Aoife Burns,

Artist, Art Facilitator

‘Láthair’ [La⋅her]
(From Old Irish láthar, ’arrangement, disposition; place, position’)

My dissertation research employs archiving as a practice that can potentially facilitate access to art education for working class women’s communities. Through video and prints, I have reflected on my personal connections with significant locations in North Belfast, Ireland, that have made their presence felt within my work as an artist.

The video considers two important locations: my childhood home and my Daddy’s childhood home, both situated within working class communities. Overlapping this is an exploration of my archive materials. With the navigation of Google Maps I have mapped these locations by responding to both the private and the public, the personal view and the detached overviews of others.

On display are a selection of prints created by women who participated in a workshop that I facilitated in Belfast. The workshop presented a rare opportunity for this women’s group to access art education and learn relief printing, whilst also giving them an opportunity to use their own archives and images as material from which to create their prints. The women were invited to use images that related to places that held significance for them. Having a professional interest in informal art education, I wanted to question ‘out-come based’ projects, and ‘finished’ pieces by creating an environment that allowed the process to be the essence of the workshop rather than end results.

Special mention to Aedín Magee, Aisling Butcher, Charlene Higgins, Clíodhna Campbell, Clodagh Burns, Gráinne Magee, