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Kitchen Power: National Parallels online symposium

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Kitchen Power: National Parallels is an international online symposium which looks at the parallels and differences between mid-century modern kitchens in national contexts from Ireland to Spain, Scandinavia, Canada and South Korea.

The Kitchen Power exhibition in the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life in County Mayo, Ireland, looks at the promised lifestyle and everyday reality of rural electrification and the effect that it had on the lives of Irish women. This symposium brings together a selection of international academics in design, architecture and technology history to look at how issues surrounding domesticity, gender and technology played out in a wide range of national contexts. The papers look at the gendered nature of kitchen design, the consumption and promotion of electric appliances, the impact of rural electrification programmes, and the role of women’s organisations, as well as the different ways in which international ideas about ‘modern homes’ were implemented.

The symposium is convened by Dr Sorcha O’Brien (NCAD), co-curator of the Kitchen Power exhibition, and is run in partnership between the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life and NCAD. It is also supported by a Design History Society Virtual Event Grant.

Speakers include:
• Dr Fredie Floré, KU Leuven
• Dr Ana María Fernández García, Universidad de Oviedo
• Dr. Sophie Gerber, Technisches Museum Wien
• Maria Göransdotter, Umeå Institute of Design
• Dr Yunah Lee, University of Brighton
• Dr Sorcha O’Brien, NCAD
• Prof Barbara Penner, Bartlett School of Architecture
• Prof Ruth Sandwell, University of Toronto

The four sessions will run over two days on the 16th and 17th September 2020, and the free tickets for each session can be booked here.
The symposium will also be broadcast on YouTube on the NCAD Gallery channel, and videos will be available on the National Museum of Ireland website.

Kitchen Power #MuseumFromHome

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As the Kitchen Power exhibition is currently closed, due to the arrival of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Ireland, I have been making daily posts on social media about some of the objects in the exhibition. The idea is to give viewers an idea of some of the Irish objects that were collected for the exhibition, including ones from the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life collection, and loans from the ESB Archives, the Irish Agricultural Museum and private collectors. This blog post collects the first set of tweets about exhibition objects, which I started in response to the #MuseumFromHome hashtag on Twitter. I’ve also posted these to Facebook and Instagram, as well.

Electric Irish Homes textile art project

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The Electric Irish Homes textile art project brought together a group of Mayo women with artist Anna Spearman, who was commissioned through Age & Opportunity to develop a response to the research material through the medium of textiles. Watch the short video made by Brian Cregan documenting this process – the full 10 minute version is on display in the Kitchen Power exhibition, along with the finished art works, at the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life.

Media coverage of the Kitchen Power exhibition, July 2019

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RTE Six One News

 

The Kitchen Power exhibition has received quite a bit of coverage on Irish TV and radio and in the newspapers in the last couple of weeks and I wanted to do a round-up of all that coverage here.

 

Television Coverage

RTÉ One News bulletin, 19th July, 1pm, starts approx. 12:30 (page opens in new window)
Segment by Pat McGrath, Western Correspondent (interviews with Sorcha, Deirdre McParland from the ESB Archives and Noreen Durken)

 

RTÉ Six One News bulletin, 19th July, 6pm, starts approx. 33:30 (page opens in new window)
Segment by Pat McGrath, Western Correspondent (interviews with Sorcha, Deirdre McParland from the ESB Archives and Noreen Durken)

 

Radio Coverage

RTÉ Radio 1, Morning Ireland, 19th July (page opens in new window)
‘Exhibition showcasing experiences of rural electrification opens in Co Mayo’ (interviews with Sorcha and Deirdre McParland from the ESB Archives, and clips from Ciunas Bunworth, Rose Mac Hugh and Noreen Durken)

 

Midwest Radio, 22nd July (audio to come)
Article featuring Mary Ann Egan and Josephine Scannell (page opens in new window)

 

Culture File, RTÉ Lyric FM, 23rd July, starts approx. 2:08:00 (page opens in new window)
Lorcan Murray’s Classic Drive (featuring an interview with Sorcha and clips from Maureen Gavan and Ciunas Bunworth)

