Ormston House

Get Well Soon (prologue) is a group exhibition drawing a connection between human and planetary exhaustion. This audio guide serves as walk through of the exhibition for those with additional access requirements or who cannot visit the exhibition in person.

Curated by Lucy Lopez, the exhibition brings together works by Roo Dhissou, Kyla Harris & Lou Macnamara, Rowena Harris, Bint Mbareh, Harun Morrison (with Satpreet Kahlon), Jamila Prowse, Benoît Piéron, Lorenzo Sandoval, and Rehana Zaman.

A prologue for a long-term project, the exhibition hosts works which set intentions for less extractive worlds. Get Well Soon borrows its title from a 2020 text by Johanna Hedva, written in the midst of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hedva wrote that we were experiencing what happens ‘when care insists on itself, when the care of others becomes mandatory, when it takes up space and money and labour and energy’ (Hedva, 2020). They chart the revolutionary potential of sickness: ‘a revolution… might look like hundreds of thousands of bodies in bed, organising a rent strike, separating life’s value from capitalist productivity’ (Hedva, 2020). The long-term project Get Well Soon acknowledges a state of sickness: societal, planetary, interpersonal. We are living through a time of planetary burnout, climate emergency, extractivism and exhaustion; of late-stage capitalism and austerity logic; a time where care is in crisis, privatised beyond recognition. Amongst these crises, how can the space of art model new imaginaries and ways of living? How can we work in and of a place of sickness, rather than under the illusion of wellness? How can we build rest, community care and restorative justice into our work? 

Get Well Soon (prologue) engages with ideas of pacing: from the engineered flows of waterways, to the way time is experienced—sometimes measured in spoons—for disabled, crip, and chronically ill communities, to the way that routines as personal as daily meals can be imbued with ideas of family and grief. From Rehana Zaman’s exploration of the social currencies and economies of modern agriculture in Arbroath, Scotland, to Lorenzo Sandoval’s narrativising of ecological degradation in south-eastern Spain, the works exhibited also play witness to the impacts of capitalist and colonial extraction on both our bodies and our environments. Sitting with ideas of sickness, burnout and loss, the exhibition aims to also depict the joys and world-building possibilities of thinking from this perspective.

The exhibition opened on Friday, 17 November 2023 and runs until Saturday 3 February 2024. Admission is free and all are welcome.

Get Well Soon (prologue) is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and Limerick City & County Council.

In the final episode of the Artist-Run Network Europe (ARNE) podcast, Ormston House’s Niamh Brown speaks with Limerick-based artist and curator Dylan Ryan. 

Since graduating in 2021, Dylan Ryan has been an active member of the Limerick artist-run scene. In 2022, they co-founded The Oobleck Collective, a curatorial project investigating and presenting that which lies beneath the production of art, their inaugural exhibition taking place at Limerick’s Sailor’s Home. In 2023, they curated their first solo show “I Misspell My Words” by Aoife O’Doherty, at Spacecraft Studios, Limerick. Currently, they work as Visitor Engagement Manager at EVA International, Ireland’s Biennial of Contemporary Art in Limerick city.  In this episode Niamh and Dylan discuss how they became involved in the ARNE project and what networks and relationships have grown out of the experience.

Visit here to learn more about Dylan Ryan’s artistic and curatorial practice.

Artist-Run Network Europe (ARNE) was a European project with focus on artist-run initiatives co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.  Ormston House's involvement in the ARNE project was co-funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and Limerick Arts Office.

Visit the Ormston House website here.

In the penultimate episode of the Artist-Run Network Europe (ARNE) podcast, Ormston House’s Niamh Brown speaks with artist, curator and co-founder of Alternative Art Guide, Rob Knijn.

Rob Knijn is an artist, curator, and cultural organiser and initiator based in The Hague, The Netherlands. Knijn is the founder of Alternative Art Guide; the largest online overview of non-profit, artist-run and independent spaces, with over 1700 listings worldwide. In 2022, Alternative Art Guide and ARNE initiated Back to Normal, a collaborative and international exhibition and networking event questioning the role of the artist-run organisation in a post-pandemic world. Most recently, Alternative Art Guide has brought the ARNE devised course “Artist-run, practice and theory” to the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. In this episode, Niamh and Rob discuss the activities of the Alternative Art Guide and the process of bringing the ARNE course to The Hague.

Artist-Run Network Europe (ARNE) was a European project with focus on artist-run initiatives co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.  Ormston House's involvement in the ARNE project was co-funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and Limerick Arts Office.

Visit the Ormston House website here.

In this episode of the Artist-Run Network Europe (ARNE) podcast, Ormston House’s Niamh Brown speaks with independent curator and founder of the Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association (LTMKS), Lina Rukevičiūtė.

The Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association (LTMKS) is an artist-run organisation that has more than 140 members and belongs to the Lithuanian Art Creators’ Association. Established in 1997, the organisation works to unite emerging and established artists through exhibitions, events, residencies and publications. In April 2022 Rukevičiūtė co-curated their Schools & Gardens programme; a week-long exchange between members from ARNE and Independent Initiatives Baltics (IIB) networks at SODAS 2123, Vilnius. IIB is an emergent network for independently run spaces in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. In this episode, Niamh and Lina discuss their work and their involvement in the ARNE project.

