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TEST SITE

@testsiteproject

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A collaborative urban research project working at the intersection of art, architecture & ecology.
Open regularly for workshops & projects.
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We have some big news to share and we’d like to invite you to be a part of it. Over the coming three months we will conclude this current chapter of TEST SITE and close our meanwhile use project on Kyrl’s Quay. This news might come as a shock or a surprise - and you might ask why are we doing this now? So many beloved temporary projects come to an abrupt and imposed end. We want to finish the project in its current form on our own terms and do so just as carefully and consciously as we started it. TEST SITE was co-created as a 3 month long meanwhile use project in 2020 by architect Ailbhe Cunningham and artist Aoife Desmond. Since 2022, Ailbhe and a changing group of volunteers and collaborators have kept the experiment going now comprising a stewarding committee of Ailbhe & Darren (Ample Space), Aisling & Erin (Soil Savers) and Maébh (TS Community Garden). Community organised, meanwhile use projects like TEST SITE often fill a gap in local social ecosystems. TEST SITE, for almost 6 years now, has provided a quirky, non-speculative social and cultural space in the heart of cork city. Now it’s time to figure out the lessons we have learned from this long term meanwhile use project and figure out what exactly it has provided, what it supported, what it created. To begin this care filled closing, we are delighted to announce three residencies. Over the next three months Cork Zine Fest, Cork Queer Nature Collective and DOSE will activate the site through a series of cultural and ecological activities. Please join us over the coming months in understanding and articulating what this kind of project and space means in our city. More information, and no doubt so many conversations, to follow shortly, Ailbhe & Darren by @testsiteproject
15
4 months ago
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Ailbhe & Darren were delighted to host the Cork leg of the Making Neighbourhoods tour yesterday, published by Workhouse Union Press and co-edited with Self Organised Architecture and Cloughjordan Co-Housing. Thank you to everyone who joined us for this lunchtime conversation. Due to the weather, we moved the event indoors. As always, we were delighted to collaborate with our neighbours at plugd records. The book captures a snapshot of neighbourhood making across Ireland and to reflect the broader mycelium of initiatives, Richael Connolly introduced the cooperative entrepreneurial story of the My Goodness Nighttime Coop to the conversation. The book holds stories of care, creative placemaking and community wealth in neighbourhoods. Each chapter captures stories from Reimagining Elderhood, Nimble Spaces, Galway Community Cafe, Cork Community Land Trust, TEST SITE, Cork Traveller Women’s Network, Town Ecologies, Robert Emmett CPD and initiatives in Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Callan and Cork city. The book finishes with a contribution from the Stove Network from Dumfries in Scotland which offers hope, inspiration and confidence to continue to creatively nurture our care-filled neighbourhoods across Ireland. The Making Neighbourhoods project is funded by @artscouncilireland and @kilkennyleader . by @testsiteproject
0
16 days ago
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You are invited to join us for the Autumn book tour of Making Neighbourhoods. 1 - 2 pm, Friday 02 October, TEST SITE, Kyrl’s Quay, Cork A convivial conversation and lunch refreshments. All welcome, no booking required. Making Neighbourhood charts a story of creative placemaking and neighbourhood making in Ireland, structured through four chapters: care for the future, making as care, care for place, and tools for care. The book tour conversation will include Ailbhe Cunningham (TEST SITE), Eve Olney (Cork Community Land Trust), and Brigid Carmody (Cork Traveller Women’s Network), all of whose Cork projects are highlighted in the book. They will be joined by Rosie Lynch (Workhouse Union), Caroline Crowley and Richael Connolly for a discussion on how Making Neighbourhoods connects to broader initiatives in the city, including the Nighttime Co-op. Published in 2026 by Workhouse Union Press and co-edited with SOA (Self-Organised Architecture) and Cloughjordan Co-Housing, with funding support from the @artscouncilireland and @kilkennyleader . by @testsiteproject
