Body painters flaunt their talents but keep ‘the important bits covered’

Shoppers got more than they bargained for in Cork City at the weekend as part of a novel arts initiative.

Naked body painters who set a world record behind closed doors last year brought a more modest form of their art onto the city’s main street as part of the Random Acts of Beauty campaign.

They stood in shop windows on St Patrick’s St and interacted with shoppers before stepping outside and ‘doing Pana’.

“There was a limited amount of nudity — all the important bits were covered,” Cork Body Painting’s Keira O’Connell joked. “But it was amazing. We got a great reaction. It was one of the best days we’ve had.

“We just wanted to show people that it’s not all about nudity — there is a really fun creative process behind it.”

The Cork Body Painting group smashed a five-year-old world record in the city over 12 months ago when they organised for 316 people to be covered in body paint at the same time.

Participants at the Camden Palace Hotel event had to remove all their clothes except their underwear, before paint was applied to every exposed part of their bodies except for the soles of their feet.

The event was staged behind closed doors but recorded for Guinness Book of Records chiefs.

The group was approached by Johnny Hanrahan, the creative director of Chameleon, a creative projects company, to get involved in its Random Acts of Beauty initiative.

This programme involves random indoor and outdoor musical, theatrical, dance, visual, dance, storytelling, graphic, broadcast, and literary events, as well as participatory community activities in and around Cork City.

“The idea is to turn the centre of Cork into a permanent poetic zone, welcoming, humorous, and full of unexpected aesthetic and human encounters,” a spokesman for Chameleon said. “It celebrates fun and conviviality as well as showcasing the cultural and economic strengths of the city centre.

“From a commercial point of view it gives the city centre a unique appeal for children, families, and tourists alike as it humanises and sometimes enchants a zone that is often seen as no more than a big shopping precinct.”

It is hoped the initiative, which was piloted in August, will become an integral part of the city’s life.

Ms O’Connell said she hopes her group will appear as part of the Random Acts of Beauty scheme again in the run-up to Halloween and Christmas.