The Sea Inside Us
Film and live sean-nós music unite for a one-off event, connecting Ireland’s arts with the industrial and geological heritage of Pratteln
Salina Helvetica and Basel Irish Club are delighted to present ‘The Sea Inside Us’ by artist Ruth E Lyons this October. This one-off event unites film and live sean-nós music, connecting Ireland’s arts with the industrial and geological heritage of Pratteln, Kanton Basel-Landschaft.
Under the countries of northern Europe, there is the remains of an ancient ocean—a bed of salt that extends from Ireland to Russia. For ten years, artist Ruth E Lyons has been tracing this seam, making carvings from rock salt of various colours. Now her debut collaborative film, The Sea Inside Us (2025, Ireland, 23 minutes), follows her into salt mines hundreds of metres underground and across snow-capped alpine mountain ranges. Against these epic backdrops, salt becomes a prism through which she formulates questions that fathom the unknowable, while reaching for the eternal.
The Sea Inside Us was shot on location at the artist's home on Ireland's Atlantic coast, in Sicily, and at Salina Helvetica's sites across Switzerland, including at Schweizerhalle in Pratteln itself, making this screening a homecoming to one of the film's principal locations.
The film's original score, composed by sean-nós singer Doimnic Mac Giolla Bhríde, will be performed live onsite at Schweizerhalle, in addition to new lyrical pieces created for the tour. Further insight into the film's origins is provided by an artists’ in-conversation taking place during the event, as well as pieces from Lyons’ sculptural series ‘Salarium’ presented in situ.
Ticket booking open soon, limited stock!
The event includes a tour of the site and apéro
The artists are travelling to Switzerland for the occasion, kindly supported by Culture Ireland.
Tickets: CHF 35 for non-members and CHF 25 for Basel Irish Club Members
Venue: Besuchszentrum Salina Helvetica, Rheinstrasse 51d, 4133 Pratteln
Date and Time: Thursday 1 October 2026, 6.15pm - 8:30pm
Venue:
Besuchszentrum Salina Helvetica, Rheinstrasse 51d, 4133 Pratteln