 

Newspaper Coverage

Connaught Telegraph, 19th July (page opens in new window)
‘Mary Robinson launching Turlough exhibition on women’s experiences of rural electrification’

 

Irish Daily Star, 20th July (scanned image opens in new window)
Laura Colgan, ‘Gadgets n Girl Power’

 

Irish Examiner, 21st July (page opens in new window)
Ellie O’Byrne, ‘How electric-powered kitchen appliances revolutionised life for rural Ireland’s women in the 50s’ (interviews with Sorcha and Eileen Aylward)

 

Western People, 22nd July (scanned PDF opens in new window)
Paul O’Malley, ‘New exhibition revisits rural electrification / Ireland’s ‘quiet revolution” (interviews with Sorcha, Ciunas Bunworth, Maura McGuinness, Brigid O’Brien, Deirdre McParland from the ESB Archives, and Noel Campbell, NMI – Country Life)

 

Mayo Advertiser, 26th July (page opens in new window)
‘Former President launches Kitchen Power – Women’s Experiences of Rural Electrification’

 

Irish Independent, 2nd August (pageopens in new window)
Kirsty Blake Knox, ”Electric ‘heaven’: How women escaped drudgery of domesticity’ (quotes from Maureen Gavan and Noreen Durken)

 

Web Coverage

ESB Archives blog post, 24th July (page opens in new window)
‘Launch of ‘Kitchen Power’ exhibition’

 

Agriland.ie, 27th July (page opens in new window)
Caroline Allen, ‘Shining a light on women’s experiences of rural electrification’

 

The Journal.ie, 28th July (page opens in new window)
Orla Dwyer,”They can’t believe how we lived’ – How electricity cut down the drudgery of life in rural Ireland’ (interviews with Maura McGuinness and Bridie Tapley)

 

Woman’s Way, 30th July (page opens in new window)
Kitchen Power – Women’s Experiences of Rural Electrification

The Kitchen Power exhibition runs until July 2020 at the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life.

 

Kitchen Power launched at the National Museum of Ireland, July 2019

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The Kitchen Power exhibition was launched on Friday 19th July by Mrs. Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland. Mrs. Robinson gave a speech where she linked the impact that rural electrification had on women in rural Ireland with the efforts to combat the climate crisis through feminist solutions, including access to water and electricity in undeveloped areas of the world. Despite some heavy rain, the launch was very well attended, including participants in both the oral history and textile art project, as well as local dignitaries.



Mary Robinson launching the Kitchen Power exhibition

Mary Robinson launching the Kitchen Power exhibition, with one of Olafur Eliasson’s Little Suns. Photo by Joseph O’Brien


Dr O'Brien, staff of the National Museum of Ireland and the ESB, and interview participants with Mary Robinson

L-R: Brigid O’Brien, ICA member and interview participant; Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, Cathaoirleach Castlebar Council; Noreen Durken, ICA member, interview and textile art project participant; Brendan Delany, ESB; Cllr Brendan Mulroy, Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council; Mrs. Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland; Catherine Heaney, Chair of the Board of the National Museum of Ireland; Lynn Scarff, Director of the National Museum of Ireland; Noel Campbell, Curator, National Museum of Ireland – Country Life; Dr. Sorcha O’Brien, Curator, Kingston University, London. Photo courtesy of the NMI


Maura McGuinness presenting Mary Robinson with a textile craft kit

Maura McGuinness presenting Mary Robinson with a textile craft kit. Photo by Joseph O’Brien


Sorcha O'Brien and interview participant Brigid O'Brien showing Mary Robinson the oral histories

Sorcha O’Brien and interview participant Brigid O’Brien showing Mary Robinson the oral histories. Photo courtesy of the NMI


Interview participants inspecting the Kitchen Power exhibition

Lynda Dunne, Josephine Scannell, Mary Ann Egan and Colm Scannell inspecting the Kitchen Power exhibition. Photo courtesy of the NMI


The curatorial and design team

The curatorial and design team L-R: Dr. Sorcha O’Brien, Kingston University, London; Noel Campbell, National Museum of Ireland – Country Life; Ann Scroope, Wendy Williams and Caroline O’Connor of Scroope Design


Oral history interview participants Biddle Lawlor and Rachel Botha, both from Kilkenny, at the Kitchen Power exhibition opening. Photo courtesy of Rachel Botha.

