Athy Festival promotes the Barrow in style

FOLLOWING a comprehensive collaboration between four local organisations, Athy Library, and the Blueway Art Studio the ‘Future Ancestor’ Festival returned to the town on Saturday (16 May) in the Library grounds.

“This was part of Diversity Week and is to honour the River Barrow and all its history, tradition and biodiversity,” said Angelina Foster, an eco-artist at Blueway Studios, and the driving force behind this initiative.

“We had to battle the elements … it was actually colder than the one we had on November … and we were clashing with a couple of communions, but we had a lot on, and it was great,” laughed Angelina.

There were four main elements to the Festival – the Moth Project, ‘Rafta Berba’, ‘Crann Teaca’, and the Greise Youth Theatre (GYT) doing a performance called ‘One Voice, One Action – Make a Difference’.

“We had between 400 and 500 visitors, and had a few travel quite far, from Dublin and Limerick even,” she said.

“But we were featured on the national biodiversity website, and we got a good few from that.

“We had live screen printing, so people could have their own copies of ‘Berba’ (the mythical goddess of the Barrow) or the Moth Project.

“In ancient Irish mythology it was believed that moths could travel through time, and they were the souls of loved ones coming back to visit, that’s why you’d never kill a moth in your house.

“We made botanical inks from plants collected along the banks of the Barrow and from Kilberry Bog (where the Moth Project began just before Easter). We had an Australian artist Donna Wright who made a 6m canvas which she dropped down from the balcony in the Library to the floor that took the breath away.

“It featured salmon swimming down the canvas, and also freshwater mussels which are endangered due to pollution.

“The canvas was jaw-dropping, and had some impact.

“We also had Kilkenny artist Deirdre Southey who show a lovely installation called ‘Berba’s Reverie’, and Jacinta Hughes exhibited her watercolours.

“The GYT did an absolutely phenomenal performance, and they did a 20-minute long piece about the creatures of the river, and for a small youth theatre they were just brilliant.

“The Men’s Shed showed what they are doing, but obviously they couldn’t bring down the boat.

“We had a ‘Wall of Hope’ where people wrote down their hopes for the future – well, it was called ‘Future Ancestors’.

“Michaela Chloe from the girl band ‘If...’ did a solo show on the steps with just her guitar that was amazing, and Comhaltas did two sets and reminded people of their roots."

And for the future?

Angelina said: “We’re hoping for funds from the EU to put something else on over the summer, and we’d love to see it as a part of the EU Presidency."

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