39th EVA International (Phase 2)

Phase 2 of the 39th EVA International was the second of a three-phase exhibition programme that unfolded across venues in Limerick city and online, from 2 July – 22 August 2021. It featured 14 presentations by Irish and international artists and collaborating curators across exhibition venues Park Point, Sailor’s Home and spacecraft, remotely and online.

The 39th EVA International took its reference from the “Golden Vein,” a 19th-century descriptor for the agricultural bounty of the Limerick region, and across all phases of the programme it sought to question ideas of land and its contested values in the context of Ireland today. Through the work of the participating artists, these questions extended to broader considerations of how we relate to land in terms of ideology, identity, and resource.

The Guest Programme titled Little did they know, curated by Merve Elveren, featured artists Diego Bruno, Barış Doğrusöz, Melanie Jackson & Esther Leslie, Amy Lien & Enzo Camacho, Hana Miletić, Deirdre O’Mahony, Richard Proffitt, Mario Rizzi, and Aykan Safoğlu and presentations by Asia Art Archives’ Betsy Damon Archive: Keepers of the Waters (Chengdu and Lhasa) and Kosovo Oral History Initiative’s Reconciliation of Blood Feuds Campaign 1990-1991. The Little did they know online platform available to view here, brought together content and resources that expanded upon individual works and research-based projects represented in the exhibition.

Phase 2 featured new commissions as part of EVA’s Platform Commissions, including a video work by Eimear Walshe made available through postal subscription, that considered relationships between sex, sexuality and politics; and the presentation of Áine McBride’s sculptural work that augmented the 19th century architecture of Limerick’s Sailor’s Home. Anca Benera and Arnold Estefan also presented works at spacecraft through the Partnership Projects initiative developed by EVA’s participation in the Magic Carpets network.The presentation investigated the phenomenon of man-made landscapes around the world, where the making and marking of landscape as a form of spatial modification goes hand-in-hand with heightened state violence and the over-exploitation of resources.