The Story Behind the Fens' New Floating Art Installation

If you've visited the Fens lately, you may have noticed a new addition floating amidst the greenery behind the Museum of Fine Arts.

It's the first installation of "Tír na nÓg," part of the Fenway Alliance's 2016 "Public by Design" series, in partnership with South Boston-based Medicine Wheel Productions.

On display now is the first of two temporary public artworks installed in the Fens/Muddy River Park section of the Emerald Necklace, a piece by Irish artist Caoimhghin Ó Fraithile entitled "South of Hy-Brasil." It is still in progress, with an upper structure yet to be added, according to the artist.

Floating in the lagoon behind the Museum of Fine Arts, its title refers to the mythic "Hy-Brasil" island off Ireland's West Coast. It appeared on maps until the 19th century, even when it was known not to be there, according to Ó Fraithile.

"My idea in this work is to inspire people to think of Boston as ‘South of Hy-Brasil’ and that we are skirting around it," he said by email. "In truth, artwork is often about much more than the title suggests. Art is as much about form, light and setting."

The piece is sponsored by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and the city of Boston, Ó Fraithile said. In addition, the piece is the product of small, private gifts and many in-kind donations, from local painters to the Boston Fire Department's dive team, which assisted with its installation.

In addition, the Boston Public Library is showcasing Ó Fraithile's journals and drawings, as well as medieval maps depicting Hy-Brasil. They are currently on display in the Levanthal Map Center. More information from the library is available here.

The installation marks the 100th anniversary of Ireland's Easter Rising insurrection against the British government. Boston is the only U.S. city to host public art projects commemorating the 1916 Centennial, according to the Boston Public Library.

"South of Hy-Brasil" is the first of two planned installations.

The second will be from Boston/Irish artist Michael Dowling, entitled "Well House." It is expected to be installed the last week of August.

Both works are commissioned by the nonprofit Medicine Wheel Productions, in partnership with the Fenway Alliance, curator Kathleen Bitetti told Patch. It's part of Medicine Wheel's ongoing Brooch Project, meant to stimulate community engagement and connection.

The production has been "a long labor of love," according to Bitetti, who first met Ó Fraithile at a Lower East Side gallery in New York in 2011. They've been trying to put something together in Boston ever since, she said.

In Irish folklore, Tír na nÓg refers to a supernatural realm, or Otherworld. It is the theme for both installations, and "goes back to the original Irish language, goes back to mythology," according to Bitetti.

It is about a connection to history, folklore, and those that came before, she said.

In addition to the Irish Centennial, this month also marks the National Park Service Centennial.

Those two anniversaries speak to each other and inform the theme, asking questions about public space—"What does the public have? What is their space?"—and what can be expressed there, Bitetti said. The question goes back to Irish oppression under British rule, and the freedom of cultural and artistic expression provided through parks and other spaces that belong to the public.

"Those two things are bookends to me," she said. "Not one without the other."

Read more from Medicine Wheel Productions here.

>> Photos courtesy Caoimhghin Ó Fraithile