A road trip, a rhythm, and the art of letting go

A vintage Renault 4, a six-week creative road trip, and a performance that blends storytelling, visual art and rhythm — tour de force rolls into The Dock in Carrick-on-Shannon this August as part of a nationwide cultural journey by artist Liliane Puthod and writer Ingrid Lyons.

The project is both tribute and experiment — a mapped adventure across Ireland that celebrates memory, movement, and the intersection of art and everyday life. At the wheel is Liliane Puthod, driving her late father’s Renault 4. Alongside her is writer and collaborator Ingrid Lyons. Together, they are transforming pit stops into performative moments.

For the Leitrim leg, the duo partners with The Dock for a unique event on Saturday 2 August, from 2–4pm. The collaborative performance — titled Completely Knocked Down — draws inspiration from a curious industrial loophole in Ireland’s automotive past. During a time of high import taxes, cars were shipped to Ireland dismantled, or ‘completely knocked down,’ then reassembled on arrival. This act of deconstruction and rebuilding forms the conceptual backbone of the performance.

Inside The Dock, the artists weave together installation, narrative, and music to explore ideas of fragmentation, reconstruction, and cultural memory. They are joined by Drumsna native and renowned traditional artist Edwina Guckian, who contributes a live performance through rhythm, steps and refrains — adding a local heartbeat to the evolving narrative.

As objects gathered along the road become touchstones for stories and scenes, the performance reflects not just on movement, but on the pause. Outside, the Renault 4 undergoes its own ritual — a car wash and clean-out, offering a quietly powerful act of catharsis, midway through the six-week tour.

tour de force is more than a journey — it’s an unfolding conversation about memory, heritage, and the art of making something new from what has been taken apart.

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