2
20 days ago
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‘Rattling Stones’ the 2nd instalment of ‘Sub-liminal’ a 5 part audio/visual series I’ve been working on with film artist @greyeggzandham and sound recordist @micheal___k_ is here! Sub-liminal’ is a documentation (using filming and field recording) of 5 songs from my new album (out 9/10/26 via @moot_tapes preorder link in bio) being played over a portable speaker in ‘liminal’ places which inspired the musics’ creation.  Each video features a speaker in an outdoor setting which I regard as a liminal space. The song will play over the speaker and the videos document this act as well as visually mapping the environment the speaker finds itself in. The sound of the music playing out of the speaker and the location’s environmental sounds are captured by field-recording.  The project draws on the Irish mythological concept of liminality, traditionally an in-betweenness between realms. The settings share a sense of limbo, unease and ambiguity posing questions about the housing crisis, notions of progress, the environment and our mythology. ‘Rattling Stones’ is an emotional yearning for change. An inter-dimensional dreaming drawing a parallel between the overlooking of entire generations affected by the housing crisis and the neglected landscape of an important Irish mythological site. Featuring Átha Ferdia: The mythological site from The Táin where friends/enemies Cú Chulainn and Ferdia did battle, the heron as a symbol of transformation and a ritualistic meeting of fire and water in a river.  Full video link in bio NEXT WEEK the series will be exclusively screened in full followed by Q+A’s: Wed 9th Sept, @testscreen Limerick Thur 10th Sept, @roeriverbooks.ie Dundalk Fri 11th Sept, @testsiteproject Cork Hope to see you there More to follow Supported by Louth County Council’s Art Office @lccartsoffice by @testsiteproject
1
a month ago
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Final pictures of the Collaborative mural for @testsiteproject Community Garden and @soilsaverscork by Kyrl’s Quay 💙 A collaborative project where many hands got involved painting, planning and sharing their ideas for this final design Bridging Community in the center of Cork City 🍃 This mural was funded by @testsiteproject and @ccpartnership taken in Cork City by @testsiteproject
4
2 months ago
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So excited to present my new audio/visual series ‘Sub-liminal’ in full at @testsiteproject Cork Fri 11th Sept 7pm €5 on the door Sub-liminal’ is a documentation (using filming and field recording) of 5 songs from my new album (out 9/10/26 via @moot_tapes preorder in bio) being played over a portable speaker in ‘liminal’ places which inspired the musics’ creation.  The project draws on the Irish mythological concept of liminality, traditionally an in-betweenness between realms. The settings share a sense of limbo, unease and ambiguity posing questions about the housing crisis, notions of progress, the environment and our mythology. The settings include; A derelict site, Ardee bog, Átha Ferdia: The mythological river site from The Táin where Cú Chulainn and Ferdia did battle, The Ardee ‘link road’ (N33), Bathtubs in fields and The Magic Road.  The full length series culminating in a public live screening at TEST SITE couldn’t be more fitting. It’s a beautifully suited venue given it’s an outdoor space, a derelict space reclaimed for the community, a cultural public space for art, discussion and ecology. An alignment between the liminal spaces which inspired the album and are explored in depth in the series and TEST SITE’s activation in Kyrl’s Quay post industrial landscape. The audience will be simultaneously immersed in liminal spaces both on and off screen. After the screening Ailbhe Cunningham @amplespacearchitecture will host a Q+A with artists : @greyeggzandham , @micheal___k_ and myself Poster by @davidmnnn Supported by Louth County Council’s Art Office @lccartsoffice by @testsiteproject
0
2 months ago
