40th EVA International

31 August – 29 October 2023

Guest Programme: The Gleaners Society
Curated by Sebastian Cichocki, the Guest Programme of the 40th EVA International took its thematic basis on the idea and practice of gleaning – a term that traditionally refers to the act of collecting leftover crops following a harvest. The Gleaners Society extended this reference in a multiple of ways, alternately serving as an artistic subject, a political metaphor, and a curatorial methodology to explore and propose art’s relationship to society. Featuring over 45 presentations by Irish and international artists and collectives, The Gleaners Society unfolded across a set of uniquely diverse venues in Limerick city (civic arts institutions, a primary school, a Cathedral, and a vegetarian cafe, among others).

Artists and collectives included: Kateryna Aliinyk, Orla Barry, Robert Barry, Kian Benson Bailes, bela, Kasper Bosmans, Eglė Budvytytė, John Carson, Jeamin Cha, Bryony Dunne, Clodagh Emoe, Rachel Fallon & Alice Maher, Rosalind Fowler, Freefilmers (presented by Asia Tsisar),  Léann Herlihy,  ikkibawiKrrr,  Tamás Kaszás,  Navine G. Dossos,  Eustachy Kossakowski, Kim Beom, Li Mu,  Sharon Lockhart,  Goshka Macuga, Jumana Manna,  Gordon Matta-Clark,  Óscar Mascareñas, Olga Micińska with Mathild Clerc-Verhoeven, Janet Mullarney, Teresa Murak, My-Musical Collective and Pidsoma Shelter, Peter Nadin & Natsuko Uchino & Aimée Toledano, Antonina Nowacka, OHO, Rory Pilgrim, Sana Shahmuradova Tanska, Diane Severin Nguyen, Jessica Sarah Rinland, Joydeb Roaja, Slavs and Tatars, Åsa Sonjasdotter in collaboration with Mercè Torres Ràfols and NCAD FIELD, Seoidín  O’Sullivan, Iza Tarasewicz, Thomond Primary School Gardening Club in collaboration with Deirdre O’Mahony and Hometree, Dominika Trapp, Natsuko Uchino, and Lala Merdith-Vula.

Platform Commissions / Partnership Projects
The 40th EVA International also included new commissions developed through EVA’s Platform Commission and Partnership Project initiatives. Sarah Durcan, Phillip McCrilly, Sharon Phelan, Frank Sweeney, Cliodhna Timoney, and Amna Walayat presented their Platform Commission works selected by Emily Jacir and Pádraic E. Moore, while Bea McMahon presented a new installation that culminates a year-long series of collaborative video and performance works.

To coincide with the launch of the 40th EVA International was Never Look Back – an ongoing programme of resources, commissions, and events that were dedicated to the traces of EVA’s history across Limerick city since EVA was established in 1977. From offices, shops, bars, museums, ex-industrial units, and public spaces – EVA’s use of the city has variously reflected the changing ambition of the visual arts to integrate itself into the broader social environment, while also serving as a map of changes in the urban fabric itself.

The first of these projects included a new digital resource designed by An Endless Supply and curatorial commissions by RGKSKSRG and Michele Horrigan that responded to these histories.

Acknowledgments
Funders: The 40th EVA International was funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, Instytut Adama Mickiewicza—Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism of Korea, Korea Arts Management Service and the grant programme Fund for Korean Art Abroad, and Limerick City and County Council.

Programme Partners: An Endless Supply, Andriesse Eyck Gallery, Askeaton Contemporary Art, Belltable, Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark, Féile na Gréine, Golden Thread Gallery, Gunia Nowik Gallery, Hollybush Gardens, IMMA, Instytut Adama Mickiewicza, Limerick Twenty Thirty, Limerick Civic Trust, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Mondriaan Fund, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw (MSN), NCAD FIELD, Ormston House, Project Arts Centre, RGKSKSRG, Rua Red, Samdani Art Foundation, Shannon Foynes Port Authority, St. Mary’s Cathedral, The Commercial, The Grove, Thomond Primary School, TUS – Limerick School of Art & Design, University of Limerick, Van Abbemuseum and Wexford County Council.

Press
Vegetable grenades with entrail roots: Ukrainian art cuts through at Irish biennale, The Guardian (01/09/2023). EVA ’23: Inside Ireland’s international biennale of modern art, RTÉ (12/09/2023). EVA International Tackles Notions of Citizenship, Frieze (18/09/23). Episode 15- The Grove Veggie Kitchen, Limerick Live 95 (21/09/2023). A unique programme to engage with social change at Limerick venue, Limerick Leader, (23/09/2023). EVA International Lets a Hundred Flowers Bloom, Ocula (26/09/2023). 40th EVA International, 2023, Studio International (26/09/2023). 40th EVA International, “The Gleaners Society”, e-flux Criticism (28/09/23). EVA International: artistic encounters across 17 diverse locations, Limerick Post (05/10/2023). 40th EVA International: Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Art, Third Text (17/10/2023). Amna Walayat: ‘You hear about fallen women, you never hear about a fallen man’, Irish Examiner (18/10/2023).  EVA International 2023 Review: A Call for Redistribution, ArtReview (23/10/2023).‘There’s a very good bomb shelter in the building where I have my studio…’, Irish Examiner (24/10/2023). A Biennial in Ireland Shows What True Engagement with a Local Community Looks Like, ARTnews (27/10/2023).