Limerick holds no monuments commemorating the activities of the Janesboro Hippies or the local followers of Baha’i faith and there is little mention of the Irish Revolutionary Youth Movement of 1970 outside newspaper archives and isolated memories. The street actions of the Magic Mushroom gang, who illegally refurbished derelict buildings in the city are remembered only by themselves. The counter-cultural impact of the Little Ellen boutique is unremarked as is the significance of the Church halls where the mid Sixties Beat bands manifested their teenage idealism.
Making the Cut investigates the understated historical significance held in a Limerick timeframe of 1968-73. The focus of this work for EVA International 2014 will take into account the un-represented traces of non-conformist cultural protest formed in the city in this era.
Predominantly music based these activities are conventionally recognised as pop-cultural sidebars if discussed in the context of the wider process of post-war Irish Modernism. They are also historically sublimated in relation to the War in the North. A Limerick language of non-conformity and a recognition of its understated consequences as resistance is what is proposed in this investigation
Making the Cut arena marks this time it with an activist slant in an engaged process involving a cohort of some of the original 1968 participants, invited creatives, activists and contemporary youth.
Activity, involving this collective, will focus uncovered material from the era translated through workshops for potential outcomes including the creation of music-based collaborative performance. This event will reference and celebrate the era’s silent production through a contemporary mindset.
In seeking to recover the authentic voice of protest, Making The Cut historically re-affirms the acts and intentions of disparate communities
Outcomes will be directed to reflect and expand on an armature of resistance. Towards the creation of an open archive.
Making the Cut . EVA International Limerick 2014
