International Sculpture Day - Crocosmia ×
For International Sculpture Day on Saturday, 24 April, the Grangegorman Development Agency is inviting the local community to reflect on Crocosmia × as a metaphor for diversity and inclusion in Ireland.
Crocosmia × is a participatory project created by Clodagh Emoe to cultivate Crocosmia × croscosmiiflora (known as Montbretia and Fealeastram Dearg), a metaphor for diversity and inclusion in Ireland. This plant, originally from South Africa, now celebrated as an Irish wildflower, questions received notions of what is ‘native’ and what is ‘foreign’.
Working with Hallah Farhan Dawood, Ragad Farhan Dawood, Papy Kahoya Kasongo and Romeo Kibambe Kitenge, the Grangegorman Development Agency cultivated the metaphor of Crocosmia × by exchanging poems for plants and through workshops in primary and secondary schools that resulted in two site-specific public artworks for TU Dublin Grangegorman and IMMA. The gesture of planting these vibrant wildflowers transformed previously neglected areas by the playing fields in the TU Dublin campus and a white metal bench by the front lawn in IMMA into a place where people might sit and reflect.
For International Sculpture Day, the Grangegorman Development Agency would like to invite the public to reflect on the metaphor of Crocosmia × as a positive symbol for diversity and inclusion and a gentle reminder of the challenges and obstacles endured by those displaced by political, social and environmental issues. Participants can also listen to "The Plurality of Existence in the Infinite Expanse of Space and Time”, an anthology of poetry by individuals seeking asylum in Ireland on Clodagh Emoe's website.