New Public Art for Ulster American Folk Park

Fermanagh & Omagh District Council, in partnership with National Museums Northern Ireland and Fermanagh & Omagh LAG (Local Action Group), has recently commissioned a new sculpture to be located at the Ulster American Folk Park’s visitor centre.

The artwork forms part of the development of the International Appalachian Trail (IAT) in the Fermanagh and Omagh District.

The Appalachian National Scenic Trail is a marked hiking trail in the Eastern United States extending about 3,500km from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Katahdin, Maine, making it the longest hiking-only trail in the world and attracting over 2 million people a year.

The International Appalachian Trail is an extension of this original trail through a series of international partnerships that have been growing since 2009. The Ulster-Ireland section of the IAT was developed in 2014 and it continues to expand into new areas of Appalachian Terrains, based on the original premise that the trail will eventually connect all the mountains that were created when the ancient continent Pangaea was formed 300 million years ago.

This project was part funded under Priority 6 (LEADER) of the Northern Ireland Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and the European Union.  It is being developed by Fermanagh & Omagh Local Action Group in partnership with other LAG groups from other Council areas including Causeway Coast & Glens, Mid Ulster, Mid and East Antrim, Derry City and Strabane Rural Partnership, and Donegal Local Community Development Committee.   The aim of the project collaboratively is to develop, enhance and promote the Ulster-Ireland chapter of the International Appalachian Trial, which runs from West Donegal in the Republic of Ireland to Larne in Northern Ireland.

The successful design, which was submitted by Co. Down artist Kevin Killen, explores the human and geological connections between Tyrone, the entire island of Ireland and Appalachia.  The piece, entitled Murmuration, draws inspiration from the patterns of migrating birds as a comment on the experience of human migration.

The sculptural form will be a series of curves and peaks shaped from words and phrases that mark the stories of the travellers who have walked the trails and made the migrations.  Speaking about the piece, Kevin Killen, said:

“The swoops, twists and turns of the words will mirror the momentum of the people who have made these journeys and will encourage people to walk around the work, reading it and connecting with it. In essences the overall form is an amalgamation that reflects both the topography of Appalachia and the journeys of the people, symbolised by the murmuration feel to the artwork.

The Ulster American Folk Park, in association with the artist, is currently seeking words or short phrases, accompanied by a short piece of reflective creative writing, to be incorporated into the piece.  The writing might be a sentence, a paragraph or a chapter and all the musings will be collated into a scrapbook to accompany the sculpture.

Speaking about the engagement process, Curator of Emigration at the Ulster American Folk Park Liam Corry has said,

“We want to involve the new communities in the longer term with the Ulster American Folk Park. We want to engage with them to see how they see or do not see themselves represented at the Park. We want to reflect on voices pushed to the edge of the story told at the museum. The idea being to create strong links between historic Irish migration and the new migration to Ulster/Ireland. The art piece hopefully will be the catalyst in this process.”

Councillor Allan Rainey MBE, Chairman of Fermanagh and Omagh Local Action Group, said; “I am delighted that Fermanagh and Omagh Local Action Group are involved in such an innovative and exciting project working collaboratively with other LAG Boards to enhance and promote the Ulster-Ireland chapter of the International Appalachian Trial. The LAG is delighted to be supporting a number of other projects under the International Appalachian Trail Cooperation Project including the provision of a link road at the Mellon Country Inn Hotel onto the Bessy Bell Trail, the construction of a Boardwalk at the bus stop at Gortin Glens Forest Park, the installation of waymarker posts and interpretation panels across the trail and the development and delivery of a marketing programme including a dedicated website and trail guide.

It is hoped that the artwork will be launched early this Autumn, subject to existing restrictions in place due to Covid-19. Groups or individuals interested in participating in the consultation process should contact Liam Corry, Curator of Emigration at the Ulster American Folk Park, at liam.corry@nmni.com.