Earlier this Summer I had the privilege of working with the The Irish Community Wetlands Forum on a project entitled  "Peatland People". I travelled to eight different bogs throughout the midlands and met with amazing volunteer groups who work tirelessly to protect their natural habitats..This collaboration resulted in a book and a short promotional film.  It really was such a rewarding experience for me on a personal level and for that, I am extremely grateful. This experience has given me a newfound appreciation for Ireland's bogs, recognising them as critical habitats for protecting biodiversity and serving as essential carbon sinks. Their tranquil atmosphere and isolation from everyday life make bogs ideal for finding peace and a deeper connection with nature.

Well as I start to get my TITS UP (This Is The Single Use Plastic) Photo-booth  (to highlight festival plastic waste) ready to return to The Electric Picnic I remember the video made by the school children in Stradbally earlier in the year in response to the mess left behind ....... and sadly I fear this year will be just as bad.... check it  out ......straight from the mouth of babes...
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Opens at United Irish Cultural Centre San Francisco  https://irishcentersf.org/event/eire-today-opening-night-artists-reception/

In this recent body of work I am inviting  art enthusiasts and culture aficionados alike to embark on a captivating visual journey through my  exhibition, “Textures of Rural Ireland.” Through the medium of photography and photo-montage I am  exploring the nuances of Irish nature and culture and presenting a collection  of 30 square format images that celebrate the richness, authenticity, and beauty of rural Irish life. Each photograph serves as a brushstroke in a larger narrative, unveiling the intricate tapestry of textures found in the simplicity and authenticity of rural Irish existence. From  macro photography shots capturing Ireland’s rich biodiversity to thought-provoking images of roadside Virgin Mary statues, the exhibition offers a diverse fusion of artistic styles and themes. I am hopefully encouraging  viewers to take a closer look, revealing hidden gems and illustrating the profound connection between Ireland’s breath-taking nature and the intricate details found within its landscapes. From the wonders of frogs breathing to the delicate bloom of wild garlic, the exhibition offers an intimate perspective on the often-overlooked enchantment that thrives within Ireland’s captivating landscapes.

This exhibition was supported by Culture Ireland

T.I.T.S U.P. (This Is The Single Use Plastic Photobooth) returned to Electric picnic  again this year to highlight the same festival-waste issues come up every year as EP are nowhere nearer to solving them. We believe that it is not simply down to the festival goers. Of course they all have personal responsibility when it comes to leaving no trace behind them, but the festival organisers must also lead by example and be held accountable for the generation of so much waste. They could incentivize festival-goers to bring their tents home by charging a tent tax, paid for at the point of sale and returned to them as they leave the campsite, tent in arms. This is a conversation we hear every year at EP however nothing changes and the situation just worsens.
With a capacity of 70,000 people, the Electric Picnic (EP) is Ireland's largest gathering of music & arts and it has established itself as one of the world's most unique festivals. However the growing environmental cost of hosting such a large-scale event needs to be addressed most notably with the increasing volume of tents abandoned each year. Using a large photograph (as a backdrop )of last year’s EP campsite AFTER everyone had left.... we invited festival goers to have their portrait taken and to help us to come up with solutions to end this campsite carnage!
We also started a petition as we  want those responsible for organising this festival to put procedures in place to ensure that this current level of plastic pollution at the EP campsites is not permitted to continue.
Please sign and share if you agree
my.uplift.ie/petitions/end-electric-picnic-campsite-carnage

Imagine a world where every school community IN THE WORLD had students actively designing and leading projects aimed at curbing and/or adapting to climate change.  It certainly would be one way to begin implementing a new green learning agenda focused on developing deeper understanding of the numerous ways human action can help sustain a planet in balance and build the civic action skills needed to solve collective problems.
That's why it was so great to work with the girls of St Brigid’s GNS in Dublin recently and see first-hand how a creative-led and fun learning approach will help build the mindsets and know-how of the world’s young people to be the drivers now and in the future of climate-smart nations.

Our connection to nature, how much we feel we are a part of the natural world, has been closely associated with wellbeing, as well as looking after the environment.
It was wonderful to be recently paired with this small rural primary school in Wolfhill Co. Laois.  Using the creative medium of photography and film-making I was able to nurture these young children’s feeling of connection to nature to ensure we have happier children and create awareness of  the wonders of their everyday environment at the same time! A very important part of my collaborative arts practice aims to make nature connection a distinct goal of early childhood education and thank you to the BLAST programme for their assistance in helping to make this possible

I am always amazed a young peoples different creative ways of approaching environmental themes. Here's another example of recent BLAST ( Bringing Live Arts to Students and Teachers) project with Mayo National School County Laois - so great to help young people to find their voice and highlight  their concerns for the environment through the medium of film-making!

A recent BLAST ( Bringing Live Arts to Students and Teachers) project with Scoil Muire in Tullamore, Offaly - so great to help this group of young people to find their voice and highlight  their concerns for the environment through the medium of film-making!

So delighted to have been invited to show this body of work at the United Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco in March 2022 as part of the St. Patrick's day celebrations in the city. This body of work, which is a series of portraits of elderly rural people from Co. Laois, is an artistic overview of the disappearing way of rural Irish life in the 21st Century. Using photography and film it focuses on how the process of documentation and storytelling can itself create space, physically and emotionally, for real dialogue and to tell peoples stories - past and present.

The show was originally planned for March 2020 but for pandemic reasons it was postponed until 2022.

It's production wouldn't  have been possible however with out the generous support of FBD insurance and Creative Laois, and it would never have made its way as a cultural export to the United States without the assistance of Culture Ireland and their invaluable support in promoting the Irish arts abroad.

 Well as the pandemic slowly begins to become a thing in the past - thought I'd better put up a posts of a very cool project that did actually manage to ahead in the last 12 months. Funded by The National youth Council of Ireland I worked with the 3rd Laois Durrow Scouts group I got to play out in the woods by   facilitating arts workshops - a great example of  using creativity to celebrate nature ... and here are two short movies that we made! First one is Land Art made in the dark!

......and second one brings nature form the outside world inside!

 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........

Delighted to be invited to the Elements of change Festival at Cloughjordan Eco village last Saturday. We brought our TITS UP Photo booth ( acromym for This Is The Single Use Plastic Photo Booth)  to the event, and it was great to see old faces and meet lots of new ones. Got conversations going about ways to edge our way out of this plastic crisis and had lots of fun too too! Thanks so much to Cloughjordan Eco village for hosting such a great event and to the wonderful Tina Claffey, Mimi Doran and Freya Holland-Rome for all their help on the day! Portraits can be viewed at www.anniehollandart.com on the homepage.