Brigid’s Circles – Creative Responses to the Circular Economy

In partnership with Monasterevin Sustainable Energy Community and Kilcock Community Garden and using elements associated with Brigid we will explore creative approaches to the Circular Economy with children and adults.
Circles are powerful symbols in Irish and international indigenous cultures and Christian or non-Christian beliefs. We will use the circle as our theme to express sustainable art in response to climate action and biodiversity, encouraging people to look at the world around us. Circles are symbolic of knowledge, wisdom and creation, values associated with Brigid which we need to reflect on in our society.

Brigid and the circular economy

Using eco processes which promote the waste-free reuse of materials until they return to the earth, we want to promote sustainable art-making and ancient techniques used in Brigid’s time. Brigid’s Circles workshops focused on gradual art making. We used elements associated with St Brigid – such as fire, water and the oak to create our own art materials by foraging locally sourced plants

We began with demonstrations and an introduction to sustainable artmaking and the circular economy. We also begin with a story circle, where we gather in a circle and share our knowledge of circle connections or what circles mean to us. Story Circles have an affinity with our ancestors through stone circles.

Exploring place-based Art and our indigenous past.

Many believe St Brigid was born in Faughart, Co Louth. However, her family hail from Ummeras, just outside Monasterevin and people in this area believe this is where she was born. Ummeras is located on the banks of the Grand Canal, which connects with the Barrow Blueway in Monasterevin, Co Kildare. While the canal was not there, waterways were very important in Brigid’s time as a source of water, transport or food. Our story began in Monasterevin with Brigid’s Circles continuing with another waterway town in Kilcock, Co Kildare.We explored and foraged along the waterways of Brigid’s lands, along the Barrow Blueway and the River Rye and considered the waterways connecting the biodiverse grounds like the veins of Ériu’s body to far-reaching lands and to sea in Ireland.

Botanical inks and dyes have been created from the earth for centuries. Handprints made from natural inks in ancient cave art most often belonged to women, overturning the dogma that the earliest artists were all men. 75% of the 14-15000 years old cave paintings in Lascaux, France are thought to have been painted by women. While we might tend to have an image of early Christian writers as men and monks, it is worth remembering that saints like St Brigid wrote some of the first illuminated books in Ireland in her gender-balanced abbey where monks and nuns lived and worked side by side. St Brigid wrote and made her mark in her centre of arts at the Church of the Oak monastery in Kildare, a detail often forgotten.

Botanical inks & dyes with Blueway Art Studio

Learning About and Practising Sustainable Art Making

We asked our participants to question is their waste necessary, and how to think differently about how to combine and connect materials. In circular art making, we try to keep materials in circulation for as long as possible.
Art for disassembly means participants can’t use PVA glue, sellotape, commercial powdered dyes, or anything that cannot be disassembled or broken down naturally. Hands-on making enables creative and inquisitive exploration of art making. Experimental art-making invokes memory through tangible experience, enabling all ages the opportunity to learn through play and experimentation.

About Monasterevin Sustainable Energy Community

Monasterevin Sustainable Energy Community is a non-profit community group whose vision is to support the people of Monasterevin, Kildangan & Lackagh in Co Kildare in sustainable energy use. We are a member of the SEAI’s sustainable energy community network and we provide information on schemes and grants available for sustainable and renewable energy upgrades and retrofitting to households and businesses in our community. We also are supported by Kildare County Council.
The Circular Economy is a sustainable form of production & consumption, where resources & products are reused or recycled as much as possible & waste is reduced. We are delighted to be a partner in this project, where the emphasis is on the waste-free reuse of materials until they return to the earth.
If anyone wishes to contact us, our email address is monasterevinsec@gmail.com and we can also be found on our Facebook page and our Instagram and Twitter profiles.

FAQs

What’s included in the price?

It’s FREE! This experience is being funded through Brigid 1500 and Kildare County Council. All materials for inks & dyes will be provided, however, we will ask participants to bring old sheets, t-shirts or fabric to dye to align with the circular economy….and plenty of small jam jars for inks. People may wish to bring plants or flowers from their own garden. You may wish to bring a little picnic if you are participating with a young family. We will supply tea, coffee & water. I will send an email with items you may wish to recycle a few days in advance of our first meeting.

Who can attend?

Monasterevin Sustainable Energy Community and Kilcock Community Garden are my partners on this project. In the spirit of positive climate communication, they have agreed to open the registration to everyone with an interest in sustainability so anyone from anywhere can attend! No art experience is required, just an interest in Brigid, a little imagination and curiosity.

What should I wear?

We recommend you wear clothes that can get dirty and you must wear closed-toe shoes.

How accessible is the workshop?

Some standing and crouching is required, we will be walking along the barrow and canals so closed-toe shoes are a must! Please indicate any other accessibility requirements at the booking stage and I will be happy to accommodate them where possible.

What is the age guidance for these experiences?

These are intergenerational workshops, open to all ages young or centenarians. However, our age guidance requires anyone under 18 years to be accompanied by an adult and the minimum age is 7 years old. Please note we will be working with boiling water and a gas stove at times, and there will be waiting periods as dyes or inks develop and we have a cup of tea. You are free to bring items to entertain children during these times.

Is this an art course?

No, this is not a course in natural dyeing or ink making. Whilst participants will learn new skills along the way, this is a community or participatory art project, also termed a socially engaged art project. The objective is to create collaborative art together, which will be exhibited at Earth Rising in IMMA. We will be exploring Brigid, circles and circular art making through the processes of natural dyes and ink making. Brigid’s Circles will also explore the Cycle of Reciprocity in sustainable art making.