Launch of my tara experiences project
Meath County Council Arts and Heritage Offices next week host the launch of 'My Tara' by Michael Fortune, a public art project culminating in a limited edition ninety-six page publication that documents a range of people’s experiences in relation to the Hill of Tara.
Cllr Jim Holloway, council cathaoirleach, will launch the book, with guest speaker, Conor Newman, chairperson, The Heritage Council.
From his studio in rural Wexford artist Michael Fortune conducts numerous commissions, projects and residencies throughout the country. Working predominantly in film and photography, much of his practice revolves around the collection of material - material which he generates out of the relationships and experiences he develops with the people he encounters. The intimate nature of these relationships and the subsequent reflective treatment of the material at hand is a key feature of his work. Much of Fortune’s work borrows from the popular conventions of film, home video, snap photography and the printed media and his work can be seen as growing out of a tradition of social documentary and anthropological film. Most recently he presented film work as part of the show EX, Catalyst Arts, Belfast and on RTE as part of the JFK Homecoming Celebrations, while later in 2014 he will present work as part the Irish programme at the Liverpool Biennial.
He is currently working with the National Library of Ireland in Dublin on a Child Ballad Project with the support of the Arts Council and The World Music Academy in Limerick, while he has just completed ‘MEET – The Mobile Pub’, a project commissioned as part of Limerick City of Culture 2014 and ‘About This Place’ which was commissioned by Wexford County Council. Michael currently works as a part-time Assistant Lecturer in Limerick School of Art and continues to conduct long and short-term project work in communities and institutions the length and breadth of the country. He continues to live and work in an area called ‘The Duffry’, at the foot of Mount Leinster in north west Wexford, with his partner Aileen Lambert and their three young children.
Hill of Tara, Visitor Centre - Tuesday September 16th 2014 at 6pm