BIENNALS:39th EVA International

EVA International was founded by artists in 1977 and it remains one of the longest running visual arts organisations in Ireland, with a history of working with some of the world’s most influential curators. EVA leads in the commissioning and curating of contemporary art by Irish and international artists, culminating in a programme of artistic encounters, exhibitions, and education projects, that takes place every two years across venues in Limerick city and beyond.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: EVA International Archive

Phase 1 of the 39th EVA International is the first of a three-phase exhibition programme that will unfold across venues in Limerick city and online. Phase 1 features 12 presentations by Irish and international artists and collaborating curators, taking place across Limerick City and online. Taking its reference from the “Golden Vein” a 19th-century descriptor for the agricultural bounty of the Limerick region, the programme across all phases seeks to question ideas of land and its contested values in the context of Ireland today.  Other presentations for Phase 1 of the 39th EVA International include new commissions as part of EVA’s Platform Commissions initiative, selected by Anne Tallentire, Merve Elveren and Matt Packer.

Driant Zeneli presents two works from the trilogy “Beneath a surface there is just another surface” (2015-19). “Maybe the Cosmos is not so extraordinary” (2019): is setin the mines of Bulqizë, the three-channel video installation recalls Albania’s contentious history of chrome extraction. Through the journey of five children, Zeneli playfully mobilizes excerpts from Arion Hysenbegas’s sci-fi novel “On the way to Epsilon Eridani”, (1983) to a faux-propagandistic end, bringing forth promises of liberation as well as a utopian future. In the video work “It would not be possible to leave planet earth unless gravity existed” (2017), Zeneli’ visits the imposing industrial complex Çeliku i Partisë [Steel of the Party]—one of the relics of the historical alliance between Communist Party of China and the Party of Labour of Albania. The video follows Mario, the protagonist, journeying through this dystopian site, revealing the social and political failures of the project, as well as probing alternative modes of space travel. Michele Horrigan’s ongoing work “Stigma Damages” reflects on bauxite, a mineral ore that is imported from Africa by Aughinish Alumina Refinery (Ireland’s largest industrial complex) located in Askeaton, County Limerick. Through archival objects, documents, and videos that follow the trail of bauxite, Horrigan reveals how it connects to discussions of class, gender, ecology, and value. Women Artists Action Group (WAAG), “Slide Exhibition” (1987): WAAG was founded in April 1987 as a reaction to the exclusion of women artists from key local and international exhibitions. That same year WAAG organised a photo slide exhibition at the Project Art Centre, Dublin, of works by 91 women artists working in Ireland—a strategy of exhibition-making much ahead of its time. The material presented here is drawn from the collection of Pauline Cummins, held at the National Irish Visual Arts Library (NIVAL), Dublin. Melanie Jackson and Esther Leslie Leslie’s illustrated pamphlet “The Inextinguishable”, is the latest in their ongoing collaborative exploration of milk. Their work studies milk as a substance that is both primal and subject to the latest bio-technological developments, intersecting political, colonial, and gender histories. Copies of The Inextinguishable are free to take away.  Eirene Efstathiou’s  “A Jagged Line Through Space” (2017-19) is a speculative commentary on placemaking. Using the question “Is Exarcheia an island?,” as her jumping off point, Efstathiou juxtaposes her personal archives with collective experiences, and offers an unconventional journey through Exarcheia, a politically charged neighbourhood in Athens. This series of mixed media works on paper and linen carefully examine the complex roles of societal actors and how they are negotiated in public spaces. The installation “Personal Object” (2017– ) integrates Yane Calovski’s recent work “Personal Object” (2020) and his earlier works, emphasizing the intertwining of personal, societal, and cultural narratives. The work draws reference from a number of sources, including instruments of societal control through to objects once belonging to his mother and forms inspired by the teachings of architect Oskar Hansen. Laura Fitzgerald’s installation“Fantasy Farming” (2020) is the latest in the artist’s ongoing exploration into the personal and political tensions that exist between rural Irish life and cultural internationalism, featuring two large-scale ‘hay shed’ audio-enclosures and a series of drawings that depict micro-dramas of provincial insecurity. Áine McBride’s sculptural works “and/or land” (2020) at the Sailor’s Home are subtle interventions that are both integral and interrogative to the fabric of the historical building, originally designed as a resting place for international sailors. Accompanying the sculptural works are a series of photographs presented in bespoke frames, distributed across various locations in Limerick city. Eimear Walshe’s video “The Land Question: Where the fuck am I supposed to have sex?” (2020 presents a brief history of land contestation in Ireland, and questions how the history of land relations persistently impacts our most intimate thoughts, aspirations, and interactions. The research presented in this video serves as a primer for video works to be presented by the artist in phase 2 and 3 of the biennial programme. With soundtrack by The DOE and featuring Ian Lynch. Her “How much no thanks” (2020) is a billboard on the junction of John’s Street and Quinn’s Lane, drawing on a series of images by the artist addressing the relationship between housing, sexuality and Irish colonial history. The billboard image references the artist’s video work on display at EVA Offices and Archive.

Info: Curator: curated by Merve Elveren, 39th EVA International (Phase 1), Duration: 18/9-15/11/20, Venues & Hours: Enable Ireland, Honan’s Quay, Mon-Sat 9:00-17:00; EVA Offices and Archive, 46-47 Catherine Street, Thu-Sat 12:00-16:00; Hunt Museum, Rutland Street, Limerick, Tue-Sat 10:00-17:00, Sun 11:00-17:00; Limerick City Gallery of Art, Pery Square, Limerick, Mon-Sat 10:00-17:00, Sun 12:00-17:00, The Sailor’s Home, O’Curry Street, Limerick, Mon-Sat 10:00-17:00, Sun 12:00-17:00; Outdoor Venue / 24 Hours: John Street (Billboard), (21/9-4/10 only) & Merchant’s Quay, Riverside Walk; www.eva.ie