Commonage was a participatory art and architectural project and organisation that initiated a series of summer schools and projects in Callan, Co. Kilkenny, over three years (2010 – 12).

Initiated in 2010, Commonage was a distinct architectural strand of the Callan Abhainn Rí Festival initiated by Callan Community Network in a groundbreaking process initiated by Patrick Lydon. Commonage was made possible by the generosity, participation and engagement of various people and groups in Callan and responded to the town’s future development.

A curatorial team, Jo Anne Butler, Tara Kennedy, Rosie Lynch and in 2011 joined by Hollie Kearns, developed a design and build summer school approach that explored spaces and places in the town of Callan through collective reimagining and design and build projects.

Patrick Lydon described the initial ‘Commonage’ project as an exploration in ‘how to engage and develop what is here already. Commonage didn’t attempt a grand master plan, rather projects emerged from place and people – ‘thinking, making, doing’.

The programme in 2010 collaborated with artists, artists and designers Rhona Byrne, Gerry Cahill, Lisa Cassidy, Culturstruction, The Good Hatchery, HURL, Henrietta Williams, Gabriella Kiss, Dominic Lavelle, Katie Mangan and School of Architecture U.C.D.. The programme explored areas of the town that are civically or collectively owned and operated. This included reactivating the Callan Agricultural Co-operative’s vacated Farm Store as an exhibition space, including the former home of the Callan Co-op, the Augustinian lands, and the riverbank. The full 2010 programme is here, and a video by Henrietta William documenting the activities can be found here.

In 2011, three temporary interventions were built through a ten-day summer school exploring the potential of architecture as a collective endeavour. The underpass of the bypass over the Kingsriver was the site for a sculptural and sound intervention by artist Rhona Byrne. ArchitectsTM designed an ‘observatory’ within the walled garden at Westcourt. The Westcourt walled garden is the last remaining built element of a former Georgian demesne. Culturstruction designed ‘Breach’ as an indoor and outdoor performance space in the old Co-Op farm store. The ten-day programme brought together local, national and international participants from diverse backgrounds. The summer school programme also included talks, field trips and screenings. The Commonage Seminar with Sarah Browne, Jesse Jones, Oliver Lowenstein, Patrick Lydon, Martin McCabe, and Mark Price brought together prominent thinkers in art and architecture. It reflected on how ‘the commons’ has become a site of resistance and on Commonage as an architectural research project situated and embedded in the town of Callan. The full 2011 programme is here.

In 2012, the final Commonage Summer School ran from the 1st to – the 17th of August. During this time, up to 50 participants, builders and designers from around Callan, across Ireland and further afield (including Greece, Denmark, Scotland, Italy, and England) collected and worked together to realise several built projects as well as participate in and contributing to a parallel programme of events.

The parallel programme of events included public talks, screenings, field trips, shared meals, discussions, factory tours, music, and guided walks, integrated into the building process with the understanding that thinking and making happen side by side. 

Three building projects were collectively realised in Callan over the seventeen days of the Commonage Summer School. A seasonal bridge was constructed through a workshop led by LiD Architecture to create a crossing point on the millrace. New designs for a system of public access gates was prototyped through a workshop led by Superfolk Design Studio. A cowshed with a rainwater collection system will be designed and built in workshops led by The Cowshed Collective. The full 2012 programme is here, and here is a link to the Irish Times’s focus on Commonage’s inclusion in the seminal 2016 publication Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks.

Project partners and funders 2010-12:

Partners:

Abhainn Ri Festival Callan, Callan Community Network, Camphill Callan, Irish Architecture Foundation, School of Architecture U.C.D., KCAT Arts Centre, Arts Kilkenny Arts Festival, Irish Architecture Foundation, University College Dublin, National College of Art and Design, Callan Co-Op.

Funders: 

Kilkenny LEADER Partnership, Arts Council of Ireland, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Arts Council’s Artist in the Community Scheme managed by Create – the national development agency for collaborative arts, Kilkenny County Council Arts Office.