“In the beginning was Water”

This is the title of new work by Konik artists, Kasia Zimnoch and Pawel Kleszczewski as part of their Bullock Lane Residency at Townhall, Cavan.

The artists are working on an animation project researching Irish legends and stories relating to water.   With Cavan’s prolific lakes and soft Irish climate water is an obvious theme for the Cavan based Polish artists.   The animation will be based in the Marble Arch Caves and the artists are working on storyboards and backgrounds.      

“We visited the Marble Arch Caves at the end of the summer and we were enchanted and fascinated by its beauty.   We want to show some of the famous crystal formation and stalactites in our story.   With the help of Cavan Public Participation Network and Daniel Downey we met with the “Golden Oldies”.  We listened to their stories and we have selected the Salmon of Knowledge and the Shannon Pot, the beginning of the River Shannon for our animation”.

This year the artists have travelled extensively promoting “Broken Tale” animation which they launched in Cavan as part of Culture Night 2016.

Broken Tale has featured in film and animation festivals including:  34th International Young Audience Film Festival ALE KINO! Poznan, Poland, the InShadow Festival Lisbon, the Clones Film Festival, Baboró - International Arts Festival for Children, Galway, Stockholm Fringe Festival STOFF 2016,  International Visual Arts Competition inSPIRACJE, Szczecin, Poland.   It has also received screenings at Australian Fairy Tales Society Conference and Beltane Fire Festival Edinburgh, Scotland.  

The artists have made connections in the arts world in the host venues that they have visited and are hoping to further this international dimension of their work with the quintessential Cavan animation “In the beginning was Water”.

Bullock Lane Residency is an initiative of Cavan County Council arts office and support by the Arts Council.