Copeland Art Collective
We are all traveller's
the birds and I.
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Swept to this island
by winds memory
and destiny.
Alison R
In May 2016, I was selected to be "cast away" with eleven other artists, to Lighthouse Island in the Irish Sea, as guests of the Copeland Bird Observatory.
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Our experience of the island inspired a diverse body of work that showcased each artist's unique response to the visit. The resulting exhibition was shown in three venues in Northern Ireland, inviting visitors to share the artistic journey by following the exhibition to each venue and to see how the artist's work grew and progressed over time.
As a poet, my response to the experience focussed on the winged nomads with whom I shared this little rock in the ocean for this short time. The work of the Copeland Bird Observatory is referred to obliquely in gentle references to the migration of the avian visitors that it watches so carefully.
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(Grateful thanks go to Ards and North Down Council for facilitating this wonderful experience!)