IMMA presents, Earth Rising, a new three-day Eco Art Festival celebrating people, place and planet, this October

IMMA is delighted to present a vibrant eco art festival, Earth Rising, taking place on 21, 22 and 23 October 2022. Over three days artists, architects, storytellers, biologists, performers, designers, musicians and film makers will combine inspiring artistic interventions and civic exploration of eco creativity, with workshops, talks and events, taking place across the IMMA campus.

Earth Rising presents over 70 contributors, artist commissions, a dynamic talks programme and showcases a stunning Built to Disappear eco pavilion sponsored by Lioncor and designed by Reddy Architecture + Urbanism. Over the three days, Earth Rising will plant the seeds of sustainability, enabling audiences of all ages to participate, discuss, experiment, and innovate. The festival, which focuses on citizens assembly, brings together a wide variety of eco artists, practitioners and activists from across the island of Ireland. An eclectic live music line up and a variety of food stalls will add to the energetic atmosphere on site promising an engaging and enjoyable free day out.

Central to the festival is the Built to Disappear project, a new site-specific pavilion, titled Éirigh, located in the IMMA Courtyard. This project is the result of a dynamic partnership between Lioncor and Reddy Architecture + Urbanism to create a unique gathering space that uses environmentally conscious approaches to materials and assembly that highlight the relationship between the environment, art, architecture, and construction. The bespoke pavilion considers the theme of Earth Rising within the context of energy and how it is generated, used and valued. Constructed using willow stems, which is seen in indigenous woven architecture around the globe, can be locally grown and biodegrades back into the environment. The immersive nature of the pavilion will absorb the visitor in its materiality, lifecycle, energy consumption, durability and texture offering a contemplative and reflective space to consider climate change. Lioncor sees Éirigh as a piece of contemporary art, reminding us of the importance and challenges involved in good design and environmentally conscious construction and the impact it has on each and every one of us as well as the world around us.

A visually stunning new site-specific installation, titled Kind Words Can Never Die, created by artist Navine G. Dossos, that transforms the colonnades of the IMMA Courtyard with a vibrant mural wall painting is presented as part of the festival. Kind Words Can Never Die explores new psychological states that have emerged in response to a greater awareness of global and local climate change and was created throughout the month of July through a series of public workshops at IMMA. Inspired by the books Earth Emotions (2019) by Glenn Albrecht, and Thought Forms (1901) by Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater, these wall paintings explore how colour can be used to express emotional states, and make images of these complex feelings that can be both negative and positive responses to ecological change.

A combination of over 70 unique contributions and interventions will take place over IMMA’s 48-acre site. These include an immersive performance, Imaginarium’s: incubating wild futures, by the Breaking Cover Collective that communicates the urgency of the ongoing ecological crisis to reignite our relationship to earth. A performative essay by Luke Casserly, Distillation, that unearths the personal and hidden narratives of the Irish bog landscape, using scent and sound, is presented in association with the Goethe Institut. Artist Lisa Fingleton will present Drawing to Save the World, a workshop focused on food security and climate change through the medium of drawing. Seeking Refuge, a powerful interactive game exploring themes of migration, citizenship and the climate crisis is presented by Chinedum Muotto. Film screenings include Adrian O’Connell’s What are we building in there? a dive into data centres, their effect on our planet and our people. This is just a taster of what can be expected throughout the festival.

IMMA Talks brings together the festivals thought leadership platform, exploring the big issues and challenges of the day. The talks programme includes Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino; a London-based author, consultant, and entrepreneur with a background in design. She is building the Low Carbon Design Institute, exploring how creative professionals integrate climate change knowledge in their practice and will deliver a talk on Saturday 22 October. Lucy Jones, author of Losing Eden, Why Our Minds Need the Wild will deliver a keynote talk on Sunday 23 October. Jones embarks on a fascinating journey through new scientific research that shows why forging a bond with nature is critical for our health and wellness, while also raising awareness about the alarming effects of its absence.

Seed STUDIO will open its doors for three days to showcase research, practices and projects which have formed Seed STUDIO activities over the last six months. Seed STUDIO was conceived by artist Clodagh Emoe and piloted by IMMA to addresses an overwhelming need to explore new ways of deepening our connection with the natural world through individual and collective artistic practice/research that foregrounds nature and biodiversity. A schedule of activities will include a premier and repeated screenings of Emoe’s latest project Classroom in the Sun alongside an open space for those curious about Seed STUDIO.

Earth Rising is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and is presented in partnership with Lioncor.

Tickets are free and are available from Wednesday 21 September, please click here to book your ticket.

