By Alan Healy
An £800,0000 piece of public art located in Derry is back up and running – but no one is willing to take the credit for fixing it.
Mute Meadow, which is located at the Ebrington end of the Peace Bridge, first opened in June 25, 2011.
Mute Meadow is made up of 40 pairs of angled steel columns ranging in height from six to 10 metres, lit at the base to resemble a shimmering ‘forest of light’ shining across the River Foyle.
However, it has been plagued by problems since then, which resulted in the artists responsible for the installation issuing a statement to the Derry News earlier this year expressing their profound disappointment, upset and frustration’ at the ‘disastrous situation’ the artwork now found itself in.
In addition, it also emerged that the artwork is at the centre of a dispute between the Northern Ireland Executive Office, the current owners of the Ebrington site, and Derry City and Strabane District Council, over who is responsible for repairing the damage and ensuring that Mute Meadow is restored to working order.
However, visitors to the Ebrington site would have noticed in recent weeks that the site has sparked back into life.
It is understood that work was carried out at the site in recent weeks, however, it is not known whether the Northern Ireland Executive Office or the local council has
carried out any repairs.
The Derry News contacted both the local council and the Executive Office in an effort to find out who was responsible for repairing Mute Meadow.
However, neither of them said it was responsible for fixing the problem.
'No further details'
A spokesperson for Northern Ireland Executive Office said that it had ‘no responsibility’ for the maintenance of the artwork, despite owning the Ebrington site.
“The Ebrington site is owned by The Executive Office, who have granted Derry City and Strabane District Council a license for the operation, management and maintenance of the art installation known as Mute Meadow located on the site,” a spokesperson said.
“The Executive Office has no responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of Mute Meadow.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council confirmed that while it was involved in ongoing discussions with the Executive Office with regard to Mute Meadow, it was ‘unable to provide any further details at this time’.
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