Údarás na Gaeltachta awards public art commission for Campas Íosagáin to filmmaker Mary Keane

Údarás na Gaeltachta has awarded a commission to filmmaker Mary Keane for a public art project for Campus Íosagáin in Baile Bhúirne, County Cork. Mary will work with the local Múscraí community, alumni of Coláiste Íosagáin, and in collaboration with the renowned dance company Teaċ Daṁsa to create a new film that weaves together memories, stories, and dance to commemorate the heritage of Coláiste Íosagáin and its reimagining for the 21st century.

More than 25 years after the old preparatory college closed, Údarás na Gaeltachta announced a major programme for its redevelopment and refurbishment into a new Enterprise Development Hub. With this development, the ambition, talent and entrepeneurial spirit of the Gaeltacht will be fostered in the old building once again, for a new age.

The commission was awarded as a result of an open call managed by Ealaín na Gaeltachta. Marina Ní Dhubháin, Arts Facilitator for Munster with Ealaín na Gaeltachta, explains that the assessment process was very competitive, as the number and quality of applications were extremely high:
“The response to the open call shows that there is a particular energy in the old college that inspires many artists, not only locally in Co. Cork but nationally and internationally. Ealaín na Gaeltachta is very pleased that the commission will be awarded to a project that is ambitious and innovative, a new work that will challenge the possibilities associated with public art.”

Call for Community Participation

Public engagement has commenced on the project, and Mary Keane is working with community groups and locals in Múscraí, collecting strories and memories of Coláiste Íosagáin’s golden era. She has extended an open invitation for contribitions from former students in Ireland and the diaspora. If you would like to share your memories of Coláiste Íosagáin with Mary, you can contact her at bosca.smaointe@gmail.com or 087 4443628.

Mary Keane is a Cork filmmaker with a particular interest in dance films and documentaries. She has a personal connection with Coláiste Íosagáin, which her father attended when it was a preparatory college for training Irish speaking primary school teachers for the new Free State. She documented his and other former students’ recollections of their time in college in the short film ‘Báite’. When the new dance film commission is launched, it will be shown as a diptych with ‘Báite’ in a permanent installation in Campas Íosagáin.

Mary spoke about her vision for the new dance film:

“The film’s choreography will be inspired by the stories, the place and the deep history associated with the building and the intentions behind its establishment. It will root the work firmly in local heritage while opening pathways to new interpretations and connections.”

Rónán Mac Con Iomaire, Director of Regional Development, Community & Language Planning at Údarás na Gaeltachta, said:

“This initiative is a fine reflection of Údarás na Gaeltachta’s approach to Campas Íosagáin, a place where enterprise and culture will be strengthened side by side. Coláiste Íosagáin has left a long artistic legacy among the community of Múscraí and the Gaeltacht community as a whole, and that legacy will be celebrated and commemorated as we prepare for a new era in the history of the building.”

Funding for this project to the value of 68,000 was provided by the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund through the Per Cent for Arts Scheme. Ealaín na Gaeltachta managed the commissioning process on behalf of Údarás na Gaeltachta.