Here are some photos of our first couple of workshop days on this year’s Wandering Methods project in Dublin Castle.

This is the third year of a craft project co-run by Bealtaine Festival and Craftspace (Birmingham) in collaboration with the Office of Public Works.

In 2012 I coordinated the first version in Rathfarnham Castle and many of the original participants are back this year, along with a new cohort who live close to Dublin Castle. All participants are of retirement age upwards, and have varying craft skill levels – from none at all, to third level arts education.

This year’s lead artist is textile artist Liz Nilsson, and we have a visiting craft designer, Jenny Walsh, who will be introducing the group to the finer points of digital craft.

The focus of this project is really on the process of learning about the history of the Castle together and making work together. For the participants, attending workshops and developing ideas and craft skills as part of a group is the most important aspect of Wandering Methods – we expect to have some kind of exhibition or display in the Castle at the end of the project, but that’s not necessarily the focus of the day-to-day work.

For me, it’s a chance to spend time with a gang of raucous, hard-working, dedicated and hilarious women and men who are hungry to meet each other, to learn skills, to soak up the history of the Castle and to turn their hands to making things they never thought they could.