Tipperary art exhibition to generate debate on housing crisis

The South Tippeary Arts Centre in Clonmel will host an interesting exhibition of works tht are likely to generate discussion on the housing crisis in the country.

The exhibition is curated by Helena Tobin, Artistic Director of the centre and it will be officially opened by Annie Fletcher, Director, Irish Museum of Modern Art.
The exhibition will be opened on Friday September 8 at an e vent that will start at 6pm.

The exhibition will run from September 9 to October 21.
This exhibition features works by John Conway, Adrian Duncan, Ronja Lagerqvist, Michelle Malone, Eimear Walshe and Bloomers.

Housing is one of the biggest societal issues in Ireland at this moment. Multiple generations struggle to find secure homes yet live in areas surrounded by dereliction and vacant townscapes. Art has always been a powerful tool in activating conversations and stirring emotions in relation to pressing societal issues and this exhibition presents a selection of artistic responses to ideas of housing, home and the housing crisis.

BIOGRAPHIES
John Conway is a visual artist based in Rua Red South Dublin Arts Centre. His work is characterised by innovative multi-disciplinary projects and sophisticated solo and participatory artworks which are often produced in response to sensitive, challenging, or novel contexts. Recent awards include the 2022 South Dublin County Council Individual Artists Bursary Award, the Next Generation Artist Award 2021, Brightening Air | Coiscéim Coiligh 2021, and The Arts Participation Bursary 2020 (All arts council). John is the founder and director of Other People's Practices.
Adrian Duncan is an artist and writer. His latest exhibition Little Republics: Preparations and Elements showed at the Irish Architectural Archive from January to March 2023, and was curated by Askeaton Contemporary Arts. His latest novel, The Geometer Lobachevsky, was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize, 2023, and the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year, 2023. His latest film Prosinečki (21mins) had its world premiere at Rotterdam (IFFR), 2023, and was screened in selection at Karlovy Vary IFF, 2023.

Ronja Lagerqvist is a visual artist based in Cork. She graduated from Crawford College of Arts and Design in 2022. Ronja’s work draws attention to the systems and practices in Ireland which have led to the current housing crisis, and the ways in which it has shaped the nation’s landscape. From the inability to afford habitable housing or it’s inevitable upkeep throughout the years, to the ever-growing plight of dereliction that has plagued our cities and towns.
Michelle Malone lives and works in Dublin. She completed a BA in Fine Art at Technological University Dublin between 2016 and 2020, and received an MA in Creative Arts from TU Dublin in 2021. Her multi-disciplinary installations comprise sculpture, image-making, oral histories, audio and text based on her experience growing up in a variety of social housing systems in inner-city Dublin.

Eimear Walshe (b. 1992, they/them) is an artist from Longford, currently working in Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, Dublin. Their work in video, sculpture, publishing and performance traces the legacies of late 19th century land contestation in Ireland and its relation to private property, sexual conservatism, and the built environment. They have recently exhibited with Van Abbemuseum, EVA International, the National Sculpture Factory, and Temple Bar Gallery and Studios. Their work is in the collections of the Arts Council and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. This year they were selected to represent Ireland at the 60th Venice Art Biennale in 2024.

Bloomers - Initiated in 2018, Bloomers is an Arts Council funded feminist publishing collective based in Cork, Ireland. Producing publications that discuss the themes Ireland-based artists express through their work, Bloomers are committed to widening perspectives via collaborative publishing, events and exhibitions.