Photogroup
in the train from Dublin to Achill
Once upon a time in the drizzling middle of Ireland just a few minutes
before the terrific town of Athlone the newly established photography
group in the Connect Project plunged straight into hard work… So photografically
we want to combine parts of the web story and scenes from other workshop
groups and scenes from the beautiful landscape of Achill. We will be helped
by Magnus, who will introduce us to digital photography and some photo
programs and ,of course, by Sean Cannon, the one and only photographic
artist on Achill Island. Looking forward to our great photo adventure!
Hans-Hermann Groppe
The Reception
The
bus drove slowly down in to the valley and a beautiful scenery was revealed.
Keel is placed in the middle with several mountains on its sides, with a
spectacular view of the ocean in the centre.
That was what welcomned us when we arrived on a windy Sunday the 4th of februari 2001. Ok it was a bit windy and cold, but if you compare it to Sweden, this is summer! We were all very tired, so we slept a while before dinner started at 17.30pm
The
dinner were very good and we were all excited to meet the islanders when
the reception started at 20.00pm. As soon as the sound of the bag pipes
spreaded in the air of the reception hall, it set the ambiance for us
to feel the real Irish community. All faces lit up and warm smiles were
painted on everyone in contrast with the climate outside. Everyone were
very frindly and curious of who we were and what we were doing. We were
just as curious of them, so many new friends and contacts were made that
night.
Peter from the
"Your sea-our sea" workshop
Instrumental Music Workshop
The train runs mile after mile towards Achill Island and for mile after
mile three musicians are looking forward to their contact with real Irish
music. We are planning our music workshop for the next week on Achill
Island.
Ralph, Sonja and Silvia are sitting together surrounded by hundreds of
different musical scores: traditional German music, famous pop-songs and
of course Irish tunes. Ralf is playing the guitar, Sonja is singing and
Silvia is practicing on the tin whistle she has just bought. Between times
we talk about our music experiences and what we expect from the workshop
on Achill Island. The general feeling is that we would like to learn more
about real Irish music and we plan to include the inhabitants of Achill
Island in our workshop. We are convinced that this is the easiest way
to get closer to the traditional music. So we will try to get into contact
with the people on Achill Island. We are going to carry out our plan to
"capture" some islanders at the get-together that is planned
for tonight because we believe that music brings people together.
by Silvia Klewer, workshop leader
Europe goes to school
Our workshop started on the train to Achill. We all thought it was really exciting to finally meet our "virtual" friends in real life! We started off by introducing ourselves and pointing out on a map where we came from.
After this the workshop participants "brainstormed" ideas about what to do during the week on Achill. We made rough plans to visit the local schools and about what subjects to discuss during our workshop hours. Hanna, the workshop leader, had prepared some basic aspects and the I think most of the participants really appreciated her ideas and the efforts she had already made to create an interesting and fulfilling workshop. So we just had to add some ideas of our own or make them more specific. Thank you, Hanna!
It was a pretty exhausting day for all of us because we had to get on and off trains and buses with tons of luggage. But finally we arrived on the island and were able to have a very short rest before dinner and a reception for our friends on Achill.
Sophia Komor
Singing Workshop
We caught the train from Dublin to Westport at 9 am. Lots of people were squeezed into two compartments. After a while, we finally found a seat together with our group of five. We had brought a pile of music and lyrics about 5 cm high and sorted through them as we rode on the train. Luckily the music group was sitting next to us and they kindly loaned us their guitar. We then sang "Country Roads" and the rest of the coach joined in. We couldn't have imagined a better start.
