Glenn Calderwood, Irish Amity Harp (ART & OBJECTS 2025)

Photos:

Pete McMurray

Video tour

https://vimeo.com/1073796452/e1574ebac7

Country

Australia

My daughter is a harp player in the Irish tradition, and for a number of years has urged me to make her a bespoke harp, one that would be pleasing to the eye, delightful to play, and resonate with meaning. I was born in Ireland, living through six years of the “Troubles” in Ulster (Northern Ireland), a violent ethno-nationalist conflict. The Good Friday Agreement (Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta) was a major development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. It was this peace accord that inspired many elements in my design. Irish music, and particularly the harp, is much loved by all sides of the Irish conflict and this love was my starting point. The Purple Heart wood, with its rich, deep hues, would represent that love. In many ways this love of the Irish harp binds together all Irish folk, so the Purple Heart in the center of the pillar and neck would bind (laminate) the two sides together to act literally, and figuratively, as the structural strength to keep it from splintering, even when extreme pressure came to bear upon it (the strings when tensioned will exert around 500kg of pressure on the neck, lower soundboard and the base; and there are some who agitate for a return to violent struggle.) The Purple Heart inserts on the sides of the sound chamber represent the ever expanding rays of hope of the new day. They mimic the intensifying rays of the morning sun stretching and swelling out over the land, bringing warmth and joy to its people regardless of who they are. Purple Heart will, over time, lose much of its “purpleness”, maturing into a rich stable hue. It was chosen for this reason; it represents the bringing together of the two sides in an inseparable bond, one that would mature over time to a deep, rich, settled life united in friendship and tenderness towards one-another. The choice of Oak as the predominant wood, on either side of the Purple Heart, represents the sameness of both sides of the conflict. And because of its varied character, its diverse colour and vibrant grain, represents the diverse and vibrant character of the Irish people, on both sides of the conflict, brought together at last, reconciling the past, to be a united people. A harp is made up of many parts, all necessary to produce a beautiful and enthralling sound, one which all parties can link arms and rejoice in, a sound that banishes the past and gladdens the heart in the present. As a novice instrument maker I acquired plans primarily to ensure the proper positioning of strings so that it would indeed be a playable harp! Beyond the basic shape however, I experimented with structural and non-structural aspects, glues and finishes, which resulted in a variety of changes.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.