CLIMATE change and creative responses to it will be the subject of a week-long workshop for young people, taking place in Clare in July.
The Rising Tide project was initiated in Lahinch last year by Alex Gill and Maeve Stone of Cracking Light Productions. The event, which took place in May of 2021, invited people to decorate small ceramic boats as a way of reconnecting as a community after lockdown.
This year, Cracking Light is inviting young people aged between 14 and 18 to join a local event from July 11 to 15. The Clare-based workshops will involve musicians, filmmakers and artists.
It will involve learning new skills and considering responses to climate change, and will put the focus on creating an artwork to be exhibited in Dublin in the autumn.
Clare is one of the counties at highest risk from rising sea levels and coastal flooding, but the project aims to find different ways of thinking about and feeling out these challenges.
Cracking Light is committed to working in a way that elevates the voice of groups that don’t always have the opportunity to speak.
Supported by the Arts Council, Glór Arts Centre, The Everyman in Cork and Axis in Ballymun Rising Tide will be captured by award-winning filmmaker Alex, who will use highlights from the week as the basis for a short documentary.
“Rising Tide is a special project,” Maeve said. “Lots of young people are worried about the climate crisis and looking for ways to express how they feel.
“This week-long programme will give them a chance to learn new tools to communicate creatively, as well as sharing their ideas with the public at a renowned arts festival this coming September.”
Applications for the week-long event close on Friday, May 27 at 5pm, and can be made on Crackinglightproductions.com.
Cracking Light Productions formed in January 2021 to develop creative projects involving storytelling to connect people to place, and to one another.
Looking for moments that capture something true, sometimes messy and sometimes composed, their projects are always focused on building connections.
The initiative is supported by the Arts Council Young People, Children and Education (YPCE) Project Award.