Bealtaine | Éireann and I present: ‘This Land Bears Our Name’

Éireann and I is a community archive and memory work platform dedicated to chronicling stories of Black life in Ireland. Initiated and led by Beulah Ezeugo and Joselle Ntumba, the project creates spaces for migrants to engage with archives and explore practices of memory work through participatory workshops, publications, and installations. This special commission for Bealtaine explores older migrants’ relationships with Dublin city with newly produced images made during a sound walking workshop, together with images from participants’ personal archives.

This photo series brings together images from participants’ personal archives with newly produced images made during a sound walking workshop, to explore older migrants’ relationships with Dublin city. The work challenges dominant narratives of belonging and opens space for alternative memories and ways of knowing the city to surface. It foregrounds the shared contributions to urban life made by individuals and social groups whose presence and labour may go overlooked. The project also engages with the deeper epistemologies of space, posing critical questions such as: Who is most visible in the city and for whom were particular spaces designed for?

Éireann and I's recent initiatives include residencies and exhibitions at EVA International (Limerick), The Museum of Everyone (Roaming), Galway Arts Centre (Galway), Douglas Hyde Gallery (Dublin), and The Luan Gallery (Athlone).

Bealtaine is Ireland’s national festival celebrating the arts and ageing. The festival is run by Age & Opportunity, the national organisation working to enhance wellbeing for older people through participation in sport and physical activity, arts and creative engagement, personal development, community collaboration and active citizenship.