It's Shorelines Time Again!



Shorelines has taken over Portumna. The festival has once again filled the town with lots of thought-provoking, quirky, and just plain enjoyable arty-type stuff. The Irish Workhouse Centre has not been spared and we are delighted to be jam packed with delicious art in all shapes and forms. Once again we are all reminded what a great gallery space the workhouse is, and for those of you who wonder how cultural events fit in with the history of this site, here is some food for thought.

The workhouse was originally meant to provide help and support to their immediate localities. They failed massively in this duty of care, but we can now readdress this balance using the same site. Heritage spots like ourselves, can and should be embedded in their local communities, providing something for everyone. Let's not keep making the mistakes of the past.

Arts are the succour of the soul. The most heart-rending fact I learnt from tour guiding at the workhouse is that paupers, though half-starved and in desperate distress from being separated from their loved ones, complained about being bored during the long evenings. They were locked in their dormitories at night and not allowed to talk to each other, let alone engage in more enjoyable activities such as story-telling or singing. This was cruel beyond measure as the Arts, in all varieties, are not a luxury but a necessity for the human spirit.

I love seeing visitors who would normally just come for the history side of things, be lured into the heady world of visual arts. I have also noticed Shoreline visitors be tempted into doing the workhouse tour and to their amazement thoroughly enjoy it. Of course there are those who naturally swing both ways and to our delight, they make a day of  their visit to us.

Lastly, I want to mention  a lovely Canadian Museum Curator we had visit us early this year. She was interested in how to encourage healing at sites of 'difficult' history. In her opinion, arts in all guises are one of the perfect solutions. They encourage us not to suppress our thoughts and feelings but to channel them into an outlet, and then share that outlet with the world. What a perfect antidote to the shame and fear felt by the inmates of Portumna Workhouse all those years ago. Long live Shorelines!

Elizabeth Carter (Museum Curator & Tour Guide)


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