EVA International – Ireland’s biennial of contemporary art, Still (the) Barbarians is curated by Koyo Kouoh and is open to the public from 16 April to 17 July. EVA International was founded by Limerick-based artists and academics in January 1977. 2016 is the 37th edition of EVA International and in 2014 the 36th edition received over 66,000 visitors across five venues.
- Still (the) Barbarians will take place across six locations: Limerick City Gallery of Art, Cleeve’s Condensed Milk Factory, The Sailor’s Home, King John’s Castle, The Hunt Museum and Mother Macs. Within the context of the 1916 Easter Rising centenary, Still (the) Barbarians investigates the post-colonial condition of Ireland as a point of departure from where artistic reflections, critical redefinitions and political transformations are articulated.
- Still (the) Barbarians includes presentations 57 Artists present 50 projects at 6 sites.
- Still (the) Barbarians includes the work of 48 international artists and nine Irish artists. The artists are from 23 countries from Kenya to Korea, Sweden to USA and Turkey to Sengal and from four contintents.
- Still (the) Barbarians includes the work of five past EVA International participants: Uriel Orlow (2014); Alan Phelan (2009, 2008, 2004,1994); Tom Flanagan and Megs Morley (2014); and Deirdre Power (2012, 2006, 2002, 2000), Alice Maher (1996, 1993, 1987).
- Still (the) Barbarians includes new commissions and presentations by: Kostas Bassanos, Eric Baudelaire, Godfried Donkor, Mary Evans, Tom Flanagan and Megs Morley, Liam Gillick, Carsten Höller, Michael Joo, Abdoulaye Konaté, Kemang Wa Lehulere, Charles Lim Yi Yong, Alice Maher, Pádraic E. Moore, Alan Phelan, Johannes Phokela, Deirdre Power and Softday (Sean Taylor and Mikael Fernström), Willem de Rooij, Tracey Rose, Mona Vatamanu and Florin Tudor, John Waid.
- Still (the) Barbarians includes artworks in eight different mediums including: one artist presenting a batik, 22 artists presenting installations, three artists presenting paintings, five artists presenting performances, one artist presenting performance documentation, two artists presenting textiles, 11 artists presenting video works and three artists presenting video installations.
Of the curatorial concept for EVA International Chair, Hugh Murray commented: “responding to the 1916 Easter Rising centenary in Ireland, Still (the) Barbarians, Koyo Kouoh’s theme for EVA International 2016, offers a compelling reflection on the history and legacy of our colonial past. Taking its title from Constantine Cavafy’s 1898 poem, ‘Waiting for the Barbarians’, Koyo has commissioned many new works and presentations. Artworks have travelled to Limerick from around the globe, bringing together 57 artists who were selected from over 2,000 proposals from 106 countries. The opportunities that this creates for intercultural dialogue is immensely important in this profoundly sad time of involuntary civilian dislocation and migration on a massive international scale. The exceptional artists and artworks chosen for Still (the) Barbarians allow us the privilege of sharing their insights into the diversity and the fundamental shared humanity of our different cultures, heritage, and histories.”
Curator Koyo Kouoh reflects on her decision to curate Still (the) Barbarians: “The opportunity to work with EVA International offered a means to investigate and engage with an important discourse surrounding post-colonial effects, and how they continue to shape our present condition. When I looked at the line-up of previous EVA curators, I felt very privileged to be part of it.”
Koyo Kouoh comments on the selection of artists in relation to the curatorial concept: “Still (the) Barbarians invites us to look at the postcolonial condition on a comparative level. It is not just given from an Irish perspective but also from an African perspective, a Southeast Asian perspective, and a South American perspective. The whole discourse on the postcolony should be more present in societies that were once colonized or were once colonizers – in Ireland, a country that has been occupied for so long, as well as elsewhere. The whole selection of artists is an attempt to show that the local is in the global and that the global has an influence on the local, and how these contemporary issues are a matter of interdependency, since it is a question of how you see yourself from whatever standpoint or whatever location you are acting from, of how you connect that to the world. Nowadays, even the most remote or isolated places are connected to the rest of the world because of the flurry and flood of information we have access to.“
Still (the) Barbarians venues and exhibiting artists:
Limerick City Gallery of Art (Pery Square, Limerick):
Pio Abad, Philip Aguirre y Otegui, Tiffany Chung, Godfried Donkor, Samuel Erenberg, Mary Evans, Carsten Höller, Kapwani Kiwanga, Abdoulaye Konaté, Charles Lim Yi Yong, Kemang Wa Lehulere, Bradley McCallum, Naeem Mohaiemen, Otobong Nkanga, Willem de Rooij, Mona Vatamanu and Florin Tudor, John Waid
Cleeve’s Condensed Milk Factory (O’Callaghan Strand, Limerick):
Larry Achiampong and David Blandy, Kader Attia, Kostas Bassanos, Eric Baudelaire, Hera Büyüktaşcıyan, Criodhna Costello, Jonathan Cummins, Theo Eshetu, Tom Flanagan and Megs Morley, Carsten Höller, Dorothy Hunter, Jeremy Hutchison, Joanna Hutton, Alfredo Jaar, Journal Rappé (Xuman & Keyti), Syowia Kyambi, Leung Chi Wo, Alice Maher, Uriel Orlow, Ulrike Ottinger, Alan Phelan, Sarah Pierce, Public Studio (Elle Flanders and Tamira Sawatzky), Ican Ramageli, Amanda Rice, Catarina Simão
The Hunt Museum (Rutland Street, Limerick):
Philip Aguirre y Otegui, Carsten Höller, Abdoulaye Konaté, Johannes Phokela (delayed in transit)
The Sailor’s Home (O’Curry Street, Limerick):
Michael Joo
King John’s Castle (Nicholas Street, Limerick)
Vo Tran Chau
Mother Macs (High Street, Limerick)
Liam Gillick
Performances (various locations)
Liam Gillick (14 to 17 April, then every Thursday through 14 July), Yong Sun Gullach (15 and 16 April), Joanna Hutton (16 April), Journal Rappé (Xuman & Keyti, 15 April), Syowia Kyambi (15 April), Pádraic E. Moore (15 April), Deirdre Power and Softday (Sean Taylor and Mikael Fernström, 24 April), Tracey Rose (15 April)
Ormston House (Patrick Street, Limerick) in partnership with EVA International, will present Murder Machine curated by Christine Eyene. Murder Machine brings together Ceara Conway (Ireland), George Hallett (South Africa), Linda O’Keeffe (Ireland/UK), The Otolith Group (UK) and Rusangano Family (Zimbabwe/Togo/Ireland) for an interactive display and a series of monthly public interventions around text and language, across histories, geographies and political contexts, through art pieces, performances and archival material previously unseen in Ireland.
An Activation programme will provide opportunities for discourse and dialogue in response to the exhibition, and Young EVA – with education curator Katy Fitzpatrick and philosopher Aislinn O’Donnell – will facilitate a series of workshops between children, young people and participating artists.
The Still (the) Barbarians programme will conclude with a Colloquium and The Poets’ Recital co-curated by Koyo Kouoh and Rasha Salti, supported by the Johann Jacobs Museum and in partnership with Limerick 2020 (11 to 13 July, full details to be announced).
For further information please see www.eva.ie
