The sacred site of Knockma Hill overlooks the plains of Tuam where St Mary's Mother and Baby Home operated from 1925 to 1961, and its survivors have sited their experiences on it through the ancient art of shaping clay.
Tuam Mother and Baby Home Alliance members have been working with ceramic artist, Holly Mullarkey to produce exquisite pieces of porcelain that relate the story of forced family separation, incarceration, loss and struggle for identity.
They will showcase their project in film throughout its stages, from workshops to the laying of finished pieces on Knockma Hill, at the Menlo Park Hotel next Wednesday, September 16, from noon to 3pm.
The event will include music from choirs and Nicola Joyce, and a showing of a documentary film by John Conway.
Occasionally the story of incarceration and loss both from the perspective of the survivor and family member is difficult to put into words, and the Alliance’s efforts with the expert guidance of local artist Mullarkey has enabled a worthwhile journey with clay.
Although natural clay is porous, it is impenetrable and therefore chosen for the exhibition titled Tear Drops and Vessel, symbolically holding the tears of those closely connected, supported by the wider community in a shared solidarity with families seeking recovery of the lost children of Tuam.
Another significant project is Sacred Bones, where loving hands moulded clay in the shape of infant bones crafted by rolling with the palm of hand and pressing with a thumb print.
These vessels, both complete and fractured, are inlaid with lace and knitted pieces from Headford Lace and Yarn Bombers who kindly donated their work.
Attempting to show the toll taken on families separated in early life, the cracked bowls with knits intertwined between the fractures attempt to convey the familial bonds that, while severed, continue to hold even where families are unable to reunite within lifetimes. It is a reminder that blood ties and DNA transcends time and place with our very existence tethering us in tangible form to our birth family.
