Rural Vernacular On-site Symposium
Rural Vernacular is curated by Fiona Woods and is the third strand in the Ground Up project . A series of temporary public artworks in rural contexts will be developed from an art research project. These works will form the basis of an on-site symposium as part of the conference.
The rural, far from the empty landscape of tourist brochures, is a contested zone in which a complex matrix of perspectives is at work. Socio-economic change, climate change, ecological realities and the post-CAP agricultural situation demand a radical re-thinking of the rural. It is crucial that this be recognised as a cultural [as well as economic] issue. As such, it requires that a new discourse be developed by cultural practitioners and grassroots participants in the rural dynamic.
“The conventional notion of the rural as a 'marginal' or minor cultural discourse needs to be challenged, re-positioning the rural as a new intellectual site and critical impulse from which to construct a new cultural discourse about social, economic and environmental change in the context of sustainability.” Ian Hunter, Littoral Arts Trust.
Rural Vernacular will bring together artists from a number of countries – Ireland, Hungary, Switzerland, Russia - whose work takes the form of socially-engaged art practice. This type of practice is of particular interest in the rural context because of the way it engenders debate, empowers other people and shifts the focus onto issues. Relating to the complex, rural context is central to the project; public art is understood as both a both a process of research and a mode of dialoguing between artists, rural communities and the wider cultural discourse.
It’s important to bring into focus for contemporary art practice the broader definitions of culture which apply in rural contexts and which must be recognised if a genuine cultural dialogue is to occur. Artists will be asked to consider rural knowledge and rural culture, and to engage with rural communities as part of their research. The resulting works will be located in rural contexts as appropriate.”
Participating artists are; Vladimir Arkhipov [RUS]; Amanda Dunsmore [IRL]; Patricia Hurl [IRL]; Tamás Kaszás [HUN]; Therry Rudin [IRL/CH].