IMMA has invited the artist Navine G. Dossos to realise an ambitious new commission for IMMA’s iconic courtyard which aims to address the issue of new psychological states that have emerged in response to a greater awareness of global and local climate change. Inspired by the books Earth Emotions (2019) by Glenn Albrecht and Thought Forms (1901) by Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater, the resulting artwork Kind Words Can Never Die will address how images can be made of these emerging feelings that can be both negative and positive responses to ecological change.

Part of this project will be realised through studio-based workshops where Dossos will introduce her own practice as an artist, and her ideas for this site-specific commission. Workshop participants will then spend the morning using paint and paper to connect words and colours through an open associative process – first making these explorations individually, and then together as a single group. The afternoon will explore the addition of colours to a series of diagrams and graphs chosen about climate change, adding an emotional reading to scientific data-driven visualisations of the environment.

These workshop contributions will be gathered and studied by the artist and every week Dossos will use the findings to inform the wall paintings for the IMMA Colonnades, creating a collective response to the themes addressed in the workshops. IMMA welcomes anyone who would like to contribute to a workshop to email us at [email protected] with a brief expression of interest to participate. Find out more details further down this page.