Oral history interview participants Biddle Lawlor and Rachel Botha, both from Kilkenny, at the Kitchen Power exhibition opening. Photo courtesy of Rachel Botha.


Electric Irish Homes textile art project showcase, May 2019

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The Electric Irish Homes textile art project involves a group of Mayo women working in textiles to respond to the themes of the Electric Irish Homes project and the Kitchen Power exhibition in the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life. Commissioned by Age & Opportunity and funded by the AHRC through Kingston University, Sligo artist Anna Spearman has been working with this group of women since August 2018 to develop their creative response to the impact of rural electrification in their lives.

 

This work will go on display in July 2019 as part of the Kitchen Power exhibition, but we held a showcase of the work in the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life as part of the Bealtaine Festival 2019, which celebrates the arts and creativity as we age.

 

Electric Irish Homes project participants working with Anna Speaman and Sorcha O'Brien in An Grianán, August 2018

Electric Irish Homes project participants working with Anna Spearman and Sorcha O’Brien in An Grianán, August 2018

 

The project started with a two-day trip to An Grianán, the Irish Countrywomen’s Association (ICA) adult education college in Termonfeckin, County Louth, where Sorcha briefed the group on the research and Anna ran a series of creative workshops in response. This kicked off a series of workshops in the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life, which included writing workshops with Fiona Keane from SixPens Creative Writing, a tour of the museum stores, and experimentation with both paper and textiles.

 

Project participants working with Anna Spearman in the NMI Country Life, January 2019

Project participants working with Anna Spearman in the NMI Country Life, January 2019

 

As part of the Bealtaine Festival, we held a textile art project showcase in the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life at the end of May. Sorcha and project participant Noreen Durken were interviewed by Tommy Marren on Midwest Radio a few days before the event, which brought in a large crowd on a very wet day.

 

Audience at the Electric Irish Homes texilte art showcase, May 2019

Audience at the Electric Irish Homes textile art showcase, May 2019

 

The showcase started with a talk from Sorcha about her research about women’s experiences of rural electrification, which was followed by Anna Spearman and participants Noreen Durken and Maura McGuinness speaking about their experiences of the textile art project. Dr Tara Byrne, Arts and Culture Programme Manager at Age & Opportunity and Artistic Director of the Bealtaine Festival, spoke about the festival and its role in creating wider access to the arts and creativity across Ireland.

 

Maura McGuinness talking about her involvement in the project, May 2019

Maura McGuinness talking about her involvement in the project, May 2019

 

The showcase also involved a preview screening of a short film about the project by Brian Cregan, and a display of the textile work carried out by the participants, as well as notebooks, test pieces and some examples of their own work.

Anna Spearman showing the individual pieces to Tara Byrne of Age & Opportunity

Anna Spearman showing the participants’ individual pieces to Tara Byrne of Age & Opportunity

 

Project participants have also made up DIY craft packs, which will be available in the museum shop. These packs are based on four different designs produced by the group, and include a screen printed ‘pattern’ and a selection of fabric and threads for crafters to create their own versions of the designs. Photographs of the finished pieces can be uploaded to the museum Our Irish Heritage website, where they will be displayed later this year.

