No need to shelter for art bomb blitz

THE people of Ennis and visitors to the county town will be given a unique opportunity to pick up a piece of free art or crafts as part of this year’s Ennis Street Festival in July, all they need do is look out for the signs.
The Art Bomb Project, which is the brainchild of local artist Minnie Keane, is designed to promote a closer relationship between art and the community and during the festival, the town centre will be bombed with signs.
There’s no need for anybody to shout “take shelter” – if you find a sign, you get to collect a free art or craft piece from the Art Bomb Project Headquarters.
Speaking about the initiative, Minnie said, “It’s a fantastic treasure hunt for the family and a fun way to travel between the many exciting events the Ennis Street Festival has planned this year.”
“Signs, shaped like little bombs, will be posted in various locations within the town’s centre notifying the finder of what they’ve discovered and where to collect their piece. This will help us to be more interactive with the community this year, as we will have a tent set up each day of the festival,” she added.
The Art Bomb Project began during the 2011 Ennis Street Festival and is back again this year from July 5 to July 7 with the help of Alia Moloney.
All of the pieces involved have been donated by local and international artists and crafters from all skill levels and genres.
It will serve as the place where pieces will be collected and where more information on the participating artists and crafters can be found.
The tent locations will be different each day of the festival and on Friday, July 5, it will be at O’Connell Street Square; Saturday, July 6, at the Farmers’ Market and on Sunday, July 7 at Abbey Street Car Park.
“The pieces this year include a wide range of work from poetry to jewellery, paintings to crocheted hats. We believe art is in any creative work and extends to the world of craft as well. Keep on the lookout for our bombs around town and you might be lucky enough to take home some great art,” Minnie concluded.
There are 34 artists and craft workers participating from around County Clare in the project.
Meanwhile, also as part of the Ennis Street Festival, Vagabond Theatre presents The Butcher Molloy, a one-act play by Conor Montague comes to Glór on Friday, July 5.
The message of the play is life isn’t a game of hurling and is centred on former All-Star hurler Martin ‘The Butcher’ Molloy who is defined by courage, weakened by loss, haunted by failure.
Confrontation with an old friend inspires a journey through the dark recesses of consciousness in search of acceptance, forgiveness and a new beginning. The Butcher Molloy descends deep into the dark to retrieve slivers of light from within the despair of a broken hero. Love, friendship, illness, courage, death and assisted suicide are just some of the topics meditated upon over the course of a dialogue that mixes tears with laughter, despondency with hope, and croquet with hurling.
The cast is made up of John Donnellan, Conor Montague and Ciara Brady and is directed by Liam Harkin.
In the play, two old friends Martin Molloy and Professor Ollie Keating, struggle to come to terms with the loss of Martin’s wife, Sarah. The piece is powerful drama exploring the professional distance between the two friends and the mutual personal respect they have for one another.