Up to 10,000 visitors passed through the exhibition space every day. The exhibition was created by Cork and Shanghai-based individuals highlighting the developing ties and co-operation between the sister cities. The group chose a mythological story that would appeal across boundaries in order to celebrate cultural diversities and similarities.
The exhibition illustrates the vitality and permanence of mythology. Remarkably, stories such as Tir na nÓg, have survived the aeons and remain as relevant today as in the past. The members of this team have skilfully used the resources of the modern world to adapt, translate and bring an ancient Irish myth to an entirely new audience in every sense of the word, a very different civilisation, with an equally vibrant heritage, half way around the world at the 2010 Shanghai International Expo.
James Cuffe and Feng Jing, two PhD students at the School of Asian Studies, along with Catherine Sullivan and Ciarán Griffin and MA graduates from the Irish Institute of Chinese Studies, Olga Minaeva and Aoife Kennedy were involved in the creation of this exhibition.
James Cuffe who acted as coordinator for the Tir na nÓg exhibition said: “Both China and Ireland have long histories that stretch back into ancient times. This exhibition, drawing on ancient Irish mythology, shows the attraction that ancient Irish culture can have abroad even in the modern age.”
For further information on the Tir na nÓg exhibition go to http://www.irelandexpo2010.com or www.redspiremedia.com
Picture: Item on display at the Irish
mythology exhibition at the Ireland Expo Pavilion, Shanghai
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