 

Electric Irish Homes DIY textile art pack, May 2019

Electric Irish Homes DIY textile art pack, May 2019

 

The textile art work will be on display on Level B of the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life from the 20th July, as part of the Kitchen Power exhibition. Many thanks to the National Museum of Ireland Education department; AHRC; Age & Opportunity; Anna Spearman; Brian Cregan; Fiona Keane, SixPens Creative Writing; Pulled Screen Printing & Design; and particularly the project participants Patricia Ashby, Sheila Baynes, Noreen Durkan, Rose Geraghty, Mary Gillard, Rose Mac Hugh, Marian McDonagh, Maura McGuinness, Bridie McNeela, Breege Norris, Nora O’Leary, Mary O’Reilly, Teresa Quinn and Mary Walsh. All photographs by Brian Cregan.

 

National Museum exhibition programme launched

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Left to Right: Lynn Scarff, Dr. Sorcha O'Brien, Nigel Monaghan & Dr. Audrey Whitty

Left to Right: Lynn Scarff, Dr. Sorcha O’Brien, Nigel Monaghan & Dr. Audrey Whitty

We’ve been working very hard behind the scenes, so have been rather quiet on here as a result. However, the National Museum of Ireland launched its 2019 exhibition programme this week, including the first press about our exhibition, which you can read about in their press release here: National Museum of Ireland reveals 2019 programme highlights (opens in new window)

 

There are two articles in the Irish press about this programme launch so far: in The Journal Ireland’s wars, the first Dáil and rural electrification – A look at the National Museum of Ireland’s 2019 programme and Hot Press National Museum of Ireland Announces 2019 Exhibitions (both links open in new windows)

 

Guest post from Rachel Botha: Life of Shadows

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Powdered snow sits in piles on the window sill as I look out onto this morning’s antics in my back garden. Two male robins puff out their reddened chests in a territorial dance for the last morsels of breadcrumbs left out by my mother. Behind them a meandering path of trodden steps leads to the wooden shed, a sequence of prints like the stitches of a hem holding the folds of pristine snow together. The turf has been brought in for today’s fire, those caoráns (Irish for fragment of turf) heaped into the weaved basket – what a difference from the summertimes passed in bog-side bliss, the seasonal duty of turf cutting which called upon the entire family to help out. In the barren flat bog lands our abled bodies would work following the rigid cut lines, stacking the peat into jenga-like structures in order to dry. A day of hard labour in the soaking sun left us sun-kissed and aching. The suddenness of a knock on the front door brings me back to the contrasting reality of the pelting snow outside. It’s our neighbour with a circular loaf of home-made brown bread, still warm to touch, which emanates a delicious baked scent. And just in time for lunch, Mom has a pot of vegetable soup simmering on the stove. This scene may have aptly portrayed a rural domestic home in 1950s Ireland on the cusp of electrification, but in actuality it is a return to a simpler time which was brought upon us by the great snow storm of 2018. While stranded in the house, entrapped by red weather warnings, there was an opportunity to relish birdwatching, bread baking and soup making.

 

The Electric Irish Homes research project looks at the effects of electrification on rural Irish housewives and homes during the 1950s and 1960s. Over the past few months I have been interviewing and checking transcripts of the women who were affected by rural electrification – the ‘switching on’ event, how it changed their daily lives and the new electrical products which entered their homes. The recording of Irish women’s memories and lived experiences gives us insight into this specific historical time, as well as highlighting the impact electricity made in the everyday during the twentieth century.

 

A home in rural Ireland before electricity had the heat of the open fire to keep you warm and the light of the Tilley lamp and that of the Sacred Heart portrait to illuminate the room. However, the literal darkness of these times triggers Catherine Marshall’s (Stoneyford, Co.Kilkenny) memories of children huddled around the kitchen table with the oil lamp in the centre. They hastened to complete their homework while the shadows in the background danced and “became a place for imagination.” In Maria Landy’s house in Kilkenny a king-sized bed was shared by four sisters sleeping top to tail, and the chamber pot would reside underneath in case “you got caught short in the night.” Shared baths in front of the fire were a common occurrence and you definitely wouldn’t have wanted to be the tenth child in. With the introduction of electricity came an initial fear and disgruntlement, farmers refusing to have a pole in the middle of their land, a continuous scare that the “light might set fire to the house” and there was an irrational terror of being electrocuted by the light switch. That said the ‘switching on’ was a ceremonious event for all. Eileen Aylward from Rathmore, Co. Kerry accurately remembers this greatly anticipated event with her 82-year-old grandmother blessing herself and proclaiming “The Light of Heaven to our Souls” as the switch was flicked.

