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© The Board of Trinity College Dublin
www.curator.iepresents the ‘Irish Headhunter Project,’ an exhibition by Ciarán Walsh and Dáithí de Mórdha
in association with
Trinity College Dublin, The Royal Irish Academy, Ionad an Bhlascaoid Mhóir / The Blasket Centre, Mairéad Ní Ghallchóir (Áras Éanna, Inis Oírr, Árann), Jane Maxwell (TCD), Tim Keefe (TCD), Justin Carville (IADT Dún Laoghaire), Ciarán Rooney (FILMBANK Colour Management) and Séamas Mac Philib, The National Museum of Ireland – Country Life.
Funded by the Office of Public Works (OPW) and The Heritage Council.
Introducing
Charles R. Browne, the Irish ‘Headhunter’
How did one explain the presence of a primitive (white) race living in the back yard of the United Kingdom – at the height of the British Empire? Scientists based in Trinity College Dublin attempted to do just that by documenting the physical characteristics and habits of communities in the remotest parts of Ireland. Starting in Aran in 1891, they moved along the west coast and finished up in Carna in 1900. The whole thing was recorded by Charles R. Browne and his associates on a new generation of portable cameras using plates and rolled film, the latest in photographic technology at the time. They took more than photos however, they were the Irish ‘headhunters.’
Alive or dead the head of the Irish native was at the centre of all of their research, cranial capacity (brain size) and physiognomy being regarded as the key to unlocking the mystery of the origins of the Irish race. Specimens – the skulls of dead islanders – were collected and lodged in the Museum of Comparative Anatomy in TCD. Live heads were also taken … with a camera. These anthropometric portraits were contextualised with photographs of “the occupations, modes of transport, and habitations of the people, also several of the antiquities of the district, and a set of views showing surface of land and nature of coastline, etc.”
‘Charles R. Browne The Irish Headhunter’ exhibition will present in exhibition, for the first time ever, the photographs collected by Charles R. Browne. These are held in the Research Collection and Manuscripts Library of Trinity College Dublin. They have been scanned and reproduced especially for this exhibition and it is the first time most of them will have been seen in public.
This is probably the most important photographic archive to come into the public domain. It is supported by written reports – ethnographies – that are held in the Royal Irish Academy. Browne’s archive is singular in terms of its depiction of life on the west coast of Ireland in the 1890s. The anthropological inquiry – and the headhunting – that motivated it is one of the best kept secrets in Ireland.
Information: Ciarán Walsh +353(0)872370846.
meet the Irish Headhunters
The photographs are reproduced with the permission of the Board of Trinity College Dublin.
The Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy are published with the permission of the Royal Irish Academy ©RIA.
The ‘Headhunter’ project has been made possible with financial support of the
Office of Public Works (OPW) and
The Heritage Council (Education and Outreach Grants 2012).
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Newsflash: Heritage Council supports www.curator.ie project
The Heritage Council has just confirmed significant support for a photographic project developed by Ciarán Walsh | www.curator.ie. Working with co-curator Dáithi de Mórdha of Ionad an Bhlascaoid Mhóir, they have put together the ‘Headhunter’ project, an education and outreach project that features one of the most important photographic archives to have ever come into the public domain. In its letter the Heritage Council states that a project like this is ‘critically important in the current climate for the contribution it makes to cultural tourism, education and/or quality of life.
The project has also received significant financial support from the Ionad an Bhlascaoid Mhóir and the Visitor Services Section of The Office of Public Works (OPW).
It will be launched in Ionad an Bhlascaoid Mhóir in May of this year before commencing a tour of some of the most important cultural venues in Ireland.
Reproduced above, with the permission of the Board of Trinity College Dublin, is the first photograph ever of the Great Blasket Island community.
More info: +353 (0) 66 401 1080 | +353 (0) 87 237 0846
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Paul Galvin filmed for Andrew Duggan, Kerry and New York, 2011.
The art of handball: screen grab of Paul Galvin playing handball during a shoot for a new artwork by Dingle based artist Andrew Duggan
Paul Galvin in new artwork filmed by Ciarán Walsh | curator.ie for Andrew Duggan
Andrew Duggan and Ciarán Walsh have collaborated on artworks for 10 years, producing the groundbreaking rEVOLUTION project in 2004/5 and continuing on with a series of film based artworks and performances. The Paul Galvin shoot is part of a series that Andrew is working on for exhibition in New York. It focusses on the game of handball and the resonance that handball alleys have in contemporary Ireland.
“The handball alley was a significant venue in the cultural and political life of the surrounding community. For the most part it was built by voluntary local labour, though alleys were also gifted by landlords and patrons. In the early days, the occasion of a match was a significant local event with matchmakers among the spectators. The alley was often the venue for parish dances and gatherings. Local meetings of the United Irishmen were often held in ‘ball alleys’, the Irish Volunteers drilled in them, and they were also the scene of interegation and execution.” Vernacular Consequences
Earlier in the year Duggan and Walsh worked together on a piece that featured contemporary dancer Adrienne Heaslip. It was shown in the Irish Arts Centre in new York in March 2011.