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Continuing our reflection on the evolution of TEST SITE series: How it began TEST SITE project has its origins in a coming together of people. In January 2020 a small group met to explore ideas of place and ecology during Aoife Desmond’s course ‘Art + Environment (A+E) Making’. Through discussion a common interest in the vacant sites was established, and was further refined to focus on the site of Kryl’s quay and its surrounding areas. Responding to the vacant sites through writing, photography and drawing, a Zine was formulated and circulated at the local Cornmarket street farmer’s market. What appeared vacant at first is in fact a very productive, nature-filled place - a wild ecosystem emerged. The buildings, each a remnant of an industrial past, now form a dilapidated backdrop for a wild urban habitat. After launching the TEST SITE zine, Aoife and Ailbhe decided to approach the site owners, Cork City Council for permission to occupy and transform the ‘island’ site and make it accessible to the public. taken in Kyrl's Quay by @testsiteproject
0
3 months ago
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Announcing our Arts & Crafts Swap Shop x Sketch 'n' Chat collab on August 22nd! 🎨🧵🍃 If you have spare or unused craft items at home and you want to swap them for something else - or you just want to get outdoors and sketch under the beautiful gazebo at TESTSITE - you're warmly welcome to join us! 🥰 Date: Saturday August 22nd Time: 11-2pm Location: TESTSITE, Kyrl's Quay, Cork Swipe for a list of items we are looking for for the swap shop - and registration is on Eventbrite (link in pinned comment!) taken in Kyrl's Quay by @testsiteproject
3
3 months ago
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Delighted to present ‘Gap’ the 1st instalment of ‘Sub-liminal’ a 5 part audio/visual series I’ve been working on with filmmaker @greyeggzandham and sound recordist @micheal___k_ Sub-liminal’ is a documentation (using filming and field recording) of 5 songs from my new album (forthcoming via @moot_tapes more info soon) being played over a portable speaker in ‘liminal’ places which inspired the musics’ creation Each video will feature a speaker in an outdoor setting which I regard as a liminal space. The song will play over the speaker and the videos document this act as well as visually mapping the environment the speaker finds itself in. The sound of the music playing out of the speaker and the location’s environmental sounds are captured by field-recording ‘Gap’ is a meditation on the housing crisis and the heartbreaking generational fracture it creates via a re-contextualisation of Irish mythologies most tragic battle scene. Featuring: A derelict site, Ardee Bog and Átha Ferdia: the mythological river site from The Táin where friends/enemies Cú Chulainn and Ferdia did battle. Link in bio The series will be exclusively screened in full followed by Q+A’s at the following screening events: Wed 9th Sept, Limerick @testscreen Thur 10th Sept, Dundalk @roeriverbooks.ie Fri 11th Sept, Cork @testsiteproject The project draws on the Irish mythological concept of liminality, traditionally an in-betweenness between realms. The settings share a sense of limbo, unease and ambiguity posing questions about the housing crisis, notions of progress, the environment and our mythology. Bringing my recorded music, which was conjured from an imaginary realm, into these physical spaces and documenting this was a deeply compelling exploration of a ‘thin place’ between reality and imagination for me. I’ve been dreaming all this up for the past 2.5 years so finally seeing it come to life has been so deeply thrilling. Im so excited to finally be sharing. Huge thanks to the screening venues for facilitating More to follow Supported by Louth County Council’s Art Office @lccartsoffice by @testsiteproject
10
3 months ago
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Bridging Community 💙🌾🍃 📸 Some more pictures of this collaborative mural for @testsiteproject @soilsaverscork, with the support of @ccpartnership Thanks to everyone who stoped by to leave their brush mark painting in their own languages: Come in, you are welcome❣️ taken in Cork City by @testsiteproject
4
3 months ago
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Some recent workshop pieces 🔥✨ @openwallscork @testsiteproject by @testsiteproject
3
3 months ago
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Delighted to have completed this collaborative mural which wraps around the Community Garden in TEST SITE. With Libertada Rice leading, the community helped to design and paint a mural that captured their interpretations of sanctuary and community. The mural is dedicated to a local resident, Denis, who passed away during the project, but whose love of animals helped to shape the painting. This project was funded by Cork City Partnership and TEST SITE. by @testsiteproject
3
3 months ago
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