"WE ALL LIVE ON THE SAME SEA" (press release)

WE ALL LIVE ON THE SAME SEA

14 September – 12 October 2014

Presenting works by

Cliona Harmey - David Farrell - Deniz Üster - Fiona Marron - Gülsün Karamustafa Margaret Fitzgibbon - Mark Garry, Paid Murphy & Sean Carpio - Tayfun Serttaş 

Curated by Rana Öztürk

Sirius Arts Centre presents We All Live On The Same Sea, a group exhibition including artists working with a variety of media, such as video, photography, music, sound, sculpture and digital art. 

We All Live On The Same Sea takes its inspiration from the seaside location of Sirius Arts Centre on the banks of Cork Harbour. Contrary to the general association of the sea with separation, distant lands, and the idea of other shores beyond the horizon, this exhibition seeks to view the sea as a vehicle for unification rather than separation. The vast fluid physicality of the sea surrounds all lands dissolving rather than creating borders. Historically the sea has played a major part in the construction of personal and collective imaginings of a given place through the circulation of stories and memories in and about that place. While conventional sea traffic continues an old tradition of travels and narrative possibilities concerning distant places, in this period of globalization and digitalization, even the sea floor facilitates greater connectivity through transoceanic submarine networks that allow instant communication. In this context, this exhibition aims to explore the notion of sea as a connecting force between disparate geographies either through travels in the form of immigration, vacation, commerce and adventure, or through other movements within or even beneath the sea. The exhibition focuses on the ways in which the sea shapes our sense of place, both as singular experience of specific places as well as their connectivity with the rest of the world. 

Resting on the southern coast of Ireland, a country that is an island at the edge of Europe, where all international contact is overseas, Cobh is a symbolic place for travels beyond the sea. It is known to be a major point of departure for millions of Irish immigrants during the famine times and as the last port of the famous Titanic. The town is currently a stopover point for large cruise-liners and a tourist attraction. More recently, the inflow and outflow of people in Cobh reflected the rise and decline of the short-lived economic boom in Ireland. 

Along with Cobh’s peculiar history, the exhibition also draws upon the unique site and building of Sirius Arts Centre, the former Royal Cork Yacht Club built in 1854. With a view of the harbour and cruise-liners that arrive in Cobh, the gallery affords participating artists an opportunity to produce site-responsive works exploring its possible connections with other places, stories and individuals. In being situated beside the sea Sirius Arts Centre allows the exhibition to expand beyond Cobh to other places and times through the imaginative potential of the sea. 

Some artists, including Margaret Fitzgibbon, Cliona Harmey, Fiona Marron, Tayfun Serttaş, and Deniz Üster were invited for short residencies at Sirius to do research in Cobh in advance of the exhibition. In that way, the artists had the chance to reflect on the specific location of the exhibition, each from the perspective of their personal experiences, memories, and backgrounds. As a result, the final exhibition also engages with Cobh, a peripheral Irish town, and explores its particular narrative in relation to a larger global geography through the connections and dialogues generated by the art works presented. 

For further information and images please contact:
Rana Öztürk, Curator: "mailto:ranaoz@gmail.com" ranaoz@gmail.com
Sarah Iremonger, Sirius Art Centre, Visual Arts Consultant: "mailto:sarah@iremonger.me" sarah@iremonger.me 

Gallery Hours:
Wednesday to Friday: 11am-1pm & 2pm-5pm
Saturday& Sunday 2pm-5pm Monday& Tuesday Closed

Presented with the support of the Turkish Cultural Foundation and Cork Film Centre. SAHA provided support for the production of the works by the artists from Turkey.