Cessair

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A participatory performance and sound installation directed by Jenny Macdonald.

Cessair is a story. Cessair is a little known story. It’s an Irish myth of a fierce and feisty woman who leads a brave journey in a time of floods. It is one woman’s story and it is every woman’s story. Cessair is denied a place on her grandfather’s boat. Rejected and dejected, she regroups and builds three boats of her own, asking for help from 149 other women. She is a leader and she knows how to work in a team. She has vision and she inspires others; she also admits that she needs help and that she doesn’t have all the answers. She is the kind of leader our world needs. 

As the three ships journey from the north of Africa to Ireland, two are lost. 100 stories do not continue. 

SoloSIRENs in partnership with Tallaght Community Arts remade this journey as a sound installation and performance at The Civic, Tallaght and Chamber Square in July, 2021. 

As part of the process, we collected over 100 female, audio stories from South County Dublin, other parts of Ireland, and every continent of the world. We shared stories of difficult journeys, unsung heroines, deep love and deep care. We wanted to add one hundred female voices to a world that still doesn’t listen enough to women. And we wanted to hear the stories that haven’t been heard enough.  

The stories represent the breadth of what it means to be female. We collected stories from women of diverse ages, cultures, bodies, and sexual identities.  It is time to hear a wide range of stories from a wide range of storytellers. It is time for women to have autonomy over how their stories are told.