Opening Reception Wednesday 28 May at 6pm

This exhibition features a mix of craft, heritage, visual art and film celebrating the history and culture of the Irish currach. Curated by Andrew Collins.

Maritime-themed talks on Tuesday 3 June.

As part of the Ocean to City Maritime Festival, Meitheal Mara is organising an Irish maritime heritage exhibition in Cork’s beautiful CIT Wandesford Gallery. This exhibition will be in place May 26th – June 8th 2014 and will feature a display of Irish currachs in various stages of making, as well as detailed information on the heritage and background of these beautiful traditional boats.

The launch of the exhibition will coincide with the Ocean to City Opening Reception and takes place on Wednesday 28th of May. The launch will feature key speakers from maritime, heritage and civic circles, as well as a unique currach-based performance on the River Lee by Scottish artist and currach rower Tom Campbell.

The exhibition will also feature a series of short films and archive footage on the history of the Irish currach, curated from the large amounts of film material we collected over the past 20 years. Finally, we will also host a number of maritime themed talks in the gallery as part of Meitheal Mara’s lecture series, adding to the educational side of the Ocean to City programme.

With thousands of Ocean to City spectators each year, this exhibition is a fantastic opportunity to engage audiences with Ireland’s unique maritime heritage and present Meitheal Mara’s collection of work on traditional currachs.

Meitheal Mara is a community boatyard, training centre and charity located in the heart of Cork City. We build and repair traditional Irish currachs and wooden boats, provide training and education, engage in rowing and sailing, research, events, exhibitions and media projects.

As an accredited FETAC Training Centre, for the past 16 years we have worked with people from disadvantaged backgrounds, including ex-offenders, long term-unemployed, persons with learning disabilities, early school leavers and asylum seekers. We have developed a number of successful programmes for specific groups referred to us by the statutory agencies.

Meitheal Mara is a social enterprise, heritage organization, a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. Our centre at Crosses Green holds a comprehensive research archive on maritime traditions, heritage and culture, and we are regularly consulted by both private and public organisations.

Taking place annually over the June Bank Holiday Weekend, the Ocean to City Maritime Festival is our flagship event celebrating Ireland’s unique maritime culture and heritage. Attracting thousands of spectators and hundreds of participants, Ocean to City is supported by Cork City Council, Cork County Council, Fáilte Ireland and the Port of Cork, and run with the help of 180 generous volunteers. Ocean to City is one of only five legacy events of Cork’s designation as European Capital of Culture in 2005.