by Kids’ Own
A children�s arts organisation and publishing house.
Building on the success of the first phase, Kids’ Own is excited to enter Part 2 of the Cruinniú na nÓg Shared Island Initiative, which connects young people from County Mayo and County Down through a series of creative workshops, which will culminate in their work being part of an exhibition. This project, funded by continues to bring children and communities together, offering them a platform to express their thoughts, ideas, and experiences through art and writing.
In this second season, children from both counties are participating in workshops inspired by This Giant Tent, a book made by children in Mayo for their peers. These workshops are led by Kids’ Own artists and writers, exploring themes like identity, community, and place.
The first workshop sessions in Mayo and Down have now been completed, with enthusiastic participation from both groups. In Mayo, led by Mary Branley and Alice Dixon, the beginning of the creative process brought great fun and joy, as the children took part in mediations that saw them flying over their local area in Attymass, creating maps of local places, and working with watercolours on self-portraits. Meanwhile, in Down, led by Ann Donnelly and Susanne Galbraith, the sessions have already inspired deeper connections and creativity.
A key highlight of this season is the upcoming in-person meetup in Enniskillen. This day-long event will bring together children from both counties to collaborate and share their creative journeys. It offers a chance for face-to-face interaction, enabling participants to work together on new artistic projects and reflect on their progress so far.
The meetup also aims to foster understanding and empathy as the children explore how their experiences connect across the border, further contributing to the growing and evolving Tada! exhibition.
In the first session at St. Colman’s PS in Annaclone, the children began by getting to know each other through creative activities, experimenting with chalkboards and photography. They explored guided daydreaming and began working on portraiture, using the chalkboards for free exploration and mark-making.
“In our first session with the P7 class in St Colman’s PS in Annaclone we started to get to know each other, experimenting with chalkboards and photography.” said Ann Donnelly
“In our second session in Annaclone we took inspiration from Emily Dickinson’s envelope-poems and – revisiting some ‘good questions’ for getting to know each other from last week – we experimented with different ways of writing these and exploring watercolours on unfolded-envelopes,” said Susanna Galbraith.
Mary Branley reflected on the workshops at Attymass School in Mayo “Alice and I met the whole school 25 children senior infants to 6th. Older group first: we did a flyover Attymass in our imaginations so we could make maps of the area, in order to be able to tell our new friends all about where we live. Similar with the younger group, but we sang a few songs together, including one in Irish. Question for our next meeting is: how do make friends with the children in Annaclone?
After session 2:
We’ve done two days in Attymass, our first day was mapping the area, after an “astral travel fly over “and chats with two groups. Second day was more focused on ‘me and my life’, water colours and me typing up a few interesting details. We broke up the groups like this 4th class by themselves, 8 children, 3rd 5th and 6th 8 children, and 8 in the junior room, senior infants, 1st and 2nd.
Speaking for the collective, “we” are enjoying it immensely. I brought the guitar to sing a few songs with the junior room, and this was a very enjoyable part of the day.”
With four more workshops planned in each county, the next few weeks promise to be an exciting time of creative exploration. The children’s new work will feature in future iterations of the Tada! exhibition, and we can’t wait to see how they continue to bring their ideas to life.
Stay tuned for more updates and behind-the-scenes moments from this inspiring cross-border project. To learn more about the first season of the Cruinniú na nÓg Shared Island Initiative and its origins, visit our page.
With thanks to Mayo County Council and Cruinniú na nÓg Shared Island initiative for funding this project.