If you look at the Green Door Leitrim Weekend (Page 48, What’s on in Leitrim) you can see that a good few things will be on between the 9th and the 11th of this month, all to do with building, architecture and sustainability, and it promises to be a weekend for discovering the unknown gems aka the “cool” houses in our county. But there is more, if you pick up the brochure from Inspirational Homes Leitrim (in the foyer of The Dock) or look at their website, only then you’ll realize the full extend of the activities offered!
Inspirational Homes Leitrim documents homes and buildings around Leitrim that are good example of sustainability and / or architecture, and it seems there are unusual and exciting buildings hidden everywhere all around us. Their website makes all of those homes accessible to us, partly with planning and development details, a rich source for inspiration and the beginning of a useful local network to develop for all of us.
So now, the first ever Green Door Leitrim Weekend is staged by them, and we can expect a festival of rural architecture and design, and hours packed with activities freely waiting for us!
James P Kinsella is going to challenge our views and perceptions with his exhibition ‘The Way That We Live’, constructing a sculpture of mortar and books that will represent a traditional cottage. His project will begin on Friday at 5pm in The Dock, continuing there all Saturday and he is finalizing the process in the Sculpture Centre in Manorhamilton on Sunday. Pull your sleeves up, bring a book or take one from his pile, and let’s help him build this dream home!
Personally I am delighted to see Alice Lyons’ Staircase poem once again on those stairs, the one about the Dock ‘Make Good all Existing’, just to mark the festival in all possible spaces!
The whole weekend will officially kick off with the Reception and Launch of the weekend at The Dock on Friday the 9th at 6pm and at 7pm starts the public debate on “How can architects help to make rural living sustainable?” with a highly experienced panel of speakers to shed some light into the darkened corners of this subject.
What some of you might not realize is that part of the parcel is Paul O’Connor’s exhibition Leitrim Architecture in The Dock, photographic work focusing on domestic architecture … and its up and running as of TODAY, a full week before the actual weekend. I had a look earlier, brilliant photographs, some beautiful details; I tend to like the spaces that closely connect the domestic with the landscape the best, and there are some great examples of that in Paul’s photos! Thing is that I missed some of the good artwork in the past, only for I hadn’t realized the exhibition wall space more to the left-hand-side back of the building, kind of at the backdoor of the Café and opposite the toilets, if you know what I mean … So even if you don’t visit the ladies or gents, make sure to pop your head round that corner anyway (and one right-hand corner further too!), definitely this coming week, and have a look at some impressive photos of outstanding buildings, some you may even recognize…
Saturday and Sunday are packed with events, make sure to check ALL the details, homes and buildings in south Leitrim are open to the public, free buses departing from the Dock, one on the “Mud tour” one on the “Dominic Stevens Tour”. Curious yet?
Cinema North West is also part of the deal, a selection of films is shown throughout the day in the Cinemobile in Dromahair, interesting choice of movies (At home in the movies, Garbage Warrior), and the kids also are being catered for with Mister Frederickson in the heart warming “UP”. Very groovy choice I have to say, even the children’s movie features a house and all that comes and goes with it…
And there is so much more, cycling tours between the homes on show, the ‘Mud Slinging’ workshop for children with builder Kevin Callaghan, guided tours of public buildings to name but a few.
Now I think you really are ready to pick up that brochure at The Dock or log on to:
http://www.inspirationalhomes.ie/
I’ll be around most of the weekend, I am sure I will spot some of you in the crowd!
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