Office for Open Research: Guilds

For one week, from the 7^th of December, CCA will function as an open research office, making transparent the process of gathering information and putting shape to a new project proposal dealing with the seventeenth century artisanal trading guilds that formed the foundations of British colonialism in Derry.

The research will centre around the material, historical, and metaphorical agency of the Mercers, Grocers, Drapers, Fishmongers, Goldsmiths, Skinners, Merchant Taylors, Haberdashers, Salters, Ironmongers, Vintners, and Clothworkers (the 12 guilds that partitioned Derry and the region in 1613) and others who supported this work including the Armourers, Cordwainers, Painter-Stainers, Tallow-Chandlers, Bowyers, Fletchers, Brownbakers, Upholders, Coopers, and Scriveners.

In this initial phase, the project seeks to understand these histories and relationships from a contemporary perspective and with contemporary equivalences. We invite members of the public to drop by and to join us for open conversations with invited experts and other interested parties over the course of the week.

Please join us on Thursday 10th December from 12 noon – 1pm for a music/discussion event featuring singer/songwriter Conor O’Kane, as part of CCA’s Office for Open Research: Guilds project. Through a number of songs – traditional and original – that deal with the period of plantation in Ireland and the material concerns of the guilds, Conor will provide points of departure for our ongoing research.