EVA International 2020: Programme Announcement

Image courtesy of EVA International

39th EVA International
September 4 – November 15, 2020
http://www.eva.ie

The 39th EVA International programme will be developed in reference to the ‘Golden Vein’, a popular 19th century descriptor for the bountiful pastures of the Limerick / Tipperary region in the mid-West of Ireland. The reference belongs to the historical perspective of seeing the land as a resource to be tapped, exploited, and commercialised through industrialised agricultural production and global trade. The Golden Vein is the starting point for thinking through ideas of land and its contested values within the context of Ireland today.

Matt Packer, Director/CEO of EVA commented, “The 39th EVA International in 2020 will be the first to adopt a new framework for the biennial programme. Over the next three editions of EVA, the biennial will be delivered through a number of thematically-connected channels, including a curated Guest Programme, a new Platform Commissions initiative, as well as presentations and educational projects developed by EVA directly in collaboration with organizational partners. The new framework will allow us to continue to deliver exceptional contemporary art experiences in

Limerick which are rooted to the city and wider region, while also developing our own

organizational strengths in the longer term. I’m delighted to share the news that we’ll be working with Merve Elveren and Anne Tallentire on the 39th EVA International programme. They each come with an enormous energy of ideas and experiences that we look to building into our plans.”

Opening on 4 September 2020 and continuing until 15 November 2020, the 39th EVA International will be delivered through a programme framework that includes a Guest Programme curated by Merve Elveren (recepient of ICI’s 2018 Independent Vision Curatorial Award), a new Platform Commissions initiative, as well as a number of adjacent commissions and projects directly initiated by EVA and collaborating partners. The 39th EVA International is the first of three biennials that fall within the scope of EVA’s Strategic Plan 2019 – 2024.

In relation to her plans for the Guest Programme, Elveren has written: “In a global climate of political and economic dispossession, what does ‘land’ stand for? The word evokes as much guilt and helplessness as peace of mind, harbours self-realization and fulfilment, yet, at the same time, bridges deprivation and collectivity. Veined by corresponding and conflicting intensities, the notion of land holds the potential to challenge the status quo by addressing both the present and the future. For the 39th EVA International, I would like to imagine the exhibition as a temporary site for revisiting critical historical models and actions from the recent past, and bringing together examples from today with a view to utilizing and re-interpreting shared memories and material histories. To this end, I hope to collaborate with self-regulating archives of local collective social movements and organizations, and ultimately ignite a conversation on what we can learn from and with them today.”

EVA also announces a new initiative for the commission and production of new work by artists currently practising in Ireland. Platform Commissions invites eligible artists to submit short proposals for consideration, to be selected for the 39th EVA International programme by a panel consisting of Merve Elveren, artist Anne Tallentire, and EVA Director Matt Packer. Selected proposals will receive financial and production support through all stages of project development and realisation. The application window for submission of proposals is 24 October – 10 December.