Art project to run at Riverbank Arts Centre until July 28

Riverbank Arts Centre were delighted to welcome artists Sinéad McCann, AlanJames Burns and their collaborating artists Aíne Walsh, David Carter, Keith Whelan, Laura Hickey, Aidan Winters, Conor Begley, David Carter, David Deane, Frances Quinn, Jonathan Smith, Niamh Fortune and Sean Winder to officially open Our Place in the McKenna Gallery on Friday 14th July.

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PHOTO: LIAM MULLEN

Our Place playfully explores themes of happiness, human rights, and a sense of belonging by transforming the McKenna Gallery at Riverbank Arts Centre into a friendly multi-sensory environment through an electric combination of sound art, storytelling, tactile lighting and comfy seating for everyone to enjoy. A soundscape plays through a system of 12 audio speakers in the gallery with adjustable volume. To further enhance this experience for everyone, three distinct sensory areas within the gallery space have been created including; a social seating area, a time out area, and a tactile string lighting and sculptural area. Lámh, braille and captioned descriptions of sound works are also available to visitors.

David Carter, Our Place Artist, Saint John of God Liffey Services talks about his experience making the exhibition: “We made class sounds, and listened back to our recordings on Zoom and WhatsApp. We boosted our health and our happiness. It was fab!!”

Caroline Williams, Riverbank Arts Centre Venue Director, “We are very proud to present Our Place and to support this important and inclusive participatory art project, by Sinead, AlanJames and their 12 collaborators. Our McKenna Gallery has been transformed into a welcoming, sensory-friendly space to allow the audio artwork to resound. The sound art has been developed over the past three years, a vital project which connected people by ZOOM during Covid lockdown, has now become an uplifting art experience that everyone can share.”

Lucina Russell, Arts Officer and Kildare Creative Ireland coordinator states: “‘Our Place’ is a joyous exhibition that, to me, exemplifies meaningful participation by artists with a range of abilities, and also encapsulates the voice and experiences of those taking part.  True collaboration requires tremendous care and time - lead artists Sinead McCann and AlanJames Burns have excelled at this, with support from project partners.”

Our Place is a new exhibition developed by artists Sinéad McCann and AlanJames Burns in close collaboration with artists, who are supported by Saint John of God Liffey Services, Aíne Walsh, David Carter, Keith Whelan, Laura Hickey, Aidan Winters, Conor Begley, David Carter, David Deane, Frances Quinn, Jonathan Smith, Niamh Fortune and Sean Winder. All creative decisions and ideas leading to the exhibition design were informed by collaborative workshops with all collaborators, including during a two-week residency in Riverbank Arts Centre in February 2023, funded by the Arts Council of Ireland Artist in Community Scheme, managed by Create Ireland.

Our Place is supported by Kildare’s Creative Ireland bursary awards 2023.

Our Place runs in the McKenna Gallery until Friday 28th July. Admission free. For more information please visit www.riverbank.ie