‘Work songs’ will inject new life and energy into workplace

A CALL-out has been made for businesses in South County Dublin to engage in an innovative arts project that will see the creation of ‘work songs’ for the area.

Commissioned under South Dublin County Council’s public art programme, the project is looking for five businesses to work alongside artists in creating individual work songs for their company, which will be performed and filmed in the workplace itself before all five are staged for the public.

Visual artist Fiona Dowling told The Echo: “This is basically a piece of public art and we’re hoping to spend time with five local businesses.

“Work songs, mainly agricultural work songs, were very popular in the past and we are hoping to write five work songs that are reflective of today and the business landscape in South Dublin County.

“The workers in each of the businesses participating will have direct input in the songs and I think it’s nice that businesses are being included in a public art project, it’s not often that this happens.”

The project is looking for a diverse selection of local businesses to take part from, for example, a bakery to a tech company or a hospital to a garage.

“We hope to bring music into the workplace, highlighting the working rhythms of the county,” Fiona said.

“We hope that our Work Songs for South Dublin County will inject some new life and energy into the chosen workplaces, will create dialogue with each place’s immediate local community through the public showings, and will open conversations about the kind of work atmosphere and interactions that are possible and maybe need to be dreamed up for the workplace of the future.

“It should be a fun, thought-provoking and aesthetically compelling series of pieces.”

Fiona will be working alongside businesses with composer George Higgs, and they will support workers in composing and performing the songs in their place of work.

Any business interested in getting involved in the project, which will take place between June 2017 and December 2018, is invited to email southdublinworksongs@gmail.com