SCREENING PREMIERE OF DOCUMENTARY FILM ON THE RIVER CAMAC ÁRAS CHRÓNÁIN, Watery Lane, Orchard Road, Clondalkin, Dublin, D22 X856 8 PM, 10 November 2026
PROGRAMME
8.00pm Introduction to the Catchments project by artists Cleary and Connolly
8.15pm Brief introduction to the Camac by fisheries sceintist Ken Whelan
8.30pm Film Screenings: THE RIVER CAMAC by Clondalkin Camera Club RIPPLES ON THE CAMAC by Cleary and Connolly
9.00pm Public discussion
Ripples on the Camac is a 15 minute documentary film shot on the River Camac in Clondalkin by School of Looking artists Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly with fisheries scientist Ken Whelan and members of Friends of the Camac looking at the biodiversity and heritage of the river as it flows through the parklands west of Clondalkin, past the sediment ponds of the former Clondalkin paper mills, artificial waterways now so overgrown that it is difficullt to distinguish the engineering from the natural. Nicknamed ‘The Drinker’ by people of a certain age in Clondalkin, the Camac has a long industrial past going back to oil-mills and gunpowder mills in the 18th Century and some quiet but deep local history.
But perhaps the biggest surprise is the richness of its biodiversity (and especially its fish life) despite the tragic outbreak of crayfish plague that has almost certainly wiped out the river's thriving population of native white-clawed crayfish. Paris based artists, Anne Cleary & Denis Connolly have shown in the Pompidou Centre, the Barbican and the Tate Modern. Participative and engaged, their work often involves collaborations with scientists, other artists and the public, taking many forms but focusing always on the act of looking - a conversation with the eye of the beholder. Since 2017 they have been practicing under the name “The School of Looking” to reflect this overarching programme of their work.
Ripples on the Camac is part of the School of Looking Catchments programme and is supported by South Dublin County Council Arts Office.
www.schooloflooking.org/CATCHMENTS/Camac.html Contact: anne@schooloflooking.org