we make our own histories – The Artist and the Museum Conference

This conference at the National Museum of Ireland – Decorative Arts & History brings together artists, educators, curators and activists to explore the role of artists in museums, consider the impact of artists’ residencies and explore how socially engaged art and other contemporary artist engagements can be fostered as a core strand of work of the museum.

The conference is part of the Museum’s programme of events at the culmination of Anthony Haughey’s residency and his exhibition, we make our own histories, on display at Collins Barracks until 30 June 2024.

Haughey’s is one of five residencies funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport, and Media to mark the latter years of the Decade of Centenaries, in the context of a changing Ireland, 100 years after the formation of the state.

Speakers include American artist, writer and educator Gregory Sholette, the National Museum’s Artist in Residence 2021 – 24 Anthony Haughey and Decade of Centenaries Artist in Residence, Beyond 2022 Mairéad McClean.

This conference is open to the public. Admission free and booking is essential via Eventbrite.

Programme

9am

Coffee and Registration

9.30am

Artist’s tour of the we make our own histories exhibition

10.15am

Welcome with Lynn Scarff, Director, National Museum of Ireland

10.30am

Keynote Address: Troubling the Museum

Gregory Sholette, Artist, Writer and Educator

11.15am

Coffee Break

11.45am

Panel discussion: Activist, Artist, Agitator?

Panel:

Éimear O’Connor, Head of Collections, National Museum of Ireland

Anthony Haughey, Decade of Centenaries Artist in Residence, National Museum of Ireland

Dónal Maguire, Keeper, National Museum of Ireland

Mairéad McClean, Decade of Centenaries Artist in Residence, Beyond 2022

Chair: Sharon Heal, Director, Museums Association UK

12.30pm

Reflection:

Martin Drury, artist, activist, advocate and writer

12.45pm

Lunch Break

2pm

Panel discussion: The impacts of artists working in museums on museums, their visitors and their communities

Panel:

Aoife O’Brien, curator, National Museum of Ireland

Lauretta Igbosonu, participant in National Museum Residency

Leina Ibnouf, participant in National Museum Residency

Joe Shortt, participant in National Museum Residency

Agrippa Njanina, Community Engagement Officer, National Museums of N Ireland

Chair: Damien McGlynn, Director, Create National Development Agency for Collaborative Arts

2.45pm

Break

3pm

Panel Discussion: What does best practice look like and what do museums need to do to embed this work?

Panel:

Lynn Scarff, Director, National Museum of Ireland

Helen Beaumont, Education Officer, National Museum of Ireland

Gregory Sholette

Jonathan Cummins, artist and curator of we make our own histories

Gemma Reid, artist and member of Quarto Collective

Janice Hough, curator, IMMA

Chair: Gina O’Kelly, Director, Irish Museums Association

3.45pm

Closing words

Lynn Scarff and Martin Drury

4pm Ends

Please note that programme may be subject to change.

Dr. Gregory Sholette is a New York-based artist, writer, teacher and activist. He is a Professor at Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY), Co-Director of Social Practice CUNY headquartered in the Center for the Humanities, Graduate Center; holds a PhD in History and Memory Studies from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, is a graduate of the Whitney Independent Study Program in Critical Theory, and an alumni of the Center for Advanced Study of Visual Art (CASVA). His most recent book is The Art of Activism and the Activism of Art (2021).

Anthony Haughey is a socially engaged artist, photographer, filmmaker and lecturer at TU Dublin. His co-authored and solo artworks have been exhibited and collected by museums and galleries nationally and internationally.

Martin Drury, practitioner and policy-maker for 45 years, trained and worked as a teacher of English before becoming variously Arts Education Officer (Sligo/Leitrim); Artistic Director of TEAM Educational Theatre Co; Education Officer of the Arts Council; Founding Director, The Ark, A Cultural Centre for Children; Arts Director & Strategic Development Director at the Arts Council. His directing CV includes 20+ productions for the Abbey, Druid, Opera Theatre Company, Second Age, The Ark, Barnstorm and TEAM. He is a former board member of the Ireland Funds, of Music Generation and of Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts, and a former Honorary Fellow in Psychology at UCD. He has been active in shaping cultural policy through membership of key committees and working groups and he has researched, written and edited numerous reports and studies in the field of the arts, especially in the contexts of education and young people. He is currently writing The Arts, the State and Young People: Cultural Policy, Provision and Practice (1920-2020).

Lynn Scarff, Director of the National Museum of Ireland, is an expert panellist on public engagement, environmental education, and community regeneration, A former Director and change leader at the Science Gallery Dublin, she has delivered multiple community-led programmes, including for children and young people. An advocate for the participative museum, her research focuses on museum collaborations with under-represented groups. She has authored extensively on museum and education practice and has delivered projects funded competitively by Science Foundation Ireland, the Wellcome Trust, Horizon 2020 and Creative Europe. Board memberships include the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun.

Éimear O’Connor is an art historian and author with extensive experience as a curator and collections manager. O’Connor joined the National Museum of Ireland as Director of Collections and Access in October 2023.

More to follow...

Host or Publisher National Museum of Ireland - Decorative Arts & History, Collins Barracks