Poet and artist Paul Yates makes a yearlong study of the
Kingdom of Mourne area of County Down through breathtaking visuals laid under
observations presented as poetical narration. Beneath the observations the
imagery includes: January: Crowds of people with homemade sledges in the snow
at Spelga. Frozen water at Trassey Burn. Greencastle Pier at night. February:
Ash Wednesday symbols being marked on a girl's head in church. Artist Hamish
Moyle captures snowdrop flowers beside a church. March: Clouds speed by over
Silent Valley reservoir as sounds from nearby townlands are played over the
images.
April: Dashes of yellow are added to the black and white
images as flowers in fields are highlighted as children out playing in the
field and picking petals. May: Dancer moves around the grounds of Mourne Park
and country house in Kilkeel. June:
Beach at Newcastle and interiors of the Enniskeen House Hotel. Children on
rides at amusement park. Interiors of the Slieve Donard Hotel spa.
July: Interiors of stone mason's workshop in Annalong.
August: Red poppies in bloom. Swifts gathering on telegraph poles ready to
migrate. A girl collecting flowers and water in a bottle from a river.
September: Tractor harvesting crops and farm hands gathering haystacks. Berries
ripening on bushes and a grandfather and grandchild twining rope in a workshop.
October:
In a small theatre a silent movie is projected complete with title cards. It is
a modern production mocked up as a silent movie and the title cards take the
place of the normal poetic narration in silence. November: The ruins of houses
at Kilkeel and close ups of their decay. Memorial to war dead from the two
world wars. December: Children making their Christmas wish lists for Santa in
Kilkeel library. Mummers performing a play beside a roaring fire.