Last Spring, while working on the Limerick2020 campaign, we collaborated with local poetry group Stanzas to create an enduring street art installation. And while the Limerick2020 campaign fades into memory, these moments of poetry on the City’s walls and streets continue to catch our eyes and hopefully our hearts.
For this project, we worked with 8 of the Stanzas poets. These young poets had each written a poem that was inspired by or in someway connected to Limerick City. We read the poems and loved the poems. We loved the energy and passion and insight that these poets expressed. From each poem, we selected just one line to be reproduced in 3D and attached to a wall somewhere in the City.
We wanted to create a poetry trail that would lead people to unexpected corners and sections of the City. We hoped that people would engage with the poetry and take a moment to stop and think and enjoy an unexpected art interaction. Walking through the City we searched for locations that we felt were relevant to the poem and would hopefully be safe from vandals. We experimented with different materials and solvents to find a product that was legible, that would stick to the City walls and would stay on the City walls.
We photographed each poet, interviewed them about their poem and published the interview alongside their full poem on the Limerick2020 website. Photographs of the poets and links to their interviews and full poems were released on social media. We also produced a poetry trail map showing where to find all eight poetry quotes. Through the street installations, the website interviews, the social media interactions and the physical printed map we wanted to create a fully immersive installation celebrating the words and ideas of these young poets.
And now 6 months later as we pass by the poetry quotes that have endured the weather, the vandals and overzealous community clean up groups, we consider still the words and inspirations from the City created by the Stanzas poets. And we hope that people continue to engage with these words on these City walls.
