We’re delighted to share the news that A Walk, the garden art installation at Richmond Barracks, has been selected as one of the design projects for The 100 Archive 2019.
In 1916, over 3,000 suspected rebels were arrested and held in the gymnasium of Richmond Barracks. The leaders and senior figures were identified and a total of 186 men and one woman (Countess Markievicz) were called to court-martial trials, and so walked from the gymnasium to the Officer’s Block to discover their fate.
This installation commemorates the walk they had to take. It was commissioned by Dublin City Council, designed by the artist Joanne Byrne, and fabricated from corten steel by AD Design.
In making the piece, Byrne was inspired by an entry Markievicz made in her diary in her early twenties, which read “Nature should provide me with something to live for, something to die for”.
Byrne recalls, “I felt its sentiment was very personal yet universal in a way that could convey the motivations, hopes and fears of all those who walked to their court-martial.”
The 100 Archive charts the past, present and future of Irish design by publishing 100 notable communication design projects, selected each year and we’re delighted that The Walk has been included in this year’s diverse and distinctive list.
We’re looking forward to the time when we can welcome everyone back to the garden of Richmond Barracks and enjoy A Walk as Byrne intended:
"My hope is that as you walk along the installation, you will have one foot steeped in the historical significance of the site and the lives of those who were court-martialed and the other foot grounded by what these words mean in your life, your values."
We’d like to extend our congratulations and our thanks once again to Joanne Byrne, AD Design, and all involved with this project.
Posted 08 June 2020
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