Dance and short film celebrate ‘Game Piece’ sculpture
Cllr Mick Dollard welcomed guests to Áras an Chontae Mullingar on Tuesday for an evening event to celebrate the ‘Game Piece’ sculpture located in the nearby park, known as the Tranquility Garden.
The evening commenced with the screening of a short film interpreting the ‘Game Piece’. The film was a collaboration by film maker Miroslav Wycka and choreographer Siobhan Murphy from Dionysus School of Dance and stars senior dancers from the school.
It also features digital models of a Viking age game piece from Lough Sewdy, which inspired the sculpture, and the contemporary gaming board found during archaeological excavations at Ballinderry Crannog, near Moate.
The film is now available on Westmeath County Council YouTube Channel.
Dr John O’Keeffe, chief executive of the Discovery Programme Centre for Archaeology and Innovation in Ireland, travelled from Belfast for the occasion.
He spoke about the artefacts, the tradition of playing board games and the process his team used to create digital models of the pieces – which are held by the National Museum of Ireland.
The digital models allow full visibility of the artefacts in 3D, and they can be access on the news page of Westmeath Culture.ie. 3D prints of the Ballinderry Gaming Board and Lough Sewdy Game Piece were created from the models and are available to view in Mullingar Liibrary.
Cllr Dollard congratulated everyone involved in the project ‘Exploring Viking Board Games Through a Modern Lens’, which was funded by the Creative Ireland Programme, from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and the Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
“I think this evening’s event has given us a new perspective on ‘The Game Piece’,” he said. “It is my pleasure now to launch a competition inviting children and older age groups to design their own game piece for the Viking Game Hnefatafl.”
Details of the game and the competition are available on the Westmeath Culture website at westmeathculture.ie/news/heritage-news/the-gaming-piece/.