A series of events linked to new work by visual artist Fiona Whitty and inspired by the uncertainly of the asylum process will take place throughout June.
Waiting Room is a solo exhibition by Fiona Whitty. Waiting Room consists of three components: a video piece, Niger-ish which will be shown in the Four Gallery from June 8th until June 30th. Nigerian cooking demonstration, Food for Thought, which will be held in the Fire Station Artists Studios on June 16th and seminar, The Tool of Conversation will be held in the Lab Gallery on June 30th. Waiting Room is made possible by Four Gallery and Fire Station Artists Studios. It is funded by the Arts Council’s Artist in the Community Scheme managed by Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts, the Reception and Integration Agency's Small Grants Scheme and Dublin City Council. The project has additional support from Visual Artists Ireland and AkiDwa.
“My work does not set out to judge, classify, teach, cure, improve or even change anything in the lives of these people. Rather, it opens up a space in which private, unidentified worlds can be researched, rethought and represented in a public space.”
Waiting Room represents Ireland for many Nigerian immigrants coming to seek asylum in the country today. Whitty asked various people from Nigeria what they do while they are waiting for their asylum applications to be processed and they replied, “Just go out, sit down, watch what is happening, what cat and dog that is passing by, citing everything from the window, watch how the white people shout.” “You are just sleeping, waking, doing nothing and you feel rejected in the environment you are in.” She decided to create an exhibition called WaitingRoom to further explore issues of immigration and the asylum process in Ireland.
The participants involved in the project will be active collaborators and participants in the project. The conversations, bonds and exchanges made in each component of “Waiting Room” will define the form, content and evaluation of the work. By extending the boundaries of art practice, operating at the intersection of art and cultural issues will add process, inform, challenge and contribute to the project in different ways. |
