UMHA AOIS (BRONZE AGE) The Bronze Age 4,000 Years On
The most recent projects:
An Creagán Visitor
Centre, Omagh, Co. Tyrone
June 19th - 30th 2006
Strata Florida, Pontrhydfendigaid, Wales
July 8th - 10th 2006
Kells, Co. Kilkenny
August 12th - 13th 2006
"Umha
Aois" (Irish for "Bronze Age") is an ongoing experimental
project organised on a volunteer basis by a committee formed of artists & archaeologists. Through research and experimentation we
are attempting to rediscover our Bronze Age ancestors' casting methods,
and in the process empower the artists involved with unique approaches
to working in bronze.
The experimental process itself allows the
artists involved greater freedom than any bronze foundry would ever
allow. Although the material (bronze) is familiar, the method (stone
and clay moulds) is new to most. Participants have found that this was
an exciting and empowering experience because of the simplicity
and directness of the techniques. Every artist has an opportunity
to participate in all aspects of bronze casting including the pour
and to see their work develop technically and conceptually.
Umha Aois is a unique
celebration of the Bronze Age. Using the ancient techniques of stone and
clay moulds, artists and archaeologists collaborate to make new artwork and
replicate ancient forms in a symposium context. Bronze is melted and poured
in the open, using experimental charcoal-fired pit furnaces, and until now
the more conventional gas furnace.
The 11th Umha Aois symposium was held this year at An Creagán Visitor Centre, Omagh, Co. Tyrone from June 19th to 30th 2006. This year we built on our success in
advancing pit-furnace technology at the 10th anniversary symposium on Cape
Clear Island in 2005. Significant amounts of bronze were melted quickly
using only pit furnaces, fuelled by charcoal and a variety of experimental
bellows, making this technology ideally suited for small-scale castings and
low tech backyard foundries.
