Ana Ospina and Alice Halliday

Ana Ospina and Alice Halliday
Circus, St Patricks Parade Project  
Studio Residency 7 January to 20 March 2019

The artists will create a visually spectacular and eco-friendly response to the theme ‘Circus’ for the St Patricks Day Parade 2019 by creating upcycled costumes to be made and worn by 10-15 performers of a range of ages from the local community. All materials will be pre-used and recycled wherever possible. Participants in the project will learn about the history of the circus and use their imaginations to think about what its future might look like. They will also develop characters of their own to perform as in the parade. Ana Ospina is a socially engaged artist and creative producer with a background in Theatre Design (specialising in Costume). Alice Halliday is an ethical fashion designer, specialising in unique made-to-measure Bohemian Bridal Couture & Event Wear. She has a passion for sustainability and uses mostly vintage and upcycled materials in her creations. Abigail O’Shea – Project Assistant (AOS) is a student at Cork County College of Commerce, Art and Craft QQI level 5

Thursday February 11th: Make your own Enchanted Cloak
Using simple sewing techniques, ethical fashion designer Alice Halliday shows you how to create and decorate a unique cloak as part of your costume, from scrap materials. Time to complete: 1-2 hours. Join the event on Facebook for updates: https://www.facebook.com/events/528085584831420/

Thursday February 18th: Craft your own Magical Parade Props
Simple making techniques to help you create creative props and accessories to go with your costume from lead artist and theatre designer, Ana Ospina and designer/maker Michael Stephens. Time to complete: 1-2 hours making and 1-2 days drying time depending on which item you make. Join the event on Facebook for updates: https://www.facebook.com/events/459409358761988/

Thursday February 25th: Fabricating Mythical Headpieces
Your crowning glory! Learn to make an eye-catching headpiece or crown with help from ethical fashion designer Alice Halliday. Use materials you already have at home or sign up to receive one of our free kits, which include the basic materials you will need to make your headpiece. This activity will be accompanied by a free online workshop which will be streamed live via Zoom and Facebook at 3pm on Saturday the 27th of February at 3pm. Booking is essential to receive your free kit. Time to complete: 1-2 hours. Join the event on Facebook for updates: https://www.facebook.com/events/222129672942885/

Saturday February 27: Once Upon a Parade – Mythical Headpieces Live workshop
3:00 – 4:00pm (Zoom)

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT 

• Moving beyond mainstream modern images of fairytales, looking at the darker side
• Look to the past, back to a time when humans were close with Nature
• Consider our connection with the natural world around us,
• explore links to current environmental themes
• Explore an organic and otherworldy aesthetic that will surprise, delight and intrigue the public

We ask that you use recycled and repurposed materials wherever possible, and avoid creating unnecessary waste

There will be 5 sections to the parade:

“The Celtic Fivefold Symbol may be a good way of explaining the significance of this number. It consists of four interlocking circles with a fifth in the centre containing the points at which all four circles meet. The first four circles represent those aspects of our world which come in fours and thus represent wholeness, and which exist outside of us, for example the elements fire-air-earth-water; the directions South-North-East-West; the seasons spring-summer-autumn-winter.
So what was the 5th element which unified them all? It’s something esoteric and indefinable, something which exists within us and everywhere, a balanced uniform power which can be accessed by the human mind, which represents the centre of all, transition, transcendence, ascension, spirituality, balance, knowledge of all. I don’t even know if it has a name of its own, enlightenment perhaps, or the divine.” – Ali Isaac, Storyteller

Please make sure all children who take part in our online activities, do so with adult supervision. We advise participants to wear appropriate clothing and take relevant safety precautions when using equipment or materials that may cause harm.

WCAC acknowledges the financial support of the Arts Council and Cork County Council in making these residencies possible.