Tramore the merrier

Corkonians are being invited to take part in an ambitious public artwork at a former landfill site in the city.

The KinShip Project, which is now officially underway at Tramore Valley Park, aims to develop a kin-like connection between the local community and its park, encouraging people to treat the park like an extension of their own family.

Led by artistic duo Lennon-Taylor (Marilyn Lennon and Seán Taylor), the project will see 36 public-led free events take place in the park throughout 2022, including ten artist residencies and the construction of an ‘Eco Lab’.

Tramore Valley Park, spanning 170 acres off the city’s South Link Road near the famous Nemo Rangers GAA Club, has a history of significant environmental change. From the 1960s until 2009, the site was used as a landfill where over three million tonnes of waste from Cork homes and businesses was deposited over the years.

Ten years after the landfill’s closure in 2009, the site was transformed into a public park for the people of Cork city and a habitat for a wide range of animals with whom the project aims to establish a ‘kinship’.

According to Lennon-Taylor: “The park is an archaeology of our past, our friends’ pasts, and all of us that lived and grew in the city in those years. We are part of that park, we are responsible, we own some of the history of that landscape. The KinShip Project represents a challenge of the imagination in this era of climate change, and for all of us.” As part of the project, the public is invited to take part in Becoming Kin: The Kinship Citizen-Led Programme, where any Cork city-based person, group or organisation can arrange to host activities in the park on the last Sunday of every month.

For the first event, Cork Nature Network will run a free winter nature walk in the park on 27 February from 2-4pm, suitable for all ages. Cork artists from different disciplines are also invited to get involved by submitting an artist placement application at corkcity.ie/en/kinship.

There will also be an international open call for architects, designers and builders on 1 March to submit a proposal to design and build The KinShip Eco Lab, a temporary architectural shelter and creative space in the park.

The KinShip Project is one of 15 projects taking place around the country that are being funded by the €2 million Creative Climate Action fund through Creative Ireland. The project is being delivered in partnership with Cork City Council. Other project partners include Cork Healthy Cities, Cork Nature Network, Cork UNESCO Learning Cities Green Spaces for Health, MTU Clean Technology Centre, and UCC Environmental Research Institute.