Photo by Clare Keogh

Photo by Clare Keogh

Photo by Clare Keogh

Photo by Clare Keogh

Photo by Clare Keogh

Luke Jerram, creator of last year’s festival hit Museum of the Moon, returned to the Cork MidSummer Festival with a new, unique experience made especially for Cork!  1000 flowers were given out during the course of this year’s festival, shared and passed on from person to person – to a friend, to a partner, or to a complete stranger – with each movement of a flower forming a unique and special moment between two people.

When given a pair of flowers, participants were asked to keep one for themselves and give the other to someone else. They might choose to give the flower to their friend or partner, a complete stranger, or someone they may only know by sight.

Jack said “I’m just on the way to see my mother in hospital, so I’ll give these flowers to her”

Martha (age 76) said “My husband died last year and I’m just on the way to his inquest. So these flowers are a blessing. Thank you.”

The artwork aimed to create a network of people across a city, connected by one simple gesture. Luke said “Encouraging trust and goodwill between strangers, it’s about the unexpected sense of pleasure and power that giving something away for nothing can create.”

Using the hashtag #1000flowers, to capture the moments online the artwork created a citywide thread of stories, encounters and exchanges!

1000 Flowers took place in Cork on:

20 June 2018: 5.30pm at the GPO
21 June 2018: 8.30am at the Bus Station & 5.30pm at Tory Top Park