21 September 2022

ENDS 

For further information and images please contact Monica Cullinane E: [email protected] Patrice Molloy E: [email protected]  

Additional Notes for Editors  

Admission: Free 
Tickets: Available from Wednesday 21 September at https://imma.ie/whats-on/earth-rising/
Dates: Friday 21, Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 October 2022, daily from 3pm – 9pm Friday, 12pm- 7pm Saturday and Sunday
Location: IMMA, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin 8
Programme: A daily programme will be available shortly on IMMA’s website

List of Contributors
Adrian O’Connell; Amy Brannigan; Andrew McSweeney; Angelica Atzin Garcia; Ann Ensor; BBEYOND; Breaking Cover Collective; Brianna Marshall Crowe; Catherine McDonald; Chinedum Muotto; David Ian Bickley & Hina Khan; Deirdre Lane; Dorone Paris; Dóthain Collective (Darragh Wynne, Caitríona Kenny, Gary Tyrell & Ellen Hegarty); Éidín Griffin; Eileen Hutton & James Haughey; Elaine Garde & Garry Jones; Eleni Kolliopoulou; Elida Maiques; Elinor Sherwood; Emily Miller; Emmett Cathcart & Maya Cathcart; Friends of Ardee Bog; Helio León; Hi-Vis Witches (Heather Gray, Megan Scott, Sara Serpilli); Jasmin Märker, Connor McCrorie (Sporeshore), Courtney Tyler (Hips and Haws Wild Crafts), Josh Clarke, Emma Mckeever; Jenny Owens; John Conway; Karl Logge & Marta Romani; Katerina Gribkoff; Laura Flood; Laura Skehan & Claudia Breitschmid; Lieselle McMahon; Lisa Fingleton; Lucy Peters; Luke Casserly; Lynn Haughton; Mark Clare; Martha Cashman; Mia DiChiaro, Katherine Hall & Sinéad O’Connor; Mimi Seery; Mir Fitzgerald; Monkeyshine; Natasha Ariff & Laura Sheeran; Native Events; Nicholas Brown; Nigel Wood; Noelle Gallagher; Oana Sânziana Marian; Patricia Kane; Rachel Dempsey; Rachel Druett & Laura Merren; Rebecca Tighe; Rediscovery Centre; Rennie Buenting; RE-PEAT (Bethany Copsey, Deirdre Lane, Frankie Turk, Lukas Fraser); Robert Coleman; Roisin Markham; Ros Burgin; Shannon Carroll & Rosie O’Reilly; Silke Michels & Tomasz Madajczak; Sinéad Curran ; Sonia Caldwell; Sophie von Maltzan; Spooky Beore; Stephen Roddy; Steven Doody; Sundara O’Higgins; Sylvia Maher; The Accidental Rapper; Tom Lane & Jessica Traynor ; Úna Keane; William Bock & Tomasz Madajczak.

Seed STUDIO
Seed STUDIO emerged from a recent residency with artist Clodagh Emoe as part of IMMA’s A Radical Plot programming. During her residency Emoe proposed a mission to further embed the artist experience of biodiversification by piloting a dedicated studio space at the museum for this urgent knowledge and experience. Seed STUDIO is an ecological space for IMMA’s Green Cube and addresses an overwhelming need to explore new ways of deepening and celebrating our connection with the natural world. Seed STUDIO utilises IMMA as a substantial urban green site to cultivate, nurture and sustain individual and collective research and artistic practice that foregrounds nature and biodiversity.

Navine G. Dossos
Navine G. Dossos is a visual artist working between London and Athens. Her interests include Orientalism in the digital realm, geometry as information and decoration, image calibration, and Aniconism in contemporary culture. She has developed a form of geometric abstraction that merges the traditional Aniconism of Islamic art with the algorithmic nature of the interconnected world we live in. This is not the formal abstraction we understand from the western history of art, but something essentially informational, and committed to investigation and communication. Dossos is a painter and uses this medium and its history to ask fundamental questions about the ways in which we see, understand and represent the world around us.

Lioncor  
Lioncor is an Irish residential development company set up in 2018 and made up of an experienced team of construction, finance, property and legal professionals committed to building highly efficient homes across the country. Lioncor pride themselves on delivering housing to all cohorts of the market, from starter homes to social housing, and from luxury apartments and houses to Build-to-Rent developments. Currently their new homes pipeline is in excess of 7,000 homes. Lioncor are involved in the #Building Life Ambassador campaign with the Irish Green Building Council which aims to develop a roadmap to decarbonise Ireland’s built environment and half Ireland’s built environment emissions by 2030. Sustainability and ESG are integral not only to Lioncor as a business but to the real estate industry, as a whole. Lioncor’s goal is to leave a meaningful legacy on the physical landscape of Ireland and to play their part in ensuring they have a positive impact on the places and communities in which they work.

Reddy Architecture + Urbanism
Reddy Architecture + Urbanism is a diverse firm of award-winning international architects and design professionals providing comprehensive services from our offices in Ireland and the UK. Our focus is to design great buildings and places that enhance the lives of those who use them. Approaching every project with an open and enquiring mind and taking time to understand our clients’ objectives, we work to create appropriate design solutions that are imaginative, intelligent, cost effective and satisfying. Our chairman is a founding member of the Academy of Urbanism and we are passionate about the urban environment. We enjoy creating successful urban spaces and a number of our place-making and regeneration projects have been recognised with awards, notably by the RIAI and RTPI.

Reddy Architecture + Urbanism is a leader in the field of architectural design and construction. We believe in designing the entire life of the building from inception through to occupation. Our buildings create successful spaces and places to that enhance peoples quality of life.