LIMERICK City and County Council’s Culture and Arts Office in partnership with Ormston House and Arts Offices of Clare, Tipperary and Cavan are seeking applications from artists who would like to meet and work with rural communities along the River Shannon in Ireland during the Spring and Summer of 2021.
The River Residencies offer a structured residency programme that will support artists to work with rural communities along the River Shannon in Cavan, Clare, Limerick and Tipperary and are under the Arts Council of Ireland’s An Invitation to Collaboration scheme.
They will take place along the Shannon Estuary in the heritage town of Glin, Co Limerick, on the shores of Lough Derg and in the Cavan Burren.
One artist (or artist-led collective) will be hosted in each location for a total of four weeks. The selected artists will meet with communities engaged with the river through craft, environmentalism, leisure, industry, or simply through a life lived along its banks.
Local participants will inform the artistic research in each county and will be invited to participate in the creation of artistic projects.
The residencies will be divided into two parts: two weeks dedicated to community engagement and research during Spring 2021, and two weeks dedicated to co-production and delivery during Summer 2021.
The research residency will include a mix of programmed and self-directed activities. Artists will develop projects remotely between the residencies. There will be curatorial and logistical support during the research residency, the creative development phase and the production residency from project personnel in each county and the Ormston House team.
Dr Pippa Little, Culture and Arts Officer with Limerick City and County Council said: “The River Residencies offer a fantastic opportunity for an artist to engage with the communities in Glin area.
“With the residencies divided into two parts it will give the artists involved valuable time to immerse themselves in the Glin area and see what the area has to offer. No doubt the local communities will also help the artists to create something inspiring.” she said.
The River Shannon is the longest river in Ireland, flowing over 360 kilometres, touching all four provinces, and separating the country into east and west. It is the backbone of the island, subsuming a multitude of tributary rivers, feeding lakes and extending into a great number of streams.
The River Residencies will bring together artists and local communities through creative practice, and will support the co-creation of artworks and interventions.
This call for submissions is open to artists working in all art forms. One artist or artist-led collective will be hosted in each rural location in Limerick, Clare, Tipperary and Cavan. The River Residencies are part of the Museum of Mythological Water Beasts (2017–), an artistic project about, along and on the River Shannon. The River Residencies will be co-curated by Caimin Walsh and Mary Conlon.
For further information on the residencies and how to apply, click here.
The deadline for submissions is 12pm on Monday 21 September 2020.
