Cork City Council Arts Office and Creative Ireland have launched a new art initiative, Ardú, which has taken to the streets and alleyways of Cork city.
The initiative welcomes seven of Ireland's most respected and renowned street artists: MASER, Shane O’Driscoll, Deirdre Breen, Peter Martin, James Earley, ACHES, and Garreth Joyce, to create works at key city-centre locations. Co-organiser Shane O’Driscoll writes for Culture below…
The idea to have murals created by Ireland's best contemporary muralists in Cork was discussed last year at Cork's annual Graffiti jam. It seemed as if every other major city had a series of great large-scale artworks, but Cork didn’t.
Paul Gleeson, the organiser of the graffiti jam, Peter Martin, a stained glass artist, teacher and street artist and I developed the idea further during lockdown, and felt this was the ideal time for the project to happen.
We set about creating a manageable list of artists that had to champion local artists as well as showcase some of the best that Ireland has. Selecting walls would also play a key part, as the artwork had to be spread across the city and not necessarily in busy places. The beauty of street art is that it can totally transform an area and also make locals rediscover their city. The fact that it is public and free allows all to access it and as the murals were being developed it would draw people to follow the trail and see the process in making these works.
This year is the centenary of the burning of Cork, a time when Cork suffered a catastrophic setback, and today, 100 years later, the city faced another opposition with the pandemic. It is a proud city, with culture at its core, and we felt our idea would help raise the spirits and transform the streets in a positive way. The name Ardú, meaning "rise" in English, would act as a rallying cry and we have already seen a great reaction to the murals that have been painted. Working with Cork City Council and Creative Ireland, the funding and support helped us turnaround this from an idea to a reality in a short time despite storms and floods.
The themes and styles vary across the city, from abstract to figurative. Aches, a Dublin artist, has created a large piece, using his unique style, based on a hurler that stands a number of stories high on Anglesea Street. Seeing his work develop over 11 days has captivated all that have passed it, and it has already become an iconic landmark in the city. Peter Martin has painted a scene of a large fisherman in the Lee fields at night on Kyle Street, beside the Coal Quay on Peg Twomey's shop.
Deirdre Breen, James Earley, Maser and myself have created abstract pieces and Garreth Joyce will soon paint his scene about the burning of Cork on Liberty street using stencils.
It was important for us to show varying styles and techniques also, as it showed the diversity in creating murals on the streets and to encourage other artists, showing there is no preferred medium in creating street art, it’s the freedom of expression that matters and for the artists to enjoy making the work. We could have filled the city ten times over with the list of artists we had, but to do it right we chose to keep it small with a series of strong works that will spark the imagination of what else is possible.
For more information on Ardú, visit here.
