MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library



    Ikea as folk museum


    Garvey, Pauline (2012) Ikea as folk museum. In: IKEA Butter Churn for Gneeveguilla. cottagelab, Ireland, pp. 19-23. ISBN 9780955497674

    [thumbnail of PG_Ikea_Folk_Museum.pdf] PDF
    PG_Ikea_Folk_Museum.pdf

    Download (1MB)

    Abstract

    Abstract included in text.
    Item Type: Book Section
    Additional Information: The original published article is available at http://www.gkennedy.info/indexhibitv070e/files/gareth-kennedy-3-2.pdf. IKEA Butter Churn for Gneeveguilla, Co. Kerry : This public art commission saw the creation of a fictional custom or folk rite for the village of Gneeveguilla (pop. 500), Co. Kerry, Ireland. Over the Summer of 2011, as a percent for public art commission, artist Gareth Kennedy worked with the people of Gneeveguilla (pop. 500), Co. Kerry to develop and enact an invented tradition for the village. Drawing on local skill-sets a butter churn was manufactured (from an IKEA table and stainless steel shelf) for use in a public event for the village where a large pat of butter was churned. Drawing on the wealth of local lore surrounding butter and its social, cultural and economical capital, every inhabitant (and visitors to the village) was invited to spin the churn to help produce a large pat of butter which was then packed into a firkin, handcrafted from another IKEA table. This firkin was then paraded down the only street in the village and brought to the local bog where it was ceremonially buried to become preserved as bog butter. The work was filmed on super8. The finished 8mm film will present a folk fiction which at once pays tribute to David and Sally Shaw Smith’s seminal series of films Hands as well as co-opting and transgressing the blond aesthetic order of global giant IKEA. Its intent is to serve as a celebration of the continuity of people and place in spite of hard economic times. As part of this commission a limited edition artists publication has also been produced. Designed by Peter Maybury this includes newly commissioned texts by Sunniva O'Flynn of the Irish Film Institute, Pauline Garvey, antropologist with NUI Maynooth and Peter Foynes of Cork Butter Museum. With special thanks to Martin Ashe, Eileen Fleming, Timmy Brosnan, Damien Dalton of Gneeveguilla, as well as Vincent O'Shea, Public Art Adviser with Kerry Arts Office.
    Keywords: Ikea; anthropology; folk museum; exhibition; craft; Gareth Kennedy; Kerry;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Social Sciences > Anthropology
    Item ID: 4563
    Depositing User: Dr Pauline Garvey
    Date Deposited: 08 Oct 2013 16:23
    Publisher: cottagelab
    Refereed: No
    Related URLs:
    URI: https://mu.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/4563
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

    Repository Staff Only (login required)

    Item control page
    Item control page

    Downloads

    Downloads per month over past year

    Origin of downloads