“Carrying Wood” is a dance and film performance created by choreographer and dance artist Linda Schirmer, presented as part of the exhibition  "the branch, the fork, the harrow" curated by Alannah Robins.

Linda Schirmer has engaged with the unique site of Interface artists residency in the Inagh valley, Connnemara on a year-round basis over the last number of years. She has observed changes in the environment with the changing seasons and created a filmic and embodied record of her movements and responses to it.  As a live performance piece, her work acts as a barometer, or a mirror, to the ecology of place. “Carrying Wood” reflects on our connection and dependence upon resources drawn from rural geographies. It explores the cultural practice of collecting firewood and touches on the complexities of energy crisis.

Western Way (Research)

As part of an active research and development period, the artist walked and danced with a bundle of firewood on her back along the Western Way in Connemara. The Western Way is the most popular long distance walking route in the West of Ireland. The path leads through bog, mountain passes, forests and shores –through a landscape, an ecosystem strongly impacted by humans. However, the project is not only a story of loss and grief, but also a celebration of the access to and value of wilderness after recovering from the recent pandemic.

On her walk, She did not only collect heating material, but also movements inspired by the topography of the Western Way. 

Carrying Wood:

Dance Film produced by Western Front Studios (Emer and Brian Durcan)

Music: Brett Sroka

Credits: 

Choreographer & Performer: Linda Schirmer

Cinematographer & Director: Brian Durcan

1st Camera: Rossa O’Dowd

1st Camera: Neill Flynn

2nd Camera Assisstant: Lee Coyne Coen

Colourist: Rossa O’Dowd

Composer: Brett Sroka

Song: Éamonn an Chnoic

Vocalist: Alannah Robins

Voice Recording: Aindriú De Buitléir

Special Thank you to: Nun's Island Theatre & Galway Arts Centre

Carrying Wood is commissioned by Interface Inagh and funded by the Arts Council Ireland with the support of Galway Dance.