As part of A Fair Land IMMA and Grizedale Arts present an opportunity for twenty teenage women to explore their connections with earlier eras as part of a ten-day project with internationally acclaimed artist Suzanne Lacy. Working with historians, museum staff, students, Irish and US artists, and in association with CREATE, twenty young women between 14-17 years old will participate in the School for Revolutionary Girls, an artistic “consciousness-raising” process that uses group discussion, performance, and social media. Imagining the world as it is for them as young women, and as it could be, they will explore issues important for their era, developing creative expressions of their own unique “public voice.”

In the context of the 1916 commemoration year IMMA is presenting a number of new works by leading Irish and international artists and this project will explore the six day armed insurrection of The Easter Rising. Participating in events coordinated across the country, women claimed a significant role in the Rising with seventy seven of them jailed alongside their male counterparts. Two years later in 1918 women were given the right to vote in Ireland, making suffrage and women’s rights an important theme in Ireland’s struggle to become a free country.

Activities for the week long School for Revolutionary Girls include a visit to Richmond Barracks where seventy seven women were imprisoned along with other rebels; three and a half days of group sessions at IMMA to develop and create social media and performance projects based on each revolutionary girl’s self-proclaimed manifesto (i.e. what she holds important for the future of Irish women); and, on the following weekend, a group dinner, a preparation day, and the final performance event. During their time at IMMA the girls will be part the wider A Fair Land project and will be invited to take part in the different aspects of the project. Artist Tania Brughera will also be a special guest of the project over the first weekend.

You can follow The School for Revolutionary Girls on twitter @Revgirlschool and across social media with the hashtag #SchoolRevGirls

Sunday 28 August / 2pm – 4pm / Free -Drop-in / Courtyard
The School for Revolutionary Girls / Live Performance
Internationally acclaimed artist Suzanne Lacy will work with twenty teenage women to explore their connections with earlier eras as part of a ten-day project. Working with historians, museum staff, students, Irish and US artists, and in association with CREATE, twenty young women between 14-17 years old will participate in an artistic “consciousness-raising” process about the world as it is for them as young women, and as it could be. This live event will be the public culmination of the school with live performances from participants.