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| Array Collective |
Array Collective, which includes two GSA graduates -Thomas Wells and Sighle Bhreathnach-Cashell – is one of five collectives to be shortlisted for the prestigious Turner Prize it has been announced.
Commenting on the shortlist Professor Penny Macbeth, Director of the GSA, said:
“We are delighted that the acclaimed Array Collective, which includes two of our graduates, has been shortlisted for the 2021 Turner Prize for their work addressing key issues facing society including abortion rights, queer liberation, mental health, gentrification and social welfare.
“We look forward to seeing more of their work in the exhibition at Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in Coventry later this year as part of its 2021 city of culture events.”
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Lesley Booth
07799414474
@GSofAMedia
Notes for Editors
15 GSA graduates have been nominated for the Turner Prize, six of whom went on to win it.
Array Collective is a group of 11 artists who
create collaborative actions in response to socio-political issues affecting
Northern Ireland. The collective has been working together more actively since
2016, motivated by the growing anger around human rights issues happening at
the time. Their intention is to reclaim and review the dominant ideas about
religio-ethnic identity in Northern Ireland. Working as constituents or allies
of the communities they protest with and make art about, Array Collective aims
to create a new mythology for the growing number of people who do not prescribe
to embedded sectarian dichotomies.
Recent initiatives and works include: Jerwood
Collaborate!, Jerwood Arts, London (2019), a-n Artists Council’s Artists
Make Change (2020), as well as organising projects in response to
issues such as queer liberation, abortion rights, mental health,
gentrification, eco-politics, social welfare and Northern Ireland’s fractured
past.
Array Collective playfully use performance,
protest, photography, print, installation and video. They work with a range of
other creative people and organisations to create a combination of artistic
expression, direct action and public interventions in the city and online.
Their recent project As Others See Us (2019), for example, centred
on three fictional characters drawn from the pre-Christian myths and folklore
of ancient Ireland: ‘Ban Bidh: The Sacred Cow’, ‘An Scáth Fada: The Long
Shadow’ and ‘An Mór Ríoghain: The Morrigan’. These characters have since shape-shifted
through crowds at Belfast Pride and up the banks of the River Thames in a
series of interventions and performance protests.
Array Collective comprises: Sighle
Bhreathnach-Cashell, Sinéad Bhreathnach-Cashell, Jane Butler, Alessia
Cargnelli, Emma Campbell, Mitch Conlon, Clodagh Lavelle, Grace McMurray,
Stephen Millar, Laura O’Connor and Thomas Wells. The collective is based and
predominantly works in Belfast.