Flags on display at Douglas Public Library
As part of KinShip, local communities have co-created flag designs to reflect on Tramore Valley Park as a public space, to reflect on the diverse species that inhabit that place and the flag as a metaphor for re-thinking land management.
This public art project has been led by artist Chelsea Canavan. Between January and June 2023, she has worked with local schools, community groups and individual park users on the co-creation of flag designs for a KinShip Flag in Tramore Valley Park.
One hundred flag designs have been produced in all, forty of which were displayed in Douglas Public Library in June and July where locals to the park were invited to shortlist their favourites for a final voting process.
In August the exhibition of flag designs has moved to The Atrium at Cork City Council’s Civic Offices for Heritage week, where public voting continues.
Lord Mayor Cllr Kieran McCarthy encouraged the public to view the shortlist and cast a vote on the best. “This initiative is a fantastic community arts offering as part of The KinShip Project which aims to develop a sense of connection between the people of Cork and the ecology of Tramore Valley Park. As Lord Mayor and Local Historian, I am proud to launch it as part of National Heritage Week 2023 in The Atrium at Cork City Council’s Civic Offices. With your vote, you can be part of selecting the design that best represents the values of The KinShip Project that celebrate our bio-diverse heritage.”
Cork City Council Heritage Officer Niamh Twomey praised the artist and participants saying “Together, they have explored flag raising and other rituals responding to space and queried practices like territory marking and land ownership. The outcomes highlight the unique setting of Tramore ValleyPark, a remediated landfill site to the south of the city near the famous Nemo Rangers Club. The designs prompt us to consider how to represent multi-species inhabitants in our actions as well as our cultural emblems and artefacts.”
The winning design will be transformed into a real fabric flag, hand stitched by the artist Chelsea Canavan, and flown in Tramore Valley Park as part of an official flag raising ceremony to coincide with The KinShip Exhibition and Symposium in the James Barry Exhibition Centre at MTU Bishopstown Campus in September 2023. A series of limited edition digitally printed flags of the winning design will be available also.
Special thanks to all the flag designers on their participation including CER Cork, Christ King Secondary, City West Community Access Programme, Gael Scoil Douglas (6th Class), Park Run, Park Rangers and Staff at Tramore Valley Park and the many individuals who attended the Flag-Making Drop In Days in Tramore Valley Park inSpring 2023.
