Returning to the Earth / Ag Filleadh ar an Talamh

Kilkenny Arts Office and The Emerging Curator Development Programme as a part of Kilkenny Arts Festival, are excited to invite you to Returning to the Earth / Ag Filleadh ar an Talamh with guest speakers visual artist Deirdre O’Mahony, and author of Irish and Ecology / An Ghaeilge agus Éiceolaíocht Michael Cronin, on Friday the 11th of August at Rothe House.

Kilkenny is a city rich in history, heritage and the Irish language, where the arts are a significant ingredient in contributing to its progression of the social, cultural, creative, political, and environmental future. A county also renowned for its fertile land and acres of productive farmland, there are many links to be drawn between the art, landscape, language and lore of Kilkenny.

As a part of Kilkenny Arts Festival, Returning to the Earth / Ag Filleadh ar an Talamh is a unique one-day event inviting the public to join selected artists and researchers to come together to explore our relationship to the landscape in Kilkenny, addressing themes of ecology, sustainability and the Irish language, all of which are inextricably bound with our relationship to place here in Ireland.

Join us at 3PM for an afternoon of research presentations followed by sustainable refreshments provided by a local cafe. Refreshments will take place in the gardens to allow for further discussion on the themes explored in the talks.

To book a place, please contact Deirdre on 0567794547 or email deirdre.southey@kilkennycoco.ie

Tickets cost 10€.

Image credit: Deirdre O’Mahony, The Quickening Dung Beetle, Photograph Tom Flannagan, 2023.

Deirdre O’Mahony is a visual artist whose practice is informed by a deep interest in rural sustainability, farming, food security and rural/urban relationships. For more than two decades she has investigated the political ecology of rural places through public engagement, archival and moving image installation, critical writing and cultural production.

Michael Cronin is Chair of French at Trinity College Dublin and the former Director of the Trinity Centre for Literacy and Cultural translation in Trinity College. He is author and co-editor of many works on language, culture and society. Recent works include Irish and Ecology / An Ghaeilge agus an Éiceolaíocht (Foilseacháin Ábhair Spioradálta 2019) and Eco-Translation: Translation and Ecology in the Age of the Anthropocene (Routledge 2017).

Shannon Carroll is a curator whose research focuses on ecological art practice. Her work explores and questions our relationship to the natural world, with reading, writing and conversation as key elements informing her practice. As a Gaeilgeoir, she is also interested in how Ireland’s native language can offer us alternative perspectives of nature, providing further insight into our connection with natural environments. The outcomes of her research are project dependent, including curating exhibitions, commissioning artworks, organising events, lecturing, writing and publishing.