The 1913 Dublin Lockout provides the impetus for a close look at modern society, which will be examined as part of a collaborative cultural event, taking place in Limerick City next week.
Limerick City Gallery of Art (LCGA), in conjunction with Goldsmiths, University of London and Future State, will host Land │Labour │Capital on September 26-28th to coincide with events nationally which mark the centenary of the 1913 Dublin Lockout.
The Dublin Lockout of 1913 was a key moment in Ireland’s industrial history when employers refused to recognise workers in an attempt to break worker solidarity and the trade union movement.
Land │Labour │Capital will reflect on the contemporary moment and, in collaboration with leading, interdisciplinary thinkers and practitioners, foreground radical narratives for future history-making to mark what happened in 1913.
According to Stephanie Feeney, Visiting Researcher at Goldsmiths, University of London, Co-founder Future State: “Amongst all the activities taking place this year to commemorate the 1913 Dublin Lockout we see this Limerick cultural event as an opportunity to reflect upon not just labour but a wider set of factors that affect workers’ daily lives and to facilitate a conversation that has the potential to set a future direction. Engaging creative practitioners in this conversation provides alternative starting points and allows us to draw out the angles that are difficult to grasp.”
Helen Carey, Director / Curator of Limerick City Gallery of Art added: ‘Although the 1913 Lockout took place in the industrial landscape of Limerick City in the early 20th century, the challenges in the rural way of life along with the changing nature of industry and associated labour, makes the reflection with Future State and Goldsmiths College taking place in 21st century Limerick important and necessary, connecting across many different interests and urgencies.”
Invited speakers will draw out the key themes that Land │Labour │Capital aims to address and will feature numerous highlights including leading intellectuals Professor Nicholas Mirzoeff Steinhardt University, NYU, and author of The Right to Look: A Counterhistory of Visuality, and Dr. Angela Dimitrakaki, Edinburgh University, author and co-curator of the critically acclaimed ECONOMY exhibition in Scotland.
There will be contributions from established artists and educators such as Mark Curran whose current transnational research project THE MARKET focuses on the construct of the global financial systems; and Deirdre O’Mahony whose public art projects include T.U.R.F (Transitional Understandings Of Rural Futures) and Mind Meitheal.
Land │Labour │Capital will also feature film screenings including Noel Burch and Allan Sekula’s The Forgotten Space, a body of work taking as its point of departure container cargo aboard ships, barges, trains and trucks to investigate the contemporary conditions of global trade and capital markets; and Ursula Biemann and Angela Sander’s Europlex (2003) tracking cross border activities and making visible the cultural and economic space between Europe and Africa.
An Open Forum will take place with participants Vagabond Reviews and Anne Tallentire, along with Valerie Connor, who are some of the artists taking part in The National Women’s Council of Ireland’s Legacy Project.
This project, which has commissioned new work, involves the unpacking of ideas about work, society, and economy as well as advocacy and legacy building, with an interest in the role of writing and the photographic image in making and breaking the status quo. Other artists in this project include Sarah Browne and Miriam O’Connor.
Land │Labour │Capital events will be held at Limerick City Gallery of Art and The Belltable from 26th to 28th September 2013. The event programme is available to view on www.thefuturestate.org.uk. Further information from Twitter (@futurestating) and Facebook (thefuturestate).
