IBA Stage: 40th EVA International

Navine G. Dossos, The Grove, 2023, 40th EVA International. Photo by Jed Niezgoda, 2023

IBA Stage: 40th EVA International
January 25, 2024 (Thursday)
11:00 am (Limerick/GMT)

We are glad to welcome you all back to our regular appointment with IBA Stage for this opening event of 2024! And what better start to this year than to hear from a biennial which we have not had on our channels yet: EVA International, which this year reaches the significant landmark of forty editions.

EVA was founded by artists in 1977 and it remains one of the longest running visual arts organisations in Ireland, with a history of working with some of the world’s most influential curators. Taking place across venues in Limerick city, EVA has a history of working with some of the world’s most acclaimed artists and curators including Merve Elveren (2020/21), Koyo Kouoh (2016), Katerina Gregos (2006), Jan Hoet (1994), and Brian O’Doherty (1980).

The 40th EVA International took place from 31 August – 29 October 2023, featuring a ‘Guest Programme’ curated by Sebastian Cichocki, alongside a series of ‘Platform Commissions’ by Irish artists selected by Emily Jacir and Padraic E. Moore. Exploring themes of citizenship and metaphors of agricultural gleaning, the 40th EVA International 50 Irish and International artists across 17 venues. It was selected by Frieze Magazine as one of the top ten exhibitions in UK / Ireland in 2023.

EVA has developed, over its 46 years of activities, as one of Europe’s most interesting events profoundly nested within its community through a series of interventions in the city’s as well as its communities’ fabric. With programs such as “Never Look Back” – a project that explores the various venues, sites and spaces in the city that have hosted EVA over the years – EVA provides a great example of how biennials can contrast the idea of biennials being foreign objects for their own host cities. Never Look Back puts the spotlight on the sites used by EVA but by doing so of course gives space to Limerick to reflect on its own recent past and to the visitors to experience it. Central to EVA’s presence in Limerick has also been, since its inception in 2018, the Platform Commissions program. For this year’s edition the call was initiated in 2021 and asked artists to respond to the theme of citizenship, a theme which grew increasingly in importance especially considering last year’s far right / anti-immigration riots which erupted in Dublin and other sites across Ireland.

As always IBA Stage events are meant as a moment to hear about a project through its makers and have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session at the end of the presentation.

Click here to register for the event or follow us through our usual social media channels.