Two Suitcases Promenade Day at IMMA: Images and Films

On Saturday 25th June, visitors to the Irish Museum of Modern Art were invited to take part in a film trail, seeking out film installations throughout the grounds of IMMA created by young members of CanTeen Ireland on Helium’s Two Suitcases project. Each film work is a unique response to the history of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham and the veteran soldiers who lived there.

The promenade day included an exhibition, a behind-the-scenes documentary screening and a Meet the Creators session. Over 300 film trail attendees and museum visitors engaged with the installations which were curated by visual artist and Two Suitcases lead facilitator Siobhan Clancy.

Check out images from the day by Paul Gallagher, view the films that were produced on the project and find out what some of our visitors thought ….

Private CanTeen Event

The day began with a private documentary screening for CanTeen, going behind the scenes on last year’s Two Suitcases project and looking at how the film works were developed. The documentary was shown on a loop throughout the day for film trail visitors.

 

Watch the documentary here! 

 

Film Trail

Visitors picked up a trail map at our Information Station to find seven site-specific film installations in the grounds of IMMA. Locations corresponded to spaces and themes explored in the young people’s films.Three film works were high-spec projections and four were housed in birchwood enclosures shaped like a soldier’s boot. These enclosures were designed and built by Siobhan Clancy at Fab Lab Limerick who sponsored the use of their facilities and equipment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WATCH ALL THE FILMS HERE! 

 

Process Corner

Here visitors learned about the inspiration behind the films and had an opportunity to talk to the young creators over tea and cakes. This space also contained a Soldier’s Games Area, inspired by pastimes popular with the veterans, and a sound installation from the original museum trail which the young people took part in. Visitors left their comments and little ones made drawings at the Reflection Bureau.

 

‘Creative, insightful into both being a teenager and being in hospital.’
‘Love it. Well done guys!‘ ‘Amazing‘ ‘Excellent‘ ‘Cool‘
‘Very Irish (Father Ted)‘ – comment on ‘Garden of Complaints’
‘A cancer survivor from Australia loved the work. She’s got the all clear and is on a trip around Europe.‘ – invigilator

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exhibition: A Lab of Altered Viewing

This photographic exhibition showcased Surrealist-influenced artworks created by CanTeen members during a daylong workshop with visual artist Louise Manifold on the Two Suitcases Project. With the emphasis on ‘thinking through making’ Polaroid cameras were used to create tangible manifestations of the work and the Polaroids formed part of a sand installation during the promenade day. A short film of the artworks coming to life during the workshop was included in the exhibition and can be viewed below.

The Two Suitcases Film Promenade Day was produced by Helium Arts in partnership with CanTeen Ireland and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Irish Games Association, Fab Lab Limerick, ACE Audio Visual, Flying Tiger Copenhagen, the Digital Hub Development Agency, The Copper House Gallery & Fine Art Printing and the Office of Public Works. Food sponsorship courtesy of Café Sol, Green Bench Café and Mizzoni’s Pizza.

Thank you to all the volunteer invigilators, to Paul Gallagher from DCU Fotosoc for the wonderful photographs, and to Amandine Vanhoutte and David Hurley for all the behind the scenes work! 

The 2015 Two Suitcases film project was principally funded by the Arts Council, The Ireland Funds and the Irish Games Association.