Saturday 20th January at 2pm at Galway Arts Centre
Michael Gibbons, archaeologist | Marie Louise Heffernan | Eimear Reidy, cellist
in conversation about the Woodland Symposium project as part of the branch the fork the harrow
Eimear Reidy will play live to Noelle Gallagher’s film Forest/ry, while Marie Louise Heffernan and Michael Gibbons will give some environmental context to the ecological activism taking place at the hatchery. See here for more information about the Woodland Symposium.
Eimear Reidy is a keen improviser and has performed with musicians such as The Quiet Club, Strange Attractor and Laura Hyland as well as solo performances in The Guest House, Plugd Records, Zolala, Sonic Vigil, Féile na Gréine, The Dock Arts Centre, Spike Cello festival and the Kat Laughs festival. Eimear has written music for a variety of settings including theatre, art instillation and dance performances. In 2018 Eimear wrote This Island in collaboration with Robert Curgenven. This piece was for solo cello and field recordings from Heir Island. It was performed at The Sirius Arts Centre and as part of Skibbereen Arts Festival.
Eimear is part of the Duo ‘Whose Woods These Are’ with Natalia Beylis. In 2020/21, they performed at Cairde Festival, Hunters Moon, Echoes at The Castle and Test Site and released their debut album ‘Whose Woods These Are’ on Nyahh Records,
In 2021 Eimear’s debut solo album Things That Happened at Sea was was written and recorded whilst on residency in Cill Rialaig, Co. Kerry and released on Nyahh Records.
Marie Louise Heffernan is a chartered environmentalist with the Society of the Environment UK and a training provider for, and full member of, the Chartered Institute for Ecology and Environmental Management (MCIEEM).
She has worked as an environmental consultant ecologist since 1997 establishing Aster Environmental Consultants in 2002 and the Ecology Centre in 2012. She was formerly a biochemist and briefly a farm planner and has interests in bird ecology, landscape management, riverine ecology, freshwater ecosystems, wild food foraging and in sustainability.
Michael Gibbons is one of Ireland’s leading field archaeologists. Born and raised in Clifden, Connemara where he still lives with his family, Michael is a graduate of University College Galway with a degree in History and Archaeology. He is a member of the Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland with thirty years of experience as an archaeologist and completed a 5 year term on the Archaeology Committee of the Heritage Council. He has worked with the Department of Antiquities in Jerusalem and for the Museum of London City Excavation Programme.
In Ireland, he worked on the Donegal Archaeological Survey and Galway Archaeological Survey before being appointed as co-director of the National Sites and Monuments Record, Office of Public Works for a period of ten years. He has directed surveys and excavations on Croagh Patrick and has mapped the uplands and islands of the Connacht Coast.
Michael is a member of the Nautical Archaeology Society and his current research interests include the archaeology of Irish uplands and islands, in particular the maritime pilgrimage tradition. He has carried out detailed research on some of the most important of these including Skellig Michael World Heritage Site, St MacDara’s Island and Caher Island. Recent archaeological work has included mapping the intertidal zone of the Galway and North-Burren Coast with a particular focus on the prehistoric midden complexes, vernacular quays, harbours and seaweed farms.
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