Free Space: Urgency Agency #1

Join Askeaton Contemporary Arts in Studio 6 for an evening of discussion, inviting international curatorial and artistic voices to discuss the urgent values of culture and ecology needed for life, critique and expression in contemporary life.

Peter Fend and Ocean Earth have for almost five decades proposed speculative and visionary ecological projects that rethink the relationships between art, power and the planet. Fend sees potential for radical change, and his ideas have often led him into friction with the representatives of government agencies, Big Oil and energy suppression.

Curator, artist, writer and educator Paul O’Neill is a global voice on the possibilities and energies that exhibition-making and contemporary art practice can achieve – he shares his recent findings.

Becky Nahom, in her role as director of exhibitions at New York’s Independent Curators International, has developed numerous experimental exhibitions that challenge art historical narratives across the globe.

Stephanie Smith’s curatorial work in Chicago and elsewhere is acknowledged for commitments to groundbreaking ecological thinking through art.

Micol Curatolo highlights her work around borders, cultural work, belonging and identity in Finland.

The event is the first in a series of events organised by Askeaton Contemporary Arts in the next year throughout Ireland that highlight the role of collective thinking and action in contemporary art, and is funded by the Arts Council’s International Residency Initiative Scheme.

This event is supported by Free Space at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios. Free Space creates opportunities for artists to access space in the city for peer learning, artist exchanges, project development and presentations.