 

 

With the light in the home came the launch of new mod-cons or “labour saving devices” that would assist a housewife with the menial duties of running a home. Obviously priority was attributed to the kettle, without it would take the best part of an hour to make a cup of tea. Another favoured item was the automatic washing machine. Before this Mondays were set aside as wash days and many women described the painstaking task of scrubbing the clothes on the washboard, the breaking and cutting of hands over rigorously scrapping the clothes, “it would rip the knuckles off you..” said Josephine from rural Co. Dublin. But when the automatic washing machine arrived it was praised no end “Putting your washing powder in, close the door, turning on the switch and away you go”, it was another pair of hands. Even though jobs were getting done quicker it didn’t mean the load was any lighter. One of the questions I would always ask was “What did you do with all this free time after the electricity?” They were baffled and took a pause for recollection and generally answered knitting.

 

 

Alongside the tedious duties of washing, ironing and looking after multiple children these women had the daily chore of baking fresh bread. Marshall affectionately remembers her short plump grandmother with her apron on and white hair tied back in a bun winning the 1957 National Brown Bread Baking Competition sponsored by the ESB. With her simple recipe of equal parts of wholemeal and white flour and a teaspoon of bread soda with buttermilk, the passed down family recipe is merely based on ratios, no eggs otherwise “That’s not bread, that’s a cake.” Her prize for this prestigious accomplishment were a set of hard-bottomed pots which are still in use to this day, an everyday heirloom that brings back cherished childhood memories.

 

 

The time before electrification was filled with hardship, simplicity and an attitude of getting on with things, however these women reflect on their past memories with a shared fondness, a glow of nostalgia is noticeable as they indulge in their reminiscing. “They were good days” was a phrase repetitively mentioned as they were brought back to a time where normally granny, the parents and the fellow dozen siblings all lived under the one roof. A time where every member had a role to contribute to the running of the home, a time where people were self-sufficient. The acceleration of change in Ireland since the 1950s has been unimaginable, the life that these women lived is difficult to envision compared to now. But Storm Emma gave us a small insight into these simpler times where we were reminded of the unruliness of nature, the importance of being a good neighbour and enjoyed the pleasures of baking. That said, after those few days of confinement we were all eager to return back to our frantic lives.

 

Rachel Botha has an MA in Visual & Critical Studies from the Dublin Institute of Technology and a BA in History of Art & Architecture from Trinity. She volunteered on the Electric Irish Homes project in 2017 and 2018. 

 

Oral History Article in the Irish Examiner

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Sorcha and Brigid in Cork

Coming out of the involvement of West Cork ICA with the project, we have just had this article in the Farming pages of the Irish Examiner, which talks about the oral history aspect of the research, highlighting the ICA members who have been interviewed.

https://www.pressreader.com/ireland/irish-examiner-farming/20180111/281947428248764

 

Made in Ireland? journal article now online

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FAM vacuum cleaner FS55

Coming to the end of a very busy year, we are delighted to have just published the first journal article based on the project research material. ‘Made in Ireland?’ is part of Volume 8 of Writing Visual Culture, which focuses on New Approaches to Design History as part of the Design History Society and Journal of Design History anniversary celebrations. The article looks at hybrid product designs, where the national identification isn’t as simple as being designed, manufactured and sold within the one state, and offers a suggestion as to how they can be considered in a globalised world. It uses FAM washing machines and vacuum cleaners as an example, which were manufactured in Wicklow from 1957, but designed in the Netherlands, and sold on both the domestic and export markets. The direct link to the article in PDF format is here – as usual, all feedback and comments are welcome.

Merry Christmas to everyone involved in the project, especially the oral history volunteers and all our online and social media readers!