ABOUT THE WORKSHOP:
I would like to connect and engage in group conversation with people in Liverpool who identify as Irish, have a family connection to Ireland and who immigrated from Ireland to UK. This workshop will be an introductory session to my project and archival finds such as articles, films and photos. These finds will act as prompts for discussions on Irishness, belonging and adapting when moving from one place to another. This workshop is supported by Visual Arts Bursary 2025, Arts Council of Ireland.
ABOUT THE PROJECT:
During 2024 I spent a month-long artist residency at the Bluecoat arts centre, Liverpool. Since that time I have been making recurring visits back to the city to explore hybrid identity within Irish communities researching archives, walking the city streets, visiting an urban nature reserve and building connections. Through the conduits of the mythical Liver bird (half-eagle, half-cormorant), found on building facades of Liverpool and cormorants found in the city's parks, I have been developing a new project of film, sculpture and live performance examining urban ecology, place, myth and reality within Irish identity in the UK.
ABOUT NOLLAIG:
I am a visual artist from Roscommon based in Sligo, Ireland. I work in moving image, sound, and sculptural installation through workshops, exhibitions, and events that examine land use in industrial, social, and historical contexts. Through research into the cormorant and discussions with ornithologists, anglers, and archivists, I explore how fact, fiction, and close observation offer strategies that shape our shifting relationship with the natural world.
In 2025, my publication ‘A Confection of Photographs’ was selected for the group exhibition ‘Dreamtime Ireland’, curated by Sean Lynch at VISUAL Carlow as part of Carlow Arts Festival. I produced ‘Powerhouses’ (2025), a reflective radio documentary examining community volunteering in Roscommon and created ‘Faultlines’ (2025) an artist publication of speculative political pamphlets from the perspective of Slag Heap and Trees running for election. In 2025 I also was awarded a Visual Arts Bursary from the Arts Council of Ireland. In 2026 I received an Artist Bursary from Sligo Arts Service and completed a Technical Development Research Residency at Leitrim Sculpture Centre.
