The Art of Social Change
The Art of Social Change exhibition (2006) was commissioned to celebrate the public launch of the Archive at CityArts. Designed by artist Nina Tanis, the exhibition is threefold in its intent: Firstly to profile CityArts and its contribution to Irish culture over the past three decades; secondly to highlight the importance of The Archive in documenting this type of work; and thirdly and perhaps most importantly, to make researchers and artists aware of this unique resource.
Home to the memory of CityArts (formerly Grapevine Arts and then City Arts Centre), The Archive is a living archive that houses a unique collection of papers, photographs and moving image material that documents and records the socially engaged, activist and collaborative arts practice traced and developed by CityArts since 1973. From local festivals such as the South Docks Festival and the Ballyfermot Arts Week to pioneering music programmes such as the Music MAP (Management and Promotion) course and the music studios for young bands set up with support from Yamaha and U2; material collected in The Archive is evidence of the primary contribution made by the community arts sector during the latter half of the last century, an important and often invisible part of Ireland's cultural heritage.
CityArts has always been a hub of creative activity and a platform for emerging and established artists, actors and musicians, Christy Moore, Tommy Tiernan, Antony Corbjin, Deidre O'Kane, Peter Greenaway, Jacki Irvine, Kevin McAleer, The Diceman (Thom McGinty) and Augusto Boal to name but a few.
Ground breaking arts programmes run by CityArts have included disability arts with the Young Playwrights Programme, the Music Business Course and Celebrating Difference; facilitating the first conferences in Ireland for community arts, arts and disability, and arts and health; pioneering community arts projects and contributing to the development of activist arts through campaigns such as the anti-nuclear movement at Carnsore Point, the Wood Quay demonstrations, the South Inner City anti high-rise campaign and the Parade of Innocence.
The Art of Social Change exhibition tours to Charleville Castle, Tullamore, 2007
The Art of Social Change is an interactive, multi-media exhibition which showcases three decades of work, revealing the central role CityArts played in a movement that sought to change the face of culture and was itself an agent of change in a period of great social transformation in Ireland.
Curated by Jane Speller and Sandy Fitzgerald.
Tour
Following its launch at Dublin City Library and Archive, The Art of Social Change toured to the Switch Room, Belfast (2006) as part of the Interface at the University of Ulster programme, I Confess That I was There. A short season of events, exhibitions, lectures, performances and archive material representing prototypes of art production and practice based research which had as their concern relations between art/artist, place, location, memory and context.
Further tour venues were Charleville Castle, Tullamore, Co. Offaly (2007) and the Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar, Co. Mayo (2008).
