Memorialising the Sacred: sound and architecture defining the landscape

The churches and shrines of Loutro and Anopolis, on the island of Crete, define their landscape, creating a very specific and complex network of buildings which, in turn, is a significant part of how local people define who they are and their relationship to where they are. These buildings incorporate remembrance as active memorialising, as part of enriching present–day existence. From the confines of a closely defined geographical area in Crete, the resonances are universal, particularly in an Irish context where for centuries sacred sites have been place-markers and place-makers. The exhibition Memorialising the Sacred: sound and architecture defining the landscape seeks to explore, through the medium of photography, objects and, sound, an aspect of a broad, shared, architectural inheritance.

Created and curated by Anthony Kelly, Seán McCrum, Paddy Sammon and David Stalling, Memorialising the Sacred reconfigures one form of reality, sacred places in Crete, in another equal reality, that of a gallery installation. The installation uses the Irish Architectural Archive’s Architecture Gallery space and ambiance as central to memorialising the sacred. The installation consists of black and white photographs, objects, and composed sound. While sound has previously featured in events associated with exhibitions in the Archive, this is the first time that a sound element is an integral part of the exhibition experience. The composed sound draws on recordings made in and around the shrines and churches, sounds which are a part of the essential experience of these places. In the context of the Architecture Gallery, these sounds become suggestive, even provocative, adding enriching textures to the visitor’s engagement with the exhibition.

Memorialising the Sacred will run in the Architecture Gallery of the Irish Architectural Archive, 45 Merrion Square, from Tuesday 23 January to Thursday 29 March 2018. Tuesday-Friday 10am-5pm. (Admission free).