Delighted to get some publicity in this weeks paper for my ongoing project  “Coping with Covid” which  document first hand accounts (positive and negative) of people in Laois living within a pandemic by creating a visual document of this strange time in our history.
Check out the full article here https://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/news/610353/life-in-laois-during-covid-19-pandemic.html

Well woke this morning in a bad ol' Covid mood- no walks or pool swims this week due to February feckin'' freeze-inness and  being generally fed up of it all....and then look at what the post man brought to our door...A LETTER FROM THE MAN HIMSELF- SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH !!
We are beyond thrilled!!! The bairns, after a bit of encouragement and fed up with lock down inactivity, penned a letter to himself last month and sent him some pics of themselves (below) taken a few years ago at the beginning  of my People Against Plastic campaign. They thanked him for for just being himself and he, being the wonderful human that he is, wrote back!
Love n light from the much cheered up Holland-Romes xxx

Yes that figure is correct…. people in the medical profession have to use disposable masks but no excuse for the rest of us…. and the surge in disposable mask use came at a time when we are clearly drowning in plastic. Single-use surgical masks caused "enormous" plastic waste, also they cannot be recycled through conventional recycling facilities so they are basically LANDFILL.
It was great late last year (in between lock-downs) to meet with  the T.Y. students at Our Lady’s Bower secondary school in Athlone where together spent a morning making masks from their single use plastic whilst informing, guiding and listening to their thoughts about new ways to reduce plastic in their everyday lives.

 Well after putting up the Children of the free state photographic exhibition it was disappointing that it couldn't open due to a 2 week lock-down in Laois. Now I am  happy to report that the Dunamaise Arts centre is open to the public again and you can go check it out in the flesh or failing that check it out here.. https://vimeo.com/443353340 .
Thank you to Creative Ireland Laois and FBD Insurances for their support and to all my wonderful elderly neighbours for telling me their stories.

Well its up!  Children of the Free State exhibition of photographic portraits of my elderly neighbours is going to be the first Post- Covid exhibition at The Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise as part of the Laois Heritage week. Using photography and video - this body of work focuses on how the process of documentation and storytelling can itself create space, physically and emotionally, for real dialogue and the narration of personal stories - past and present
However due to Laois being currently in lock-down the show wont open for a further 2 weeks but good news is that will  still run for a month thereafter meaning that it will be up for Culture night in September.  in the meantime here a sneaky preview of what to expect.....I'll be in touch again with opening dates when I have them!
https://vimeo.com/443353340
Supported by Dunamaise Arts Centre and Creative Ireland Laois,

CHECK OUT THIS wonderful T.V. documentary inspired by the roll-out of Creative Schools, a pilot project focusing on creativity and the Arts in primary and secondary schools all around Ireland. For my role I was invited to create head-dresses from single use plastic with the students from Stepaside Educate Together and I worked with them to create, innovate and responsibly reuse, reduce or replace plastics in their everyday lives. Great working with Anna Rodgers and Aoife Kavanagh ......First in a 3-part series.
https://www.rte.ie/player/series/creative-kids/SI0000006920?epguid=IP000065210 

Really delighted to have documented and curated this photo exhibition at Nenagh CTC calld The Salmon’s Wake whic is part of the Ilen Project’s 2019/20 Community and Schools Educational Programme. Summer 2019 saw an epic ocean voyage from Limerick city to the west coast of Greenland with woodcraft created by a group of Learners at Nenagh Community Training Centre (CTC) crossing the Arctic Circle.
 
Under the supervision of the expert boat builders of the Ilen Project, and their woodwork and Art instructor at our John’s Lane facility, since March of this year, the Learners of Nenagh CTC have been assigned the task of restoring the ‘Angling cot’ and creating the poles, paddles & oars, which were gifted to the local community in Nuuk. So if you are the  hood please do come along this Friday night 6-8 pm in Nenagh and see a the expo and a short movie I  created documenting the project.

Once again after everyone has left the site, we see the same scenario at the Electric Picnic as previous years. It is heartbreaking to see the utter waste and total chaos after the departure of festival goers. Is the Electric Picnic going to confront this problem - or once again stick its head in the mountain of rubbish whilst counting its soiled profits..

Here's an idea...As it seems that many of the folks attending EP have a total and utter disregard for their own space, then let's throw the responsibility back at the Electric Picnic itself. To tackle the cheap tents, cheap sleeping bags and throwaway culture - charge an entry deposit of 25 Euro per person, returnable when evidence is shown on departure, of sleeping bags, mats and tents being taken away.

Yes, yes but how much more time and money this would take...
You have the profits and even if you lose a number of previous customers, you may well gain new ones who will only admire the stance that EP has taken to tackle its dirty post-festival image.

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A great weekend meeting lots of good people at The Global green @ Electric Picnic 2019! Thanks to my wonderful crew at TITS UP and to Global Green! Here is a small selection of the fun but please go to www.peopleagainstplastic.ie to see the lot and download your portrait if you stopped by........