- Performance
Tribal Project
A unkept field on IMMA's grounds was turned into a mythical adventure by four groups of young people from distinct areas of Dublin, Seán McDermott Street, Pearse Street, Munto, Ballymun.
In 1995, artists Wendy Cowan and Mark Goonan partnered with Wet Paint Arts, and young adults from Youthreach North Great Georges Street to create large scale totemic masks in collaboration with young people from suburbs across Dublin. The masks were made at the Fire Station Artists’ Studio and exhibited in the grounds of IMMA as part of night, fire led ritual. The masks – horse, tree and river – were central to the young peoples sense of identity to place.
The Tribal Project redefined the boundaries of collaboration, especially in a museum context. It challenged assumptions about what “belongs” in institutional spaces and questioned the hierarchies of art and culture that often sidelines young peoples imaginative agency to tell collective socio-political stories grounded to place and imagination. This project inspired many similar projects across Ireland and internationally.
Partner Organisations
- Wet Paint Arts
- Irish Museum of Modern Art | IMMA
- Youthreach North Great Georges Street
- Fire Station Artists’ Studios