The Dark Edge of Europe at Kinvara Courthouse

May marks the beginning of the breeding season for puffins, guillemots and razorbills at the Cliffs of Moher after a winter spent at sea.

May is also Mental Health Awareness month and the Cliffs have less happy association in that regard..

A new exhibition in Kinvara, The Dark Edge of Europe, explores the physical and metaphysical boundaries of human existence, set against the exuberance and cacophony of the birds.

This project began in May 2018, during Mental Health Awareness month as a Kinvara Area Visual Arts (KAVA) members’ group project.

Fifteen KAVA artists came together on a monthly basis to explore these ideas through field trips above and below the cliffs.  Under the banner The Dark Edge of Europe, they shared personal stories of suicide, the dark places that lurk just below the surface, and spectacular encounters with nesting seabirds.

“We explored myths, legends and tragic events associated with the Cliffs, each of us returning to our own studio spaces to develop our ideas. We maintained a link through WhatsApp to connect us while working,” explains the project’s co-creator, Antoinette Hensey, “What has emerged is a unique body of individual work that is intrinsically connected.”

She feels their lives “have been enriched and our perspectives altered” as a result of the experience.

The artists involved in The Dark Edge of Europe show are: Aisling O’Leary, Andrea Breen, Anne Korff, Antoinette Hensey, Brian Twomey, Diane Reid, Judy O’Sullivan, Katherine Halford-Greene, Madeleine Shinnick, Patricia Kavanagh, Patsy Connolly, Rosaleen Tanham, Shona MacGillivray, Sinéad Macken and Sinéad O’Connell

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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