Cultural Threads: Weaving Stories Through Art
The 2026 Creative Agency project, Cultural Threads, brought together a group of teenagers from The Lodge in Clonakilty with UCC Fáilte Refugees Society and local artists to explore ways of communicating elements of their cultural heritage.
Taking place from autumn 2025 until spring 2026, Cultural Threads: Weaving Stories Through Art was a collaborative project that brought together teenagers from The Lodge, Clonakilty; students from UCC Fáilte Refugees Society; and professional artists for creative workshops at The Glucksman. Working through a variety of artistic processes, including printmaking, collage, and filmmaking, the young participants explored their cultural identities, developed new skills, and built lasting connections to the museum and university.
From Autumn 2025 to Spring 2026, the teenagers were introduced to printmaking processes with artist Viktoria Kondratieva and created monoprints and screen prints from objects and personal possessions connected to aspects of their cultural heritage and identity. They learnt filmmaking techniques with filmmaker Chris Hurley including operating a camera, and working with lighting and sound, before shooting their own short film that revealed their personalities, ambitions, and relationships. The participants worked through ideas of belonging and identity when engaging in collage activities with art facilitator Aleesha Wiegandt. They were guided along their creative journey by members of UCC Fáilte Refugees Society, and between creative sessions they explored the university and were given insights into campus life.
In March 2026, a half-day festival took place across University College Cork to mark the culmination of the teenagers' creative journey. The celebration included an art exhibition at The Hub; a film screening at the Kane Building; an exciting lineup of spoken word artists and musicians including Fionnuala O’Connell and Sauti; games and entertainment; and a welcoming atmosphere for all ages. Deputy Lord Mayor, Cllr. Margaret McDonnell opened the exhibition and shared her reflections on the importance of creativity, belonging, and amplifying young voices.
Young artists: Grace, Mary, Esther, Princess, Roland, Rimas, Salem, Daniel, Manha, Amely, Mateo, Lucy, Betty, Serin.
With thanks to UCC Fáilte Refugees Society - John Hinds, James Coakley, Kate Geraghty, Rebekah Gough, Róisín Tolan, Maya Srouji, Kate Hegarty, Syed Sahim Samran, Eimear Horgan, Nikola Tallová, Natalia Brandi, Eoghan O’Connor, Anna Fitzpatrick, Hugh Stevens, Zara Cuthbert, Molly Lyons, Hannah O'Sullivan; Clonakilty Friends of Asylum Seekers - Jess Farr, Christina Schroeder; and The Glucksman team.A European Solidarity Corps Project led by UCC Fáilte Refugees Society and funded by Léargas.
