Supernature

Linda Shevlin

This exhibition of film and installation was developed during a residency at the Organic Centre Co. Leitrim last year.  Working with the staff and students of the centre, Shevlin researched and recreated a series of experiments, inspired by the cult novel Supernature, by Lyall Watson (1973),   exploring the many and often astounding ways in which nature manifests itself and adapts to its environment including lunar cycles and Hashimoto’s experiments in giving voice to a cactus. 

 Artist’s biography

Linda Shevlin is a visual artist and curator based in Co. Roscommon, Ireland.

In 2013 she was awarded the Arts Council of Ireland’s Visual Arts Curatorial Residency award and is currently producing a series of events and exhibitions in County Roscommon including newly a commissioned work by Sean Lynch, The Workers, a retrospective of the Art@Work project, featuring Michelle Browne, Gareth Kennedy and Elaine Reynolds and The Workers symposium with contributions from Grizedale Arts and others.

In 2012 she was awarded one of two inaugural residencies under the Spark Project funded through Leitrim Arts Office & Enterprise Board in partnership with the Arts Council of Ireland. Recent exhibitions include Supernature, Galway Arts Centre (2013); Tulca Festival, Galway, curated by Megs Morley (2011); Circadian, Leitrim Sculpture Centre (2010); Social Capital, curated by Claire McAree, The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim (2009) and Crave, Cross Gallery, Dublin (2008).

Recent screenings of her films include Camper, TRUCK Space, Calgary, Canada (2013); Interchange, CEFA, Philadelphia, USA (2012); Surface Shorts, Surface Gallery, Nottingham, UK (2011) and Falling Awake Patna Museum, India (2010).

In 2009 Linda completed an MA in Visual Arts Practices through IADT and in 2010, was appointed to the Board of Directors of Visual Artists Ireland.

Attachment – Text by Joanne Laws 

But Never Mind is the most recent iteration of Mooney's continuing experimentation of split screen video, an approach that she describes as allowing 'instantaneous burps' of unrelated imagery to collide and spark new modes dialogue. Clichéd imagery recalls sentimental 1970s nature posters or stock video photography, offering brief yet unexpectedly emotive pairs of dual images, insistantly prodding the viewing to wonder at their meaning. 

Hannah Mooney is a Bristol-based Contemporary artist from Dublin. She graduated in 2012 with First Class Honors in BA Fine Art Media from the National College of Art and Design, Ireland. Hannah works primarily in video/ installation and since her degree has previously exhibited at the Exeter Contemporary Open (2013) and worked across the UK. 

Curator Anne Mullee is based in Dublin and also writes, makes films and works as an arts administrator. She holds an MA in Cultural Policy and Arts Management and before returning to the arts spent 15 years working in TV and media in London. She is currently working on a collaborative documentary about artist-led spaces in Ireland and devising a group exhibition for Galway Arts Centre.  Anne previously worked as our Assistant Curator through the LAB’s internship programme. 

An Urban Fleadh is a free two day Festival of Irish Traditional music with a world mix, taking place in Wolfe Tone Square on the August Bank Holiday weekend every year. Formally part of the North Side Music Festival, the Fleadh has carved out its own niche offering the best of Irish Trad Fusion and public access. This year will see two full days of Music and experience featuring musicians from Germany, France, the Netherlands, England and beyond.

Special features this year are the well loved "Call to Dance" with a traditional Irish caller announcing the steps and inviting all to Dance. Also featured this year is the Bodhrán Blitz, where anyone can learn to play the Bodhrán in under ten minutes, Irish Sean-nos Dancing and signing, A Céilí Band, Classic, funk, folk and Jazz music mixes, as well as special overseas guests to be announced.

Don't miss the An Urban Fleadh, and a chance to "dance at the cross roads", plus the very best in real Irish music with a global mix.

For more information contact Dublin City Council, Arts Office on: 01 222 5455 or email artsoffice@dublincity.ie

A Sleeping Princess, The fables of Aesop and a story shop run by the eccentric Mr. Higgle Piggle – we’re exploring all sorts of different stories this Summer, stories that will come in all shapes and sizes. So whether you want to create them or listen to them, theChildren’s Art in Libraries Programme is giving you the opportunity to discover the stories that are unique and special to you.

With eleven programmes taking place across 9 libraries, a broad range of artists have been commissioned to create short-term Arts Programmes that any child who lives in the City will have the opportunity to access. Adopting a Storytelling theme, we have developed a series of engaging programmes for children that have a distinctly creative approach. Inspired by Aesop's Fables, Making Fables will encourage participants to tell stories through simple animations of artwork, made through drawing, collage and construction. Mr. Higgle Piggles Story Shop– a week long creative camp for 8-10 year olds – will use art, drama, writing and creativity to carefully nurture the child’s imagination. This year our Family Strand of the programme, will introduce an integrated series of music and drama workshops, that will encourage children to re-imagine the familiar tale of Sleeping Beauty. The Summer will also see the return of Theatre Lovett to our libraries, with a wildly unreasonable and illogical quiz for 7-10 year olds, entitled Which Absurd Cat are You? 
Older Children can participate in a series of workshops teaching them how to draw their own portrait, entitled Here’s Looking at You Kid; while those of a more musical bent will have the opportunity to participate in three days of Music Composition iPad Workshops. 
As always participation is free of charge, so if you’re interested, get down to your local library and grab a brochure to find out what programmes they have waiting there for you this July and August!
FULL BROCHURE

This exciting programme will include spectacular, large-scale shows and once-in-a-lifetime performances to entertain theatre-goers and first-time audiences alike. The festival features 13 world premieres from great Irish writers and companies, alongside an extensive programme of international work. Eimear McBride’s multi award-winning novel A Girl is a Half-formed Thing will be adapted for the stage by Annie Ryan of The Corn Exchange and performed by actress Aoife Duffin (Moone Boy). ANU Productions conclude their celebrated Monto Cycle with Vardo – the last in a series of four plays charting 100 years of history in Dublin’s north inner city. Acclaimed Irish language theatre company Fíbín Teo. stage Réiltín by Paul Mercier, the first Irish language play at the festival since 1997. Druid stage a double-bill of plays by Tom Murphy: Bailegangaire and a newly-written companion play, Brigit. Spinning, a new play by Deirdre Kinahan, is featured in a production from Fishamble: The New Play Company. An exciting Australian Season includes three productions showcasing the vitality of Australia’s cultural scene. A stellar cast including Sinéad Cusack, Ciarán Hinds and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor stars in an anticipated new work by Mark O’Rowe at the Abbey Theatre, Our Few and Evil Days. And the world premiere of a new play by Hugo Hamilton, The Mariner, is presented by the Gate Theatre.

Further international work from France, the UK, Chile, Belgium and Germany also features in the programme. A delightful Family Season returns to The Ark for ages 3+ with work from Spain, the UK and Australia, and a stage adaptation of Irish author Oliver Jeffers’ The Way Back Home, produced by Branar Téatar do Pháistí and Denmark’s Teater Refleksion. Festival+ – a series of special events, many of which are free – complements the main-stage programme, with talks, critical events, exhibitions and work-in-progress presentations. An exhibit of material from the festival’s history will be on display at The Little Museum of Dublin. The Festival+ line-up will also include a discussion on Brian Friel’s Philadelphia, Here I Come!, celebrating the 50th anniversary of its premiere at Dublin Theatre Festival 1964.

Priority booking for Friends of the Festival:  21st July | General public booking:  12th August

One of the festival highlights, William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is already on sale to the general public. Book online at www.dublintheatrefestival.com, by phone on +353 1 677 8899 or in person at the Festival Box Office.

BOOKING DETAILS:

Online: www.dublintheatrefestival.com 
Phone: +353 1 677 88 99 
In person: Dublin Theatre Festival Box Office, 44 East Essex St, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

Roisin Beirne, Clare Breen, David Lunney, Andreas Kindler Von Knobloch, Blaine O'Donnell, Liliane Puthod, Daniel Toumey, John Ryan and Tom Watt.

Exhibition continues: 12–6pm until Saturday 16th of August 2014. A guided expedition to Kippure Mountain will take place on Saturday 9^th of August (weather permitting).

In March 2014, a group of nine artists ventured to Peanmeanach, a remote peninsula in the Scottish Highlands. They spent six days living together in a bothy* and exploring the surrounding landscape. This was an experiment in communal living with the potential for artistic practice within a limited time period in a geographically isolated area.

The works made specifically for this exhibition draw upon the experiences of the group during their time in Scotland. The artists have used the site at PP/S as a platform to recontextualize their experience in response to a wider audience and in an urban setting.

A Popular Destination is the third Resort project. Resort is a series of off-site residencies experimenting with new methods of art making, communal living and friendship in remote environments. The first project was conducted on a cliff path in Portsalon, Donegal. The most recent residency was the second of two expeditions to the Scottish Highlands.

A Popular Destination residency has been accepted for review by Project Anywhere, a global peer reviewed space for art at the outermost limits of locational specificity. Members of Resort have exhibited both individually and collaboratively in local and international galleries including The Drawing Project, Dun Laoighaire; Basic Space, Dublin; Tent Gallery, Edinburgh; Galeri Hörnan, Sweden, and Atelier de la Ville, Nantes. Resort projects are scheduled to converge with Catalyst Arts for a collaborative project in Belfast in September 2014.

A Popular Destination at Pallas Projects is the first gallery iteration of the group’s activity.

*A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge.

apopulardestination.com

projectanywhere.net

Pallas Projects/Studios exhibition programme is supported by Dublin City Council. 

The Irish Writers Centre and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig have come together to offer a two-week fully resourced Writer-in-Residence Bursary to take place in spring 2015. The award is named in honour of Jack Harte, founder of the Irish Writers Centre, in celebration and acknowledgement of his contribution to Irish literature.

Who Can Apply:

This is an open call to writers resident in Ireland with a proven track record and at least one book of fiction or short stories published by a recognised publisher. 

How to Apply:

Applications are accepted by email only to director@writerscentre.ie .  Please include:

1.    A cover letter including your personal details and statement of artistic intent, clearly and concisely outlining the project you would like to focus on during your time at Annaghmakerrig.

2.    An updated Curriculum Vitae (max. two A4 pages) including publications with ISBNs.

3.    Clearly labelled samples of recent work (up to three short samples of up to 300 words). 

4.    Any relevant information on your proposed project such as written excerpts, photos, research information, etc.

Application Deadline: 

26 September, 2014 at 5pm. No late applications will be considered. Applications will be acknowledged by email on receipt.

Selection Process: 

Applications go before a selection committee of the Board of the Irish Writers Centre and a nominee of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre. The successful applicant will be notified by letter no later than November 7, 2014. The recipient of the bursary will be publicly announced by Jack Harte at a celebration event on Thursday 4 December at the Irish Writers’ Centre.

We’d love you to get involved. This Autumn, the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation would like to supply you with a fibreglass sculpture of a pig. It will be 1.1m long, 610mm high and 410mm wide.
It’s yours to transform into a unique work of art in time go on display around Dublin in early 2015 as part of Pigs on Parade, a celebration of our public space and a much needed fundraiser for Jack & Jill. 
What would you make of one of our pigs? 
For an invitation to participate, email your name and contacts to pigparade@jackandjill.ie or contact Dave Southern on 087 923 9187. 

During the latter part of 2014 we are looking to supply you with a ‘cheeky’ little Pig sculpture made from fibreglass (1.1m long, 610mm high and 410mm wide).  We would be delighted if you would like to be involved with this charity fundraising event and to consider painting and/or decorating one of these specially designed Pigs. After Christmas this year and going into 2015 your completed Pig would then go on parade at a designated public accessible location in the Dublin area.  

Once in place the general public will be invited to partake in the country’s largest ever “Pig Hunt”, where families and members of the public will pick up clues which in turn will lead them to the location of more Pigs.  

The hunt will culminate in an on-line auction, where people will have the opportunity to bid on a Pig that they would like to take ownership of. An additional live auction will take place at a Gala Dinner event.  As a participating Artist we will give you a budget of €100 to cover the cost of paint, brushes and consumables. The artist will also have the option to receive a 10% commission from the gross auction fee that their Pig realises. 

Choral Workshops will explore topics such as: vocal techniques, breathing, physical warm ups for singing, appreciation that each of our voices is completely unique, taking care of our voices, understanding changes in our voices (eg through medications, hormones, the process of transitioning etc) in a fun & creative way. 

This is an opportunity to explore how you feel about your voice, and to develop your confidence with singing in a safe and understanding place. Nobody will be forced to sing on their own; people will be encouraged to progress at their own pace. 

Repertoire will include popular songs, songs focussing on the theme of "coming out", "gender" and "identity". Think Madonna meets Beyoncé meets Glee mixed with a sprinkle of Bob Marley with some Stevie Wonder & Christy Moore thrown in for good luck...craaaazyyy!! All song suggestions appreciated in advance of the workshops and throughout. 

Facilitated by a professional choral director and singing teacher who is a member of Running Amach. 

There will be a small cost attached to the workshops in order to cover the room rental, tea/coffee & biscuits at the break, practice CDs (which everyone can bring home) and insurance. The more people who sign up, the less the cost will be! This can be on a donation basis with suggested donation of €5-€10. Venue booking will be confirmed when there are sufficient numbers to cover the costs so please do spread the word! 

Tuesdays 7-9pm: the Macro Community Centre, 1 Green St/ North Kings St (parallel to Capel St), Dublin 

If you know anyone who might be interested in getting involved in Europe and Ireland's first transgender choir, please tell them to contact grainne@musicmatters.ie. phone or text 087 9803020. Details below! 

This world-class annual exhibition, although in its 49th year, has never been on display in Ireland before. The images show outstanding wildlife pictures captured in their natural environment. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year is organised by the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London and BBC Worldwide.The 100 award-winning images are beautifully displayed with each image accompanied by its photographer’s story and technical details.

www.wpy.ie / www.chq.ie / https://www.facebook.com/WildlifePhotoIreland

Opening Times:

The exhibition is open from Friday 27 June until Sunday 31-August in The chq Building, Dublin. Open 7 days a week:

Mon-Fri: 10am-6.30pm

Sat: 10am-6pm

Sun: 12noon-6pm

Tickets

Tickets can be bought online via www.wpy.ie or at the reception desk of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition in The chq Building, located in the IFSC, Dublin.

This Visual Artists Ireland professional development event brings together speakers that make a living in the creative sector. The speakers have very different approaches to their careers in the arts and include entrepreneurs that have started their own businesses in different fields and artists that work in community arts.

The afternoon session will feature ten recent graduate artists giving five minute presentations about their work followed by a seminar on how to price your work from Patricia Clyne Kelly of the Clyne Gallery, Dublin.

The event will take place at the Catalyst Arts Gallery, Belfast on Friday 1st August 2014.
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10.15 - Registration & coffee
10.45 - Introduction to Catalyst Arts

11am - Charlotte Bosanquet - Working in socially engaged arts projects
11.45 - Dr Sarah McAleer - Managing a growing creative business
12.30 - Oisin O'Brien - A creative entrepreneur
1.15 - Panel discussion with all 3 speakers above
1.45 - Show & Tell

2:45 - Lunch

3.30 - 4:30 - Patricia Clyne-Kelly - Pricing Your Work
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Show and Tell - Recent Graduates

The Visual Artists Ireland 'Show and Tell', provides artists with the opportunity to give a presentation on their practice in an informal setting where they can network and meet people with similar ideas and interests.

The presentations will be fast paced and will consist of 10 slides/images per speaker. The images will change automatically, giving the speaker a few seconds to talk about what is on the screen. This ensures that an equal amount of time is given to each image. There will be a maximum of 10 speakers asked to present. Speakers must be current members of Visual Artists Ireland.

If you are interested in participating, email your selected images to rob@visualartists-ni.org 

Images should be in JPG format and be no more than 1MB each.

Please register for the event online below before emailing your images.
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Full Price Tickets (after 18th July)

• Northern Ireland based VAI/DAS members - Free
• Northern Ireland based Non members - £10
• Non-NI based VAI members - £20
• Non-NI based non-members - £40

PERSONAL EFFECTS: a history of possession

Personal Effects: a History of Possession, is a work, now in process, that has grown out of an engagement with the personal effects of past patients from The Richmond Asylum – later known as St Brendans Hospital, – in Grangegorman, not far from the heart of Ireland’s capital city, Dublin. Given the provenance of these personal possessions the title should also be read to include the meaning of the effects of institutional care upon the person.

The trove of personal possessions, or effects, was discovered during the retrieval of  the institution’s bound archival records from the attic of a disused hospital building. That discovery coincided with the making of a film documentary, Behind the Walls, by the late Mary Raftery, which explored the history of Ireland’s mental hospitals in the 20th century. It was by means of this documentary, first broadcast in 2011, that I learned of the existence of these personal possessions and, deeply moved by their discovery, why I set out to successfully locate them.

For the past twenty months I have, alongside members of the Grangegorman Community Museum and under the guidance of the National Archives, sorted through the mountains of loose paper records that were also retrieved in the hospital’s attics. In the process I have made a selection of memorabilia, correspondence and documents with which I have received permission to develop a response both as an artist and as a citizen.

Some of these possessions are being used to create a work of art that has at its core the histories of anonymous persons who lived, and were cared for, within the institution of the hospital. Given their context these possessions are charged objects yet with little of the strange to be found among them. They are of the everyday, suggestive of inner lives no less rich nor remarkable than our own and revelatory of stories as much about ourselves as about their owners.

These possessions offer a remarkable trove of material for social research and artistic engagement and provide a rare opportunity for honest and truthful exploration of the complex nature of human being. The art installation, Personal Effects: a History of Possession, is created in response not only to the possessions discovered within the hospital complex but also to their possessors who were in turn possessed by the institution for the duration of their care. The work also responds to the official archival records of the Richmond Asylum, (St Brendan’s Hospital) and to the history of institutional care for the mentally ill in Ireland as a whole. It is a goal of the work to allow an imagination of life – both within and without the institutions – as “others” might have experienced it. It is in our ability to imagine lives other than our own that our compassion, or lack of it, is rooted. A great cultural richness is to be found within this material that might tell us much about ourselves and about our society.

The Installation of ‘Personal Effects: a History of Possession’. The installation is comprised of the personal effects of past patients ( all rendered anonymous) and is scheduled for site-specific exhibition in one of the old asylum buildings from 1-10 May 2014. In the context of bringing back to life some of the personal histories discovered within the old asylum this is a most appropriate location

From the ceiling of one darkened room will hang a number of upended handbags and suitcases. The contents of each container will be suspended as though falling to the floor. A light source from within each upended container will illuminate its suspended contents below.  A looped soundtrack will play the recorded voices of actors reading from correspondence found within the containers, from case notes and from hospital management records.

Schedule. This first site-specific installation of the work occured during Phizzfest 2014 two hundred years and two months after the first patient was admitted to the Richmond Lunatic Asylum in Grangegorman. While based on the personal possessions of past patients of the asylum (and the mental hospital it later became), this installation, Personal Effects: a History of Possession, provided an effective and challenging experience in other spaces after its initial exhibition in the hospital building. It was then installed in Culture Box, Temple Bar, the heart of Dublin’s cultural quarter, during the month of June 2014.

Each exhibition serves as a catalyst for the development of creative synergies with community groups around the country especially in towns where asylums were located and where lives have been touched by similar histories. Such synergies are presently being developed with Axis Arts Centre and Community Resource Centre in Ballymun, Dublin.

The Irish Writers' Centre is host to several exciting literary events over the next few months. Make sure you keep up-to-date and check their website  www.writerscentre.ie or call the Centre on  01-872 1302.  In the meantime here are just two events for the diary. 

Milk & Cookie Stories 

12th August 6.30 -9.30 pm  Free admission

Milk and Cookie Stories is a non-profit storytelling group based in Dublin. Here is their mission: "We're looking to find out what stories our city has to tell. We believe that storytelling deserves to be placed in the spotlight. Dublin needs a place for people to come to hear a good story, and maybe tell one - they aim to provide that place. This event is free and everyone is welcome. Milk and Cookies isn’t just for writers and performers – we would like anyone who has a tale to tell, or wants to hear a story told well, to have a warm, relaxed environment to do just that. A place with tea, cushions, cookies and friends.  All stories are welcome.  Milk & Cookies!

Titter of Wit – lunchtime theatre 

15th , 16th, 22nd and 23rd August 12.50 -1.50 pm.

A Titter of Wit is a hilarious journey through Irish literature in drama and song that is both entertaining and educational. Produced by Whirligig Theatre Company, the show features performances of humorous selections from O'Casey, Joyce, Wilde, Behan, Beckett and other great Irish writers, performed by versatile and professional actors in the elegant surroundings of the Irish Writers’ Centre in the heart of Dublin.

This fast-moving show lasts just 50 minutes – an ideal way to spend your lunchtime! A Titter of Wit was developed in 2010 by Ann Russell, Owen O' Gorman and Jessica Freed and was initially performed in Temple Bar with great success.

Tickets: €10/ €8 members  (Light lunch included)

On opening day, 15th August, a special price of €8  (€6 for Irish Writers’ Centre members) applies.

Bookings can be made online, by telephone or at the door. For further information, please contact the Irish Writers Centre by email events@writerscentre.ie or by telephone (01) 872 1302.

The Learning Together Conference, 2014 is now accepting proposals from  organisations, museums and individuals for papers, posters and presentations. We invite community organisations, museums and individuals to submit proposals for posters to be displayed at one of the three community-based workshops on Thursday 11 September 2014. Museum and cultural practitioners are invited to submit a paper to the conference that explores practical approaches to the challenges presented by reaching new or hard to reach communities, the role of museums in community development or explore one of the conference themes. We also invite community groups or individuals to present on a project on 11 September, that they delivered or participated in, either as part of City of Culture or another recent project, with the aim of sharing knowledge, and learning together and of increasing awareness of community -led initiatives.

Early Bird prices end soon!!!!!

Register for your spot before 31 July, 2014 and pay the special early bird fee of €40 for all three days of the conference including lunch! 

Keynote speaker: Camille Giraud Akeju, Director, Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum, Washington DC, USA 

The programme is being regularly updated, please follow the news.

Programme and registration details:

https://twitter.com/iugte_art