1616 exhibition showing in the Arts Centre

A new corroborative exhibition between Loreto College Transition Year students and older people from the St. Mary"s Day Care centre titled '1616' is now showing at the Mullingar Arts Centre.The project which started last September and is sponsored by the Mullingar Arts Centre was overseen by visual artist Ann Wingfield and writer Theresa Doran.The idea behind the project was to take 16-year-olds today and allow them to work and make comparisons with the lives of older people when they were 16.Speaking about the expo, Ann Wingfield said:'The students looked at the backgrounds of the older person, such as work and education opportunities, and even what fashion and music was like when they were 16-years-old.'A majority of the older generation at sixteen would have been in full time work,' she continued. 'It was post-war so there would have been a lot more work available then than there is maybe now, but they weren"t offered the opportunities as far as education was concerned.'They also looked at their hobbies and how the older generation amused themselves when they were younger,' said Ann.'Comparing today"s technology and also the more insular type of entertainment, such as internet, there was a vast difference, as the older generation relied on more community based entertainment like rambling. There would have more occasion for a social get-together, whereas today"s teenagers probably find it harder to communicate, and I think they are learning that through this experience.'The exhibition which will run in the Mullingar Arts Centre on Mount Street for the next two weeks includes visual art through painting collage, mono-printing, postcards and rubbings of old coins, along with recollections, interviews and questionnaires.It will then move to St. Mary"s Day Care Centre for the summer.