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1515" title="adrienne Heaslip in an artwork filmed by Ciarán Walsh forAndrew Duggan, March 2011, Irish Arts Centre New York" src="https://redesigncurstg.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/adrienne-web.jpg" alt="Ciaran Walsh, www.curator.ie, adrienne Heaslip in an artwork filmed by Ciarán Walsh for Andrew Duggan, March 2011, Irish Arts Centre, New York." width="600" height="390" srcset="http://www web project management tools.curator.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/adrienne-web.jpg 600w, http://www.curator.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/adrienne-web-300×195.jpg 300w” sizes=”(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px” />
Adrienne Heaslip in ‘Court’ by Andrew Duggan, Irish Arts Centre New York. Photo: Irish Arts Centre
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Pauline O'Connell and Ciarán Walsh filming 'Drawing The Water' with Thomas O'Sullivan. Photo: Siobhan Dempsey, Latitude Imaging.
Ciarán Walsh makes debut as film maker
Ciarán Walsh of Ballyheigue makes his debut as a film maker with a screening of a short film in Milltown at the weekend. ‘Drawing the Water’ is a public art project by artist Pauline O’Connell. It was commissioned under the Per Cent for Art Scheme that is administered by the Arts Office of Kerry County Council. It was filmed by Walsh in September, on location in Milltown and in a studio in Ballyheigue.
It was inspired by ‘The Spout,’ a public water supply in the centre of the Milltown that was a focal point in the town as local people ‘drew’ fresh water on daily basis. O’Connell developed the piece over a year, collecting stories about ‘The Spout’ in schools and in the community.
‘Drawing the Water’ is a 4.5 minute film that deals with the tasks associated with collecting water. “It’s an intense reflection on the importance of water, the rhythm of the task of collecting it and the sensuous quality of washing by hand. It’s informed by all the conversations that Pauline has had with people in the town’” says Walsh who spent 3 days filming the artwork for O’Connell. The filming involved Thomas O’Sullivan of Milltown and the shoot was documented by photographer Siobhan Dempsey of Ballyferriter.
Walsh has set up a production company that is based in Ballyheigue. He has a number of projects in development and ‘Drawing the Water’ is the first to hit the big screen. It will be screened on a gable wall next to “The Spout” on Saturday evening followed by a second screening and a ceilí in the community centre in Milltown.
Still from the shoot on ‘Drawing The Water’ by Pauline O’Connell. Photo: Siobhan Dempsey, Latitude Imaging.
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<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1273" title="Udaras Web 600X380" src="https://redesigncurstg.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Udaras-Web-600X380.jpg" alt="Ciaran Walsh, curator.ie, EYEBALL publishing, Siobhan Dempsey, Latitude Imaging,photography workshop for artists , Údarás na Gaeltachta, An Daingean." width="600" height="380" srcset="https://redesigncurstg.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Udaras-Web-600X380.jpg 600w, http://www.curator web based project management tool.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Udaras-Web-600X380-300×190.jpg 300w” sizes=”(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px” />
Ag Cur do Chuid Oibre i Láthair –
Ceardlann Grianghrafadóireachta d’Ealaíontóirí
Faoi stiúir
Siobhán Dempsey & Ciarán Breathnach
Údarás na Gaeltachta, An Daingean,
Dé Sathairn, 3ú Meán Fómhair 10.00 r.n. – 12:30
Tá an ceardlann seo dírithe ar ealaíontóirí, le heolas praiticiúil a roinnt leo maidir leis an slí is fearr lena gcuid oibre a chur i láthair ag úsáid meáin éagsúla: an t-idirlíon, foilsitheoireacht, teilgin. I measc na nithe a chlúdófar beidh méid comhaid, formáid, cáipéisíocht, ag déileáil le fadhbanna. Beidh an ceardlann seo úsáideach go speisialta d’ealaíontóirí go bhfuil fonn orthu a bheith páirteach i gCrosbhóthar*
*teilgin lasmuigh faoin aer ar fuaid na Gaeltachta agus i mBaile Átha Cliath mar chuid den Oíche Chultúir, 23ú Meán Fómhair 2011.
Presenting your work –
Photography Workshop for Artists
Directed by
Siobhán Dempsey & Ciarán Breathnach
Údarás na Gaeltachta, Dingle, Saturday 3rd September, 10.00 a.m. – 12:30
This workshop is for artists, providing practical information on how best to present their work over various platforms: web, publishing, projection.
Workshop includes working with file sizes, formats, documentation, troubleshooting.
Artists who intend to submit work for the upcoming Crosbhóthar* deadline may find this workshop to be of particular use.
* outdoor projections throughout the Gaeltacht and in Dublin as part of Culture Night, 23rd September, 2011.
