A new art installation which has the local community at its core is set to open at Miltown Malbay in mid-August. It is hoped the time machine project located at the former Bank of Ireland building on the town’s main street will enable people to experience what it is like to travel through time, and be transported from 1984 to 2084.
Award winning artists Alex Gill and Maeve Stone of Cracking Light Productions have been building a time machine in Miltown Malbay.
The one-of-a-kind immersive experience has been informed and inspired by conversations with local participants, and will transform the beautiful premises of the former Bank of Ireland building.
The ideal location in the centre of town means visitors can experience the project in person and revisit their once bustling community bank, alongside Friel’s Pub.
The bank’s new owner, Aoife O’Malley has been transforming the building into a creative hub for artists and designers, and earlier this summer she launched the exciting ‘Design Bank’ .
This unique project which is funded by Creative Ireland will run from Saturday, August 17 to Sunday, August 25.
It will combine immersive installation, storytelling, theatre, audio and film to explore how homes, families, and stories evolve over a century drawing on traditions, habits and lived experiences to imagine our future.
As if stepping into two contrasting film sets, the project is a chance to reminisce and learn from the past whilst observing our changing environment and showcasing hopeful new technologies, from solar innovations to sophisticated bio composting.
“Miltown Malbay has really brilliant traditions. This makes Miltown the perfect place to discover what Irish traditions might look like 60 years from now and beyond,” artist and project co-ordinator Alex Gill said.
The Time Machine has emerged from months of research and collaboration with the generous community of Miltown Malbay, whose thoughtful discussions in school workshops and ‘Kitchen Table Conversations’ have contributed to the final exhibition.
Welcoming participants from nine-years-old to spritely 70-something-year-olds, ‘Kitchen Table Conversations’ saw meaningful and heart-warming exchanges as attendees considered the future of five key points –objects, food, clothes, media and energy. These themes explored in Miltown will form the cornerstone of the installation.
Artist Maeve Stone who is the other co-ordinator and of the project, explained:
“When we began thinking about this project the first question we asked ourselves was where would be the richest place to host it. Miltown Malbay caught our imagination. Spending time there, you can see and feel the past – its traditions and heritage are writ large on the walls of the town. One of the strongest ideas in this project is that the ideas of the past can help us build a map to the future or as the new mural suggests ‘To Forget the Past is To Forgo the Future’. We knew the success of the project relied on us building connections in the community, and so we put in a lot of leg work by dropping into art and language classes, bridge groups and history enthusiasts, introducing what we were up to and inviting the community to join us.”
Alex is an artist and film-maker known for his work in both comedy and tragedy.
He has collaborated with the Diet of Worms comedy group and created mockumentaries and online sitcom series for the Dublin and Edinburgh fringe festivals.
His films have aired on RTÉ, and he has reported on current events globally for Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, Maeve is a director and writer for film and theatre. Her work addresses climate breakdown and revisits the canon with a feminist lens. She leads the Green Arts Department at Axis and was Artivist-in-Residence at Project Arts Centre until 2023. She recently premiered her short film The Last Harvest at the Fastnet Film Festival.
The couple have also welcomed input from environmental experts Quentin Crowley, Director of the Trinity Centre for the Environment; Sarah McCormack, a researcher focusing on sustainable energy; and Jerry D. Murphy, Director of MaREI, the Science Foundation Ireland Centre for Energy, Climate, and Marine.
Together their expertise helped to spark Kitchen Table Conversations and informed what our homes may look like in 2084.
“We’ll be able to design homes that are generating energy all of the time and we will start to understand when to use it to make the most of sunshine or wind,” said Dr Sarah McCormack of our future dwellings.
Alex and Maeve’s creative partnership, Cracking Light Productions is based in Ennistymon, and their work focuses on generative action that addresses climate challenges inclusively, making work that is creative, community-led, environmentally focused, and builds resilience.
Cracking Light Productions is a recipient of the Creative Climate Action fund, an initiative from the Creative Ireland Programme.
Funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications, Creative Ireland supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empower citizens to make meaningful behavioural transformations.
The projects selected are ones which encourage everyone to rethink their lifestyles, connect with the biodiversity crisis, enable a fair and just transition in making lifestyle changes, and assist citizens to understand the climate crisis and adapt to effects of climate change.
The five-year programme aims to connects people, creativity and well-being.
All proceeds from exhibition will be donated to a local community initiative decided by the community.
The Time Machine runs from Saturday, August 17 to Sunday, August 25.
Tickets can be booked on eventbrite.ie.
Sharon Dolan D’Arcy covers West Clare news. After completing a masters in journalism at University of Galway, Sharon worked as a court reporter at the Sligo Weekender. She was also editor of the Athenry News and Views.