Event: Ritual Flux 51 exhibition for Birr vintage week & arts festival

Image credit: Trouble with The Spaceship In IRELANTIS, collage by Sean Hillen, 1995

Ritual Flux 51

The 41st Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival, visual arts programme is curated by Eilís Lavelle, Ruth Lyons and Carl Giffney.

Exhibiting artists include: Ulrich Vogl, Philippa Sutherland, Theresa Nanigian, Orla McHardy & Alice Lyons, Kevin Mooney, Ann Mulrooney, James Merrigan, Patrick Keavney, Seán Hillen, Chris Borland and Anne Maree Barry, Sven Anderson & economicthoughtprojects’ Russell Hart.

Ritual Flux 51 includes exhibitions, artist’s talks, walking tours and live events. The Festival offers a unique opportunity for artists and audiences to access these historic locations and exhibitions have been installed in such unique sites as the Masonic Hall, John’s Hall and the Birr Estate Office. 

The Masonic Hall on Rosse Row houses an exhibition by the Irish artist James Merrigan. For this solo exhibition Merrigan has conceived of a new body of work that responds to this particular location.  “The historic building has inspired a new body of work which is both site-specific and alien to the space. It has really brought about a reflection on particular histories that revolve around community, religion and conviviality.“ –James Merrigan, July 2009

Johns Hall is a unique setting for a group exhibition that brings together the work of the renowned Irish artist Seán Hillen, the German artist Ulrich Vogl and the Dublin-based, American artist Theresa Nanigian.  The group exhibition in the Estate Office on Rosse Row showcases some exciting large-scale sculptural works by two promising Limerick-based artists, Patrick Keaveney and Chris Borland, alongside the intricate work of Ann Mulrooney and new paintings by Philippa Sutherland and Kevin Mooney.

A video installation by Anne Maree Barry can be found in P. L. Dolan’s Bike Shop on Main Street and ‘The Polish Language’ an animation by Alice Lyons and Orla McHardy will be shown in the Library.  Founders of The Good Hatchery, Ruth Lyons and Carl Giffney were invited by independent curator Eilís Lavelle to co-curate this year’s programme.

The curators drew on the influential book ‘Tools of Conviviality’ by Ivan Illich in which he outlines a proposal for the appropriation of technology by the community. Illich focused on the original Latin root of “convivial” meaning “..to live with” as opposed to the contemporary meaning “…friendly, lively and enjoyable”. “In post-Celtic Tiger Ireland and in the context of global economic collapse we were struck by the poignancy and relevance of Illich’s seminal work. There are things, or ways of being that bring us together and there are others that drive us apart.

Today, more than ever, mutual support and collaboration are crucial to survival and success. Our curatorial aim for this year’s exhibition is to open the discussion on these and related issues.” - Eilís Lavelle, July 2009.

The curators will host an afternoon of artists’ talks, presentations and discussion on Saturday 15 August between 3-6pm at Johns Hall. Special Event: A Fluxus Anthology film screening with live music by artists Russell Hart and Sven Anderson.

This is a chance to see 16mm films by experimental artists Yoko Ono, John Cale, George Maciunas and others. Spinners, Town House Gallery, Castle Street, Sunday 16 August, 9pm. All events are free. Venues: Masonic Hall & Estate Office, Rosse Row, P. L. Dolan’s Bike Shop, Main Street, Birr Library, Wilmer Road, Johns Hall on Johns Mall and Spinners Town House Gallery, Castle Street.

Exhibition opening hours:Saturday 15 August –Friday 21 August 2009 Opening hours: 12-6 Birr Arts Festival and the Good Hatchery website