The power of art to connect, inspire and tell a story is beautifully and powerfully encapsulated in Kindred Spirits, a distinctive and much-loved sculpture, located at Bailick Park in Midleton. Created by Alex Pentek, the piece was commissioned by Cork County Council in 2013 and commemorates the donation of $170 (a huge sum for the time) by the Choctaw Nation to the Irish people during the Famine.

The piece, referred to locally as ‘the feathers’, comprises nine 20ft-high stainless steel feathers, each one unique, in the shape of an empty bowl. It is a feat of artistic ingenuity, design and engineering, taking heavy-duty materials and making them appear as light and delicate as the air that blows through them.

Pentek, who lives near Grenagh, Co Cork, says he wanted to encompass the Irish and Choctaw stories of oppression in the piece, and he did extensive research on the history of both nations ahead of making it.

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