Visit here for more information on LTMKS. Visit here for more information on SODAS.

Artist-Run Network Europe (ARNE) was a European project with focus on artist-run initiatives co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.  Ormston House's involvement in the ARNE project was co-funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and Limerick Arts Office.

Visit the Ormston House website here.

Artist and cultural worker Stuart Mayes is the next guest to speak with Niamh Brown in this episode of the Artist-Run Network Europe (ARNE) podcast.

Artist Stuart Mayes has lived and worked in Sweden since 2011, currently operating out of a studio in Uppsala. For over sixteen years, Mayes has used his blog “Project Me'' to chart his artistic practice which encompasses installation, object making, live work, and projects. In 2022 Mayes travelled to Latvia to take part in the Black Holes Residency at Totaldobže Art Centre, organised by ARNE. For Mayes, the residency presented an opportunity to re-engage with his artistic practice and opened up ways of collaborative working with other artists. In this episode, Niamh and Stuart discuss his participation in the Black Holes residency and his involvement in the Swedish artist-run scene. 

Visit here for more information on Stuart’s practice and here for Stuart’s blog “Project Me”.

Artist-Run Network Europe (ARNE) was a European project with focus on artist-run initiatives co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.  Ormston House's involvement in the ARNE project was co-funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and Limerick Arts Office.

Visit the Ormston House website here.

In the second episode of the Artist-Run Network Europe (ARNE) podcast, Ormston House’s Niamh Brown speaks with independent curator and co-director of Juxtapose Art Fair, Pam Grombacher.

Pam Grombacher is an independent curator based in Aarhus, Denmark. In 2021, Grombacher assumed the role of co-director of the inaugural Juxtapose Art Fair, a biennale for artist-run organisations in Aarhus, Denmark. At Juxtapose, she leads the Nordic Visitors Program, runs the Think Tanks, and focuses on the fair’s approach to sustainability. It was here that she discussed the topic of sustainability during the “Talking Change” conference organised by ARNE and Copenhagen-based Syndicate of Creatures. In this episode, Niamh and Pam discuss her involvement with Juxtapose, her ideas around sustainability, and her plans for the future.

Visit here for more information on Juxtapose Art Fair.

Artist-Run Network Europe (ARNE) was a European project with focus on artist-run initiatives co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.  Ormston House's involvement in the ARNE project was co-funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and Limerick Arts Office.

Visit the Ormston House website here.

Welcome to the Artist-Run Network Europe (ARNE) podcast. In our first episode, Ormston House’s Niamh Brown speaks with artist and founding member of Best Before Collective, Belinda Morén.

In 2021 Morén participated in ARNE partner Candyland’s course in “Artist-Run Theory and Practice” at Konstfack – University of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm. Morén, along with some of her fellow graduates went on to form Best Before Collective. A diverse group of artists, curators, crafters and art enthusiasts, the collective work together to create exhibition opportunities for their members, and had their first public presentation at Supermarket Independent Art Fair 2021. Today, the Collective continues to exhibit in their window space in central Stockholm. In this episode, Niamh and Belinda discuss her experience of the course at Konstfack and working as part of the collective.

Visit here for more information on Belinda’s practice and here for more information on Best Before Collective.

Artist-Run Network Europe (ARNE) was a European project with focus on artist-run initiatives co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.  Ormston House's involvement in the ARNE project was co-funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and Limerick Arts Office.

Visit the Ormston House website here.

A special bonus episode of Together For Yurt. This podcast is produced by Dave Tobin and narrated by Jess Beeley.

On the year anniversary of Repealing the 8th Amendment - an occasion we're calling Repealmas - we met up with some of the canvassers we didn't get a chance to chat to before. Visit https://togetherforyurt.home.blog for photos from the Limerick campaign. 

Ormston House is proud to host this important archive of the Together for Yes campaign.

Together for Yurt is a podcast looking back at the 2018 Limerick Together for Yes campaign to repeal the 8th Amendment. This podcast is produced by Dave Tobin and narrated by Jess Beeley.

In our final episode, we hear about the final days of the campaign in Limerick, the vote and the all-important results. Featuring Yvie, Jennifer Schweppe, Thomas Bibby and Jimi Kavanagh. Visit https://togetherforyurt.home.blog for photos from the Limerick campaign. 

Ormston House is proud to host this important archive of the Together for Yes campaign.

Together for Yurt is a podcast looking back at the 2018 Limerick Together for Yes campaign to repeal the 8th Amendment. This podcast is produced by Dave Tobin and narrated by Jess Beeley.

In episode 9, we hear from two Repeal campaigners who canvassed in Limerick City. Jane Conway is a teacher who experienced infant loss in 2015 and told her story to countless people during the campaign. Seán Lynch joined the campaign to help his friends, and also became a canvass leader. Featuring Jane Conway and Seán Lynch. Visit https://togetherforyurt.home.blog for photos from the Limerick campaign. 

Ormston House is proud to host this important archive of the Together for Yes campaign.