Conversations

Bodies Politic Symposium

23 February 2016 | Maynooth University

Bodies Politic was a symposium at Maynooth University that brought together artists and academics to discuss the bodies of individuals and the body of the state in the context of the 1916 commemorations.

view gallery Bodies Politic 01Bodies Politic 02Bodies Politic 03Bodies Politic 04Bodies Politic 05Annette NugentEL Putnam, Niamh Murphy, Áine Philips - Future HistoriesFearghus Ó Conchúir 01Fearghus Ó Conchúir 02Finola Cronin, Liv O'Donoghue, Jessie Keenan - Embodied Kate O'SullivanLiv O'Donoghue - The Casement ProjectLiz Roche - EmbodiedOwen Boss, Emma O' Kane, Karen Till - These RoomsRosaleen McDonagh and Lian BellSarah Browne and Jesse Jones - In the Shadow of the StateSheila Pratschke and Fearghus Ó ConchúirDavid Rudkin, Indhu Rubasingham, Fearghus Ó Conchúir, Jamie Beddard - Hospitable BodiesGerry Kearns - Hospitable BodiesHospitable BodiesNigel Hinds - Hospitable Bodies

As part of The Casement Project, choreographer and IRC scholar, Fearghus Ó Conchúir invited four of the Open Call National Projects in ART: 2016, the Arts Council’s programme as part of Ireland 2016, and one of the GPO’s Witness History commissions, to introduce their work and to enter into dialogue with academics from a variety of disciplines. The artistic works presented were:

These Rooms by ANU and CoisCéim Dance Theatre, presented by Owen Boss, visual artist and artistic director of ANU with Emma O’Kane, performer in These Rooms. Academic paper by Dr. Karen E. Till, Senior Lecturer in Cultural Geography, Maynooth University.

In the Shadow of the State presented by Sarah Browne & Jesse Jones, visual artists. Academic paper by Dr. Lisa Godson, historian of design and material culture.

Embodied presented by Liz Roche, choreographer and Artistic Director of Liz Roche Dance; Jesse Keenan, independent dance artist; Liv O’Donoghue, choreographer and performer. Academic paper by Dr. Finola Cronin, Head of Drama Studies at UCD School of English, Drama and Film.

Rosaleen McDonagh, playwright and cultural critic from the Traveller community, interviewed by Lian Bell, Project Manager of The Casement Project, set designer and feminist activist.

Future Histories presented by artists Niamh Murphy & Áine Phillips of Performance Art Live Foundation. Academic paper by Dr. EL Putnam, visual artist, scholar, and writer.

The Casement Project presented by Fearghus Ó Conchúir, choreographer and artistic director; Liv O’Donoghue, performer in The Casement Project. Academic paper by Dr. Gerry Kearns, political geographer and Professor of Geography at Maynooth University.

Also speaking at the event was Chair of the Arts Council, Sheila Pratschke.

The aim was to provide the public with deeper insights into the practice of some of Ireland’s foremost artists as they engaged with this significant moment of national commemoration and to generate new forms of knowledge through an academic and artistic exchange.

Hospitable Bodies: The Casement Symposium

3 June 2016 | The British Library and The Place, London

Sir Roger Casement, a fanatical Irish protestant, came to see us, remaining some two days our guest. He was a very handsome man with a thick, dark beard and piercing, restless eyes. His personality impressed me greatly. It was about the time when he was interested in bringing to light certain atrocities, which were taking place in the Belgian Congo. Who could foresee his own terrible fate during the war as he stood in our drawing room passionately denouncing the cruelties he had seen?  Jessie Conrad

A hundred years after the execution of Roger Casement, Hospitable Bodies: The Casement Symposium brought together academics and artists to discuss the body and the nation, particularly in relation to Casement’s legacy and the work of contemporary artists. 
Curated by choreographer, Fearghus Ó Conchúir, the symposium programme wove together lectures and discussions with work-in-progress from The Casement Project.

Contributors included:

• Sarah Browne and Jesse Jones, visual artists, In the Shadow of the State
• Caitriona Crowe, Head of Special Projects, National Archives of Ireland
• Jeffrey Dudgeon, gay rights activist and author
• Jaime Beddard, Co-Artistic Director, Diverse City
• Gerry Kearns, Professor of Geography, Maynooth University
• Ian McBride, Professor of Irish and British History, Kings College, London
• Lucy McDiarmid, Marie Frazee-Baldassarre Professor of English, Montclair University
• Indhu Rubisingham, Artistic Director of the Tricycle Theatre
• David Rudkin, dramatist and screenwriter