On 14th June Arts the sun shone brightly in Forthill park as Arts over Borders hosted a tea party to celebrate and congratulation students from Primary and Post Primary schools in Enniskillen whose illustrations were chosen for a special edition of The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde.
Many congratulations to the Enniskillen Royal students whose art work enliven the pages of the booklet:
- Oliver McNeary 10E
- Oliver Jennings 9A
- Lewis Kerr 8B
- Alfie Pattison 10C
- Kara Lily Boyd 8A
- Lily Shaw 9E
- Khianna McFarland 9E
- Advika Rao 8C
It is believed that the short story The Happy Prince was inspired by Oscar Wilde’s memory as a schoolboy at Portora Royal School (1864-71) whilst looking out from his dormitory window across Enniskillen Island Town to the statue on Cole’s Monument on the opposite hill, high above the town. This was the curatorial impetus for Seán Doran’s vision for the literary heritage tourism project Wilde Island Town (WIT): Home of the Happy Prince, which gave birth to an ambitious town wide public art installation of 150 gold leaf swallows (The Flight of the Little Golden Swallow) designed by local artists Simon Carmen and Helen Sharp to mark the 150thanniversary of Oscar Wilde’s last year in Enniskillen.
As a fitting culmination of the WIT project this special illustrated book of The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde, showcases the creative work of the local school children of Enniskillen. th inside and outside of the classroom, encouraging and cajoling them to express themselves through art.
With this celebratory publication Arts over Borders hope The Happy Prince has been brought back home, to the place of its inspiration, Enniskillen. It is hoped that the prince’s faithful companion, the little swallow, is now immortalised in this town’s literary legacy through The Flight of the Little Golden Swallow and live on in the hearts and minds of future generations of children in Enniskillen, Fermanagh and beyond. May we all embrace its values of compassion, kindness and empathy wherever we go.
