‘Not just about taking nice pictures’

Nenagh Street Collective photography exhibition

Nenagh Street Collective’s latest exhibition was launched at Nenagh Arts Centre on Wednesday of last week.

Titled, Éist: The Listening Frame’ this exhibition explores the connection between voice, self and community. Through the medium of photography, the collective demonstrated the importance that creativity has in conveying current cultural values, legacy for future generations, identity and wellbeing, and the importance of inclusion and holding space. The exhibition is a participatory experience, and all attendees were invited to bring smartphones, headphones or earbuds to unlock the audio reflections and soundscapes that accompanies the photographs. This allowed them to listen in private, without distraction whereby they could connect more deeply with the experience, acknowledging that some truths are only felt when we really listen.

An incredible night was had by all who attended. The evening began with viewing the images in the corridor of the Nenagh Arts Centre. Each image was presented with a personal statement and QR code that took the viewer to an accompanying soundscape, an extra dimension, bringing the image to life.

Director of the arts centre, Trish Taylor Thompson thanked everyone for coming and introduced Nenagh Municipal District Administrator Rosemary Joyce to formally open the exhibition. Rosemary delivered a beautiful opening speech, highlighting the importance of inclusion within the community and how this was represented by the collective (with some photographs for the hard of hearing community, from which local man Patrick Collins was in attendance).

VOICE, SELF AND COMMUNITY

Welcoming everybody to the launch, Ms Joyce said the exhibition featured words and sounds to explore the connection between voice, self and community. The Nenagh Street Collective created art that challenges us to connect with our inner self, nature, community.

“This photography is not just about taking nice pictures – it is seeing the beauty in the mundane and taking the ordinary to extraordinary levels,” Ms Joyce said. “Whether the image be black and white or colour matters not – what matters is how we connect with it.

“Each of the artists has their own perspective and we too can have our own perspective, which is stimulated by what we see and hear. By looking at the image, reading the words of the artists and listening to the accompanying sounds, we can appreciate the rhythm that flows through this collection – connecting with our own heartbeat.”

‘HEARING IS NOT LISTENING’

“Hearing is not listening – the name of the collection is so appropriate. The Irish word ‘Éist’ meaning to ‘Listen’,” Ms Joyce explained.

“We are surrounded by noise but this exhibition calls on us to listen to sounds. It is extremely difficult to achieve complete silence; however, we need to listen and hear the sounds – whether it be the song of the wren, the ticking of the clock, the wind stirring the waters on the seashore, the music of the fiddle – or my particular favourite, the wind chimes. By connecting with these we can connect with ourselves and achieve inner peace, healing and harmony.

“It is seldom that an exhibition combines the senses in this way and leaves us with a memory that transcends the visual, stimulates the imagination and calls us to look and listen to our surroundings. Nature is never silent – but we need to be silent so that we can hear it.

“We must also remember that not everybody can hear these sounds and the exhibition includes images that remember it is not just about the pleasure of sound but sometimes the distortion or absence of it. Inclusion is so important and this is recognised by the Nenagh Street Collective.”

Congratulating all involved, Ms Joyce mentioned that the collective meets on the first Tuesday of every month at 6.30pm in Nenagh Arts Centre, and they would love for more people to become involved. She then invited Ciaran Houlihan - Ireland’s number one Elvis tribute act, a European champion performer - to shake up the arts centre with his rendition of songs like The Wonder of You, Blue Suede Shoes and Suspicious Minds.

The Nenagh Street Collective exhibition at the arts centre runs until October 31.