25 August – 22 September 2018

Off Site / Sion Stables, Sion Mills

Solo exhibition by Conan McIvor

Sion is a lyrical, experimental film that examines the place, history and purpose of Sion Mills. It reflects on the unique ideology of the village that transects an industrial and pastoral past, and explores the recreational, secular, and environmental aspects that contribute to the fabric of the village and its people. The somber visual poem makes its way through the history of Sion Mills, observing the buildings and streets once occupied by the community of factory employees.

The newly commissioned work combines original, aerial and archive footage in a three-channel collage. It is created as a site-specific audio-visual installation for Sion Stables linking in with the artefacts on display and bringing the village’s past and present into the museum. The film offers the visitors a narrated view of the surrounding landscape, which provided Herdmanns the natural resources necessary for erecting the mill, and consequently, the village. Through the changes in the modes of production from industrialisation and Fordism to postfordist division of labour, the almighty power of the river’s currents has withstood time.

The exhibition is thematically linked to the Lavish and Judicious exhibition at CCA Derry~Londonderry that explores the history of the utopian model village.

Sion, 2018, 16 min.

Featuring: Susan Davey

Drone operator: Glenn Gallagher

Additional camera: Michael J Daly

Sionis part of Visual Artists Ireland’s ‘New Spaces’ project, and it is kindly supported by Inner City Trust, Visual Artists Ireland and Derry City and Strabane Council. We would also like to thank Colin Darke, Sara Greavu and CCA Derry~Londonderry.

Further Information about VAI New Spaces:
http://visualartists.org.uk/newspaces/

 

Credit: Conan McIvor