EVA International announces the closing weeks of Phase 3 of the 39th edition, the final phase of its year-long programme.
Totalling 23 weeks of public exhibition (excluding online and remote projects) the 39th EVA International has delivered the largest single programme of contemporary art to have taken place in Ireland during the course of the global pandemic, featuring over 35 major artistic presentations and over 90 programme contributions over its three phases. Taking its reference from the “Golden Vein,” a 19th-century descriptor for the agricultural bounty of the Limerick region, the 39th EVA International has sought to address ideas of land and its contested values in the context of Ireland today.
Highlights of the Phase 3 programme include:
Guest programme: Little did they know
Curated by Merve Elveren the final phase of Little did they know features two research presentations and eleven artist projects, that extend across venues Park Point, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Sailor’s Home and via a dedicated online platform. At Limerick City Gallery of Art, We realised the power of it, is an installation of archive material from the Derry Film and Video Workshop—a women-led film production company, formed in Derry in the early 80s. A research presentation led by Sara Greavu in collaboration with artist Ciara Phillips, it includes previously unseen footage, photographs and documents that trace a history of the workshop, exploring concerns with gender, class, the Irish “national question” and the legacies of imperialism.
At the Park Point venue, Sexuality of a Nation: Lionel Soukaz and Liberation Politics presents films by queer activist filmmaker Lionel Soukaz, produced in the context of the sexual liberation movement in 1970s France. In addition to the film presentation, a series of online forums led by Paul Clinton explore the work’s relevance for intersectional and anti-capitalist queer debates in the present day. Across venues in the Little did they know programme, artists Benji Boyadgian, Oisín Byrne with Adam Gibbons, Jasmina Cibic, Barış Doğrusöz, Minna Henriksson, Melanie Jackson & Esther Leslie, Zeyno Pekünlü, Hannah Quinlan & Rosie Hastings, Krista Belle Stewart, Rayna Teneva & Mustafa Emin Büyükcoşkun, and Driant Zeneli present artworks that address issues such as visibility, representation, and reclamation in the context of contested landscapes across the world. The Little did they know exhibition is accompanied by an online platform available to view here. It features additional content by participating artists and further contextual information about their works.
Partnership projects
Adjacent to the Little did they know programme is a series of EVA International Partnership Projects, developed in collaboration with national and international organisations. At Park Point, Orla Barry‘s installation Spin Spin Scheherazade (2019), developed in collaboration with Mu.ZEE, reflects upon the culture of disconnection from the natural environment, drawing on the artist’s own rural background and current occupation running a successful pedigree Lleyn flock alongside her art practice. One of two projects developed in collaboration with the Magic Carpets Creative Europe network is Inês Neto dos Santos’ Fermen Tour—Limerick, unfolding as a series of performative workshops and an edible installation taking place across various venues in Limerick during November (see eva.ie for updates). The second Magic Carpets collaboration is Anca Benera & Arnold Estefan‘s video installation Blue Ground (2021)—a work that draws together a number of references and geographies that share a common mineral: the diamond.
At spacecraft, Em’kal Eyongakpa’s Mámbáy bebhɛp 43r /mɛnyu nɛfaŋ/ bakay nɛkɔ, presents an immersive sculptural and polyrhythmic audio installation that draws on the artist’s interests in the relationship between oral culture and the natural environment. Developed in collaboration with IMMA as part of the Encounters commissioning series, this work is the first iteration of a two-part presentation; the second part will take place at IMMA during Spring-Summer 2022.
Platform commissions
Newly commissioned works by Áine McBride and Emily McFarland are presented across the exhibition programme, developed as part of EVA Internationals’s Platform Commissions initiative. Black Bog (2021) and Shallow and deep (2021) are the final two-part video installation in Emily McFarland’s “Dtan-a-goo-saran-dthu (The Wind’s Changed)” series that explores the changing ecology of a particular landscape in the Sperrin Mountains of West Tyrone. Áine McBride presents and/or land (2020), an installation of sculptural works and framed photographs presented throughout the Sailor’s Home—a 19th century building that was originally designed as a resting place for international sailors.
Other initiatives
In addition to the exhibition programme other initiatives include “It’s not for you we did it”—a limited-edition print folio of posters by Ciara Phillips (edition of 100 priced at 125 EUR plus postage and packing) click here for details; and the first episode of Pleasurable Ecologies—Formations of Care podcast—a series of conversations with artists and activists across Ireland, Finland and the UK, presented by artist, writer and pleasure activist Ama Josephine Budge as part of her Frame Curatorial Research Fellowship in partnership with Frame Contemporary Art Finland. Click here to access the first episode, in conversation with Sonya Lindfors and Ki Nurmenniemi. There are also free publications across various venues including; exhibition resource Better Words: A Field Guide to Contemporary Art and Culture, that offers an introduction to contemporary art and culture through the eyes of 8–12 year olds; and Park Life, a publication that explores the ecologies of Limerick’s People’s Park through themes of soil, play and shelter, developed by Limerick School of Art & Design Fine Art students. A comprehensive 39th EVA International publication is forthcoming in early 2022.
Venues and visitor information
Phase 3 of the 39th EVA International Phase 3 continues until November 14, 2021. Please click here for visitor information and COVID-19 guidelines.
Acknowledgements
The 39th EVA International would not have been possible without the support and contribitions of many people, listed here. Thank you.
