C Both Sides is a collective art project that started in 2006 by artists Teresa Doyle and Edel O Reilly Flynn in association with Westmeath County Council.[1] The project consisted of people being invited to send postcards from all over Ireland to Doyle and O Reilly Flynn's addresses which were then later displayed in Mullingar Arts Centre in 2007. Knowledge of the project spread through word of mouth, internet postings and press releases in local papers. Over 500 cards were received. One of the main reasons for creating such a project was to revive and reawaken the art of handwriting, in an environment that has become dominated by high speed forms of communication such as email and text messaging. It was also a means of giving people an opportunity to express themselves through this visual and written medium. It was designed to be a project that was accessible to all. Teresa Doyle felt that handwriting was a dying art form, and through this project herself and Edel O Reilly Flynn strived to reawaken it. This small exhibition then travelled to New York, which encouraged a more international group of participants. The project was intended to create a social document of Ireland at the time.[2]
Following the success of the C Both Sides project, An Post decided to sponsor the project, which allowed it to reach a wider audience on a national and to an extent an international audience.[3] The launch of An Post C Both Sides, a 12 month project, took place in November 2007 at the Gallery of Photography, Meeting House Square in Temple Bar.[4] It was launched by the Chief Executive of An Post, Donal Connell, who spoke of the lost art of postcards.[5][6] Teresa Doyle also made a moving speech about the beginning of Ireland’s largest collaborative art exhibition.[6] Craig Doyle, an Irish television personality was on hand to launch the project too.
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Each month had a different theme, which guided the participants when creating a postcard.[3] During the year Teresa Doyle and Edel O Reilly Flynn, with the help of Ursula Meehan held workshops based on the theme of the month. In July, for example, the theme was prisoners. The artists held a workshop in Limerick Prison with some of the inmates. The theme for August was migration and keeping with this a workshop was held in Ilac Centre City Library, with a group of migrants. Postcards were an ideal medium as the people who have moved to Ireland have would use post as a way of communicating with their families in their home country.[7][8] Similar workshops were held throughout the country for other themes. From the monthly entrants, twelve were chosen and displayed on the C Both Sides website. Each month there was a celebrity invited to make a postcard, which was also featured on the website along with a short interview based on the topic of postcards.[9]
| Month | Theme |
|---|---|
| January | Family Members |
| February | Sports People |
| March | Health, Well Being and Caring |
| April | Travellers |
| May | Older People |
| June | Business People/Unemployed People |
| July | Prisoners |
| August | Migrants |
| September | Politicians |
| October | Education and Learning |
| November | The Farming Community |
| December | Artists/Individuals |
With An Post’s sponsorship, the project was rolled out. Each household in Ireland received a blank postcard. The participants were encouraged to consider “both sides” of the postcard. This highlighted the importance of the recipient and the message as well as the visual aspects of the postcard. In total over 3,000 submissions were received from throughout the world, of which 250 were chosen, by a panel, to be displayed. Helen Carey was the curator of the exhibition.[10]
The final culmination of a year’s hard work was the opening of the exhibition in the Dublin Civic Offices, on Wood Quay. Noted travel writer and broadcaster, Manchán Magan opened the exhibition. He too participated in the project as he sent postcard from his travels to Spain and Peru.[11]
The postcards were displayed in pigeonholes that used to integral to the sorting of post before the new mechanised sorting machines. The use of the pigeonholes allowed for the viewer of the exhibition to view “both sides” of the postcard. The pigeonholes were fitted with clear Perspex frames, which were mounted on a rotating spindle. This allowed the viewer to see “both sides” of the postcard, and thus creating an interactive element to the exhibition. This innovative way of displaying the postcards was designed by Fiona Coffey.[12]
The exhibition in 2009, toured throughout Ireland, visiting: Dublin Civic Offices 30 March - 9 April 2009 Siamsa Tíre, Tralee 20 April - 2 May 2009 The Linnenhall, Castlebar 2-13 June 2009 Galway Museum 22 June - 4 July and finally returning home to the Mullingar Arts Centre, Westmeath 15 July - 1 August.