term depend on skilled ecosocially-fluent creative workers. These are durational embedded-in-place ecological “ecosocial art practices” (Fitzgerald, 2018, summary here) that have been developing on the margins of contemporary art practice since the early 1970s. Carefully leading such multi-faceted constellations of creative participatory activity (that may comprise aesthetic-scientific-local heritage aspects) within community cultivates everyone’s innate creativity so no one is left behind. These ecosocial art practices in community celebrate often inspiring, yet hard-to-predict outcomes that are not only about creating new artworks per se but which have immense social power to creatively change the conversation– across a community– for a better, fairer and more life-sustaining world.

Community ecosocial art practices therefore arguably present a strong case for additional, newer models of artistic funding – a commitment to support creative practitioners over the long term, as they build and maintain connections across place and between people. Deeply knowing the social landscape is invaluable as it fosters authentic and meaningful creative community engagement with place. Ecological art practices with community embody collective ‘transformative learning’ that is a priority in the urgent shift in global learning toward ESD (Education for Sustainable Development)*.

We are proud that Creative Drummin is helping build awareness of a new strand of creative practice that is increasingly valuable for today’s intersecting environmental and social challenges. We hope this work highlights the social dexterity, as well as the ecological insights and aesthetic capabilities, often developed over many years, that skilled ecosocial community art practitioners possess.

We also wish to deeply thank all the Drummin Bog Committee members for their trust and generous support in helping develop Creative Drummin. Our thanks also to Dr Anita McKeown for her incredible mentoring support.

* 2021 Berlin Declaration on ESD

Bunaíodh Druimín Cruthaitheach ar 2ú Nollaig 2017, leis an gcéad tionscadal mar  ocáid tiomsaithe Hidden Reveal le cártaí poist chun Portach Druimín agus Gnáthóg Bhogaidh a chéiliúradh ag VISUAL Carlow, agus meabhraíocht a chur chun chinn faoin dtionscadal nua seo.Bhí ócáid an Hidden Reveal seo eagraithe ag Jules Michael  agus le Cathy Fitzgerald le tacaíocht ó Choiste an Tionscadal Portach Druimíne.

Ar feadh ceithre bliana anuas, tá an t-ealaíntóir Jules Michael agus an múinteoir agus ealaíntóir eiceolaíochta Dr. Cathy Fitzgerald tar éis teacht le chéile, le cabhair an choiste,  chun iarratas a chur isteach chun clár eiceolachta agus soisialta neadaithe a dhearadh. Beidh sé lonnaithe i suíomh amháin, spreagtha ón Ealaín. Creative Drummin nó Druimín Cruthaitheach is ainm dó.

Beidh sé seo mar ardán le aghaidh cleachtas ealaíne; freagairtí don bPortach féin chomh maith le cleachtais  comhoibritheach, a chuirfidh de réir a chéile, clár oibre lán de bhrí ar fáil. Beidh sé seo ag tarraingt muintir na h-áite i Naomh Molaing agus Drummond i ndeisceart Cheatharlach, agus daoine ón gContae uilig. Bíonn na gníomhartha idir-nascach seo an-chumhachtach ag spreagadh tuiscint ar áit chomh folláin le seo, agus mar seo glacaimid  páirt i sláinte coiteann na bplainéide uilig.

Toisc go bhfuil an Portach Druimín an t-aon portach ardaithe fágtha in oirdheiscart na tíre, tá fíor-thábhacht shiombalach ag baint leis. Chomh maith le sin, tá níos mó cumas aige chun rannpháirteachas agus cúram muintir na h-áite a fháil. Cuireann sé go mór le h-iarrachtaí phráinneacha uilig na gcruinne chun athchoiriú an córas eiceolaíochta agus oideachas eiceolaíochta soisialta a chur i bhfeidhim.

Mórthimpeall an domhain, tá béim, fás agus tús áite á dtabhairt i gcomhair athchoiriú an córas eiceolaíochta. Is bealach rithábhachtach é Decade of Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 na Náisiún Aontaithe chun na hAidhmeanna   Inbhuanaithe Forbartha na Naisiún Aontaithe a chur i mbun oibre.

Is feidir le cumhacht an gcruthaitheacht muid go léir a spreagadh chun an samhlaíocht a threorú agus smaointí chothaitheacha, lán de bhrí, a thabhairt dúinn.

Cé go bhfuil sé beag, tá an tionscadal seo ag cur chun chinn an dá sruth éagsúla seo:

I) Cuireann sé teimpléad ar fáil dúinn chun clár ealaínta nua, atá Cruthaitheach, eiceolaíochta agus soisialta, a bheidh in ann spreagadh agus freastal ar mhuintir na h-áite. Cuirfidh sé seo neart tuiscint dúinn ar ghnáthóga  bunúsacha i gcomhair sláinte coiteann na bplainéide.

II) Cuireann sé in iúl an coincheap  go bhfuil obair comh-chruthalach a bhíonn á bhforbairt diaidh ar ndiaidh  ag braitheadh ar scilleanna na n-oibritheirí chruthaitheacha atá líofa in eiceolaíocht soisialta. Is cleachtas é seo atá lonnaithe agus leabaithe in suíomh amháin. ‘Eco-social Art Practices’ (Fitzgerald, 2018, summary here) Tá siad tar éis a bheith ag forbairt é seo ar imeall cleachtas na h-ealaíne comhaimséartha ó na 1970í anuas. Tá alán cumhacht acu an comhrá a athrú.

Mar sin, tá cás láidir ann múnla nua  de mhaoiniú ealaíonta a aimsiú.  Bheadh gá le gealltanas  éigin chun tacaíocht a thabhairt do ealaíntóirí go fadthéarmach, fad is a mbíonn siad ag tógáil agus ag coinneál ceangail idir áiteanna agus daoine. Tá an taithí soisialta seo thar a bheith luachmhar. Is féidir le cleachtais eiceolaíochta leis an bpobal athrú bunúsach a dhéanamh, ‘oideachas claochclaitheach’ a thugtar ar seo. Agus tá an t-athrú i dtreo Oideachas i gcomhair Forbairt Inbhuanaithe.*

Táimid bróidúil go bhfuil Druimín Cruthaitheach ag cabhrú feachtas agus tuiscint a léiriú ar an sruth nua seo de chleachtas ealaíonta. Tá sé tábhactach leis na dúshláin timpeallachta agus soisialta go léir atá ann. Tá súil againn go n-éiríonn leis cur in iúl léargas eiceolaíochta agus cumas soisialta agus aeistéitice a nochtú, atá forbartha go minic ar feadh na blianta ag na h-ealaíntóirí oilte seo.

Ba mhaith linn míle buíochas a ghabháil le baill an choiste An Portach Druimín le h-aghaidh an tacaíocht a thug siad ag cabhrú linn Druimín Chruthaitheach a bhunú. Freisin, míle buíochas le Dr. Anita McKeown as ucht an tacaíocht meantóireachta.

*Fógairt Berlin ar an ESD educational sustainable development 

Creative Drummin and the Drummin Bog Project wish to acknowledge Carlow-born painter Phoebe Cope for the translation above. Phoebe has taken part in Haumea Ecoversity ecoliteracy and Earth Charter courses led by Cathy Fitzgerald.