“it’s just not like that...” Enda Flynn (NCAD) and Rebecca Mc Naughton (DIT) Exchange House – Traveller group

It was a rewarding collaboration to work with a group of Travellers from Exchange House. The Travellers, a minority community indigenous to Ireland, have existed on the margins of Irish society for centuries. They have distinct cultural practices and a somewhat tenuous relationship with the settled community. Collaborative art promotes the participation of all members of the group regardless of the existing levels of skill or talent. . For us as a group this meant a lot of lively discussions and cups of tea. We could all agree on one concept “it’s just not like that”. The work finally came together in a series of box’s – visual conversations.

From Context to Exhibition

We would like to invite you the launch of FROM CONTEXT TO EXHIBITION at the LAB, Foley Street, D1 on Thursday 23rd April at 6pm. The exhibition will be launched on Thurs 23rd April by Peggy Shaw, New York based international performance artist and co-founder of UK based performance company Split Britches. The exhibition will run from 23rd - 30th April inclusive. Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts, will host a series of talks, supported by The LAB, to accompany the exhibition of work that arts students from National College of Art and Design, Dublin Institute of Technology, Institute of Art Design and Technology and Tisch School of Performing Arts, New York University have created with communities of place and/or interest. The student artists have worked with the following groups Aisling Project, Ashton Pound, Dogs in Distress and Finglas Dogs Aid Sanctuary, Coolmine Female Residential Group, Coolmine Male Residential Group, Coolmine Welcome Programme, Dublin Aids Alliance, Dublin Bus (number 53 bus at 8.29am & 9.30am), Dublin Multi Cultural Resource Centre, Exchange House, Irish Wheelchair Association - Dominos Club, An elected Knitting Group, the Larkin Centre, Postcard Community Leonards Corner South Circular Rd, South West Inner City Community Network and Vista. This event is a cross disciplinary event consisting of both on and off-site work and is the showcase for the Learning Development Placement Programme managed by Create on behalf of the four colleges. To find out more about the programme visit - http://www.create-ireland.ie/learning-development/placement-programmes.html http://ldprogramme2009.blogspot.com/ The week long series of events, From Context to Exhibition – will explore some of the critical questions behind artists working collaboratively with communities to co-author work, and to question the politics of translating the work from the context of production (the community) to a formal arts space (the gallery). The events will all take place at The LAB, Dublin City Council gallery. Speakers include artists Faisal Abdul Allah, Peggy Shaw, Milena Dragicevic Šešic, a cultural policy advisor to the Minister for the Arts, Republic of Serbia and curator, artist, and writer Paul O’Neill. For further information contact Lynnette Moran research@create-ireland.ie We look forward to seeing you there. Kind Regards Learning Development Placement Programme 2009

Aoife Leddy (NCAD), Emma Clarke (DIT), Bridge Lucey (IADT)

Our title is The Picnic. It is a video piece, 17 minutes and 30 seconds long. We worked with the Thomas St. Youth Group through the South West Inner City Network (SWICN) and the Young Peoples Program in Pearse St. Drugs Rehabilitation Centre.

We originally saw art in context as some sort of collaborative picnic, having seen infinite success stories of the products of art in the community. However, we ourselves found the major difficulties artists can come across when faced with red tape and disinterested collaborators. Theory becomes redundant when the raw materials of art in context are not present, and the ideological picnic becomes a logistic mess. Our initial idea for this piece stemmed from the hours we spent drinking tea waiting for our collaborators to show up.

Amie Lawless and Sarah Johnston- Guerilla Knitting

On deciding to work with groups of knitters we put a call out online
for people interested in Guerilla knitting in the city of Dublin. We
were invited to join a group called Tarts and Textiles who meet every
week in a pub around the Christchurch area. Through discussion and
brainstorming we collaborated on a project which aimed to engage and
criticise urban spaces in dublin. The location of Wolfe Tone Park was
chosen after a group discussion on graveyards within the city. The
project was realised through the action of yarn bombing the graveyard
with grave cosy's and flowers under the cover of night.

The Tenters Ladies Club
We approached a knitting group who meet in Donore Ave Community Centre
through VISTA to see if they would like to do a project with us. As
our time there unfolded the work became concerned with our experience
in these classes. From lessons on how to knit to patterns, and helpful
tips they shared their knowledge and life experiences with us. Through
this enriching interaction we came to the conclusion to share this
with an outside audience. Instructional video pieces on how to knit
and crochet placed alongside knitting needles, crochet needles and
wool help replicate our experience.

Elizabeth Doogan and Susan Walsh - Coolmine Lodge

Elizabeth and Susan are working with Coolmine Lodge, a male residential therapeutic community for drug rehabilitation. They are working with a group of males aged from 19 – 42, who they meet twice weekly. Each week numbers have changed which has been challenging for a first time collaboration.

Throughout the collaboration Elizabeth and Susan have worked with the group through media such as photography, painting, drawing, poetry, mask making and sound. One of their initial aims was to encourage the guys to express their sense of selves - their identity. Each workshop brought about new questions to answer. Anonymity, identity, individuality and ceremony were recurrent themes throughout the programme, and they had to find a way to bring them all together in the process of the collaboration.

The voice seemed an important aspect in every session whether it was through conversation, questions and answers, singing, poetry, frustration etc. With this in mind the artists were inspired to bring in a voice facilitator, Colm Nolan, to work with the group in creating a new way of expressing themselves. It was a powerful workshop in which everyone found a new level of engagement. The final piece was created using elements of this workshop, to form a sound and visual installation.

Vista Senior Social Club, Donore Avenue - Oonagh Comerford and Cristina Mejías (NCAD)

Over a period of seven weeks Oonagh Comerford and Cristina Mejías met with VISTA, a thirty member Senior Social Club on Donore Avenue in the Liberties, Dublin 1. Every Monday evening the members met in the community centre to engage in a variety of activities from playing dominoes, bingo and darts, going on trips to the greyhound races and dancing and knitting.

The work explores what we perceive links the members as a community; the involvement, conviviality and enjoyment when playing games and gambling. Utilising audio, photography and sculpture we have adopted the form and imagery associated with their favourite gambling games to create an artwork that reflects the sense of community in Vista.

Chloe Brennan and Anaelle Steiner- Ashleigh House Womens Rehabilitation Centre

Nadia Shah and Catherine Clark

Link to Nadia and Katie's work in progress blog

Camilla Kane and Meghan Griffin

Artists: Camilla Kane and Meghan Griffin

Camilla and Meghan are working at a community centre in Ballymun called 
the Aisling Project. They are working with six youths aged 8-12, 
challenging their perspective on their lives and their futures. 
 
Throughout the last six weeks Camilla and Meghan have worked with these 
youth through performance, film, sculpture, painting and drawing. They 
are currently shooting a film in which the youths have taken on the 
role of the members of a town council, in a town they themselves have 
created called "Daly town". The art discusses the concerns and 
responsibilities of a community in the everyday. Through this, the 
public concerns are brought forward and the youths response, although 
at first seeming absurd, proves at times most effective. 
 

We would like to invite you the launch of FROM CONTEXT TO EXHIBITION at the LAB, Foley Street, D1 on Thursday 23rd April at 6pm. The exhibition will be launched on Thurs 23rd April by Peggy Shaw, New York based international performance artist and co-founder of UK based performance company Split Britches. The exhibition will run from 23rd - 30th April inclusive. Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts, will host a series of talks, supported by The LAB, to accompany the exhibition of work that arts students from National College of Art and Design, Dublin Institute of Technology, Institute of Art Design and Technology and Tisch School of Performing Arts, New York University have created with communities of place and/or interest. The student artists have worked with the following groups Aisling Project, Ashton Pound, Dogs in Distress and Finglas Dogs Aid Sanctuary, Coolmine Female Residential Group, Coolmine Male Residential Group, Coolmine Welcome Programme, Dublin Aids Alliance, Dublin Bus (number 53 bus at 8.29am & 9.30am), Dublin Multi Cultural Resource Centre, Exchange House, Irish Wheelchair Association - Dominos Club, An elected Knitting Group, the Larkin Centre, Postcard Community Leonards Corner South Circular Rd, South West Inner City Community Network and Vista. This event is a cross disciplinary event consisting of both on and off-site work and is the showcase for the Learning Development Placement Programme managed by Create on behalf of the four colleges. To find out more about the programme visit - http://www.create-ireland.ie/learning-development/placement-programmes.html http://ldprogramme2009.blogspot.com/ The week long series of events, From Context to Exhibition – will explore some of the critical questions behind artists working collaboratively with communities to co-author work, and to question the politics of translating the work from the context of production (the community) to a formal arts space (the gallery). The events will all take place at The LAB, Dublin City Council gallery. Speakers include artists Faisal Abdul Allah, Peggy Shaw, Milena Dragicevic Šešic, a cultural policy advisor to the Minister for the Arts, Republic of Serbia and curator, artist, and writer Paul O’Neill. For further information contact Lynnette Moran research@create-ireland.ie We look forward to seeing you there. Kind Regards Learning Development Placement Programme 2009