Black Holes

Sorcha McNamara travelled to Riga, Latvia to undertake the Black Holes residency as part of the Creative Europe project Artist-Run Network Europe. The residency took place at Totaldobže Art Centre, where seven international artists explored collaboration and sharing through play, board games, colour-hunting, silent awareness walks, and dancing around bonfires as a daily art practice in the Latvian wilderness. They have also been challenging their habitual individual practice, while exploring collective art making process, which demands certain compromises, and finding new ways to manifest ideas. An end-of-residency film screening and exhibition, entitled Show the Curiosity of Losing Content, was open to the public as a marker of their collective time at the residency.

Sorcha was selected via an open call through Ormston House, Limerick.

Participants: Aina Bikše (LV), Kristjan Thorlacius Finsson (IS), Stuart Mayes (UK/SE), Sorcha McNamara (IE), Felipe Andres Naranjo Urenda (CL/DE), Matthias Roth (DE), Lidija Zaneripa (LV).

Moderators: Kaspars Lielgalvis (LV), Laura Prikule (LV).
Workshop holders: John Fail (US), John Grzinich (US), Andreas Ribbung (SE).
Produced by: Totaldobže Art Centre.

The Black Hole residency is a part of the Creative Europe Small Cooperations Project, Artist-Run Network Europe (ARNE). The Black Hole residency is co-funded by the Latvian Ministry of Culture. Sorcha’s participation was further supported through the Arts Council of Ireland’s Agility Award 2022. Ormston House’s participation in ARNE is co-funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and Limerick City & County Council.

Text: Ormston House

Read Sunken Velvet Universe, a reflective text by Sorcha McNamara, here.