Statio Bene Virtual Tour
Click on the image below to take a virtual tour of the exhibition.
Exhibition and associated programmes made possible with the support of:
Click on the image below to take a virtual tour of the exhibition.
Exhibition and associated programmes made possible with the support of:
You can pick up a starter origami pack with step-by-step instructions at the Crawford Art Gallery, from Monday 10 June. We will have 100 individual packs which are free to visitors, on a first come, first-served basis.
Click here to download a step-by-step pdf file on how to create your own origami boat.
What can you see in this painting - do you see a ship with tall sails? The water is rough and there are waves crashing against the ship. The moon peeks out from behind the clouds, it’s a night storm. The painting was created by Richard Peterson Atkinson in 1876. It’s called Ship in Stormy Seas.
What can you not see in this painting?
In the hull of the ship is a crew of sailors - do you think they are scared and trying their best to cling to the sides? Or do you think this is just another sea crossing for them and they are enjoying a game of cards by moonlight?
Under the rough waves is another world full of millions of sea creatures. As the storm rages above, the underwater animals are getting on with their nighttime routine. There are sharks and whales and octopus. Tuna, sea trout and mackerel. Seaweed, seals and anemones. Maybe some merpeople too?
I started early, took my dog,
And visited the sea;
The mermaids in the basement
Came out to look at me.
Ocean creatures yoga
Here are some yoga moves - each related to a sea creature. See if the other people at home can guess what creature you are.
Talking Pictures: 'Ship in Stormy Seas' was devised by Annie Forrester
Please share:
Talking Pictures is an online resource for children and their adults based on artwork from the Crawford Art Gallery Collection. We will share creative prompts for happy talk and play every Wednesday.
This work is by Robert Gibbings and it is called Coat of Arms. It is a wood engraving, which means that the artist carved into a block of wood, rolled a layer of black ink onto the wood and printed his design onto paper.
A coat of arms is like a family crest and a lot of historical families across Europe would have one. They allowed families and businesses to be instantly recognisable and were like a stamp of ownership on armies, castles and goods. Now they are commonly used on buildings, official documents and products. They include symbols, animals, colours and Latin references. They tell the history and ideals of the owner with just a few pictures and words.
Robert Gibbing’s coat of arms is for University College Cork. Can you work out the symbols in the crest? Does the top part with the two castles and boat look familiar? This is the symbol for Cork City. The Latin motto for Cork City is Statio Bene Fide Carinis which means ‘a safe harbour for ships’.
Fact: Did you know Cork has one of the biggest natural harbours in the world?
A coat of arms is not very useful if people cannot understand the symbols on the crest. Symbols are very useful little pictures because people from all over the world can understand them, even if they don’t speak the same language.
Symbolism is the oldest form of written communication. Hundreds of thousands of years ago the very first humans wrote on their cave walls using drawings of animals and hunting. Thousands of years later the Ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphics (small symbols) to write on walls and pyramids.
Can you find the symbols in the hieroglyphs below to write out your name? If there are any characters or symbols missing you can add your own!
Ogham is an alphabet used between 4 - 6 AD (1700 years ago) to write the early Irish language. The characters were carved into stones. We think that each character or letter relates to its own native Irish tree.
Here is the ogham alphabet:
Can you figure out what tree each of these ogham stones relates to? The character is taken from the Irish word for the tree. For example ‘r’ is from ‘ruis’ which means ‘elder’ in Irish.
The Irish names are under the letter you need to figure out, so if you are good with your Gaeilge then you will have an advantage!
Tip: the stones are read from the bottom to the top.
We use symbols all the time in our modern lives too. One of the most popular ways we do this is through emojis. What are your favourite emojis?
Can you guess these Disney films from their emoji symbols?
Now that we know a lot more about symbols, we can create our own coat of arms. In your coat of arms you can include your favourite colours, emojis and maybe even your name in ogham?
You can use a traditional crest shape like this:
If you want to include a few different parts of your history, you can divide it into different sections. If you speak any other languages, you can include them here too. This is your very own crest so you are the captain!
Share them with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using the #crawfordartgalleryhomelife.
Talking Pictures: Coat of Arms was devised by Annie Forrester
Please share:
Talking Pictures is an online resource for children and their adults based on artwork from the Crawford Art Gallery Collection. We will share creative prompts for happy talk and play every Wednesday.
You can download an Irish language version of this page in PDF format here.
Norman Ackroyd is an English artist who creates mostly black and white watercolours and etchings of landscapes. Here he has created an etching of Cape Clear island, on the left, and Fastnet lighthouse, on the right, in West Cork, on what looks like a dark and gloomy day.
Etching is a method of print-making that uses chemicals to cut lines into a metal printing plate. The printing is done by rolling ink across the surface. The ink sinks into the cut areas and creates the image and the metal plate is then pressed onto paper to give you a print.
Here is a cute song about living in a lighthouse. You can find a recording of the song online and sing along with the lyrics below.
I Wanna Marry a Lighthouse Keeper by Erika Eigen
I want to marry a lighthouse keeper
And keep him company.
I want to marry a lighthouse keeper
And live by the side of the sea.
I'll polish his lamp by the light of day,
So ships at night can find their way.
I want to marry a lighthouse keeper,
Won't that be okay?
We'll take walks along the moonlit bay,
Maybe find a treasure, too.
I'd love living in a lighthouse:
How about you?
I dream of living in a lighthouse, baby,
Every single day.
I dream of living in a lighthouse,
A white one by the bay.
So if you want to make my dreams come true,
Go be a lighthouse keeper, do!
We could live in a lighthouse,
A white one by the bay-ay-hay.
Won't that be okay?
Ya-da ta-da-da.
These are the Great Lighthouses of Ireland. There are even more lighthouses than this in Ireland, but these are ones that are good for visiting and you can even stay the night in some of them! Do you think you could visit all of these lighthouses? Which lighthouse is closest to your house? You could make a lighthouse part of this year’s staycation. Or perhaps someday when you are older, you could go to see them all.
Can you imagine what your life would be like if you lived in a lighthouse?
How would you start your day?
Who would your friends be? A seagull? A dolphin? A seal?
What would you eat for dinner? Fish caught from the sea? Or would you get a takeaway of burgers and chips delivered on a boat?
What would you do for exercise? Run around in circles? Run up and down the spiral staircase?
What would you do for fun? Play cards? Do a jigsaw? Read a book?
Would you like to draw a picture or write a story about your life in a lighthouse? Go for it!
Last month for Cruinniú na nÓg, children from around Ireland wrote stories and poems and drew pictures all about lighthouses as part of a project called Young Storykeepers. You can see their beautiful work at this link and maybe you will be inspired to create your own story or drawing about lighthouses.
We can make our own lighthouse from items we would have at home.
You will need:
We would love to hear your stories and artworks inspired by Talking Pictures! Share them with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using the #crawfordartgalleryhomelife.
Sources:
‘Fastnet Lighthouse’ web article: https://www.baltimore.ie/fastnet-lighthouse
‘Fastnet Yacht Race Tragedy, 1979’ web article & video: https://www.rte.ie/archives/2019/0722/1064528-fastnet-race-disaster/
Activities and illustrations by Hazel Hurley.
We would love to hear your stories and artworks inspired by Talking Pictures! Share them with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter using the #crawfordartgalleryhomelife.
Please share:
Cork has for centuries benefited from the natural maritime haven that is its harbour. Amongst the largest of its kind in the world, it has long been a porous site for settlement and migration, commerce, defence, and leisure, and holds deep cultural and economic relevance.
Fittingly presented in the Long Room of the city’s old Custom House, this exhibition is inspired by Cork’s motto, Statio Bene Fida Carinis, which translates as ‘a safe harbour for ships’.
Artworks have been selected from the collection that describe or address the maritime traditions of this significant port, an anchorage not only in naval and seafaring terms, but culturally and socially too.
Interspersed with captivating historic views of Cork Harbour, stories of fortification, people and prosperity, trade and smuggling, emigration and empire all emerge, from the seventeenth-century Dutch vessels of Willem Van de Velde (1611-1693) to Jamie Murphy’s striking print series marking the centenary of RMS Titanic’s maiden voyage.
Drawn from Crawford Art Gallery’s own extensive collection, the exhibition includes works by Sarah Grace Carr (1794-1837), George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson (1806-1884), Robert Lowe Stopford (1813-1898), Norah McGuinness (1901-1980), and David Lilburn, among others.
Curated by Dr Michael Waldron
Click on the image below to take a virtual tour of the exhibition.
Exhibition and associated programmes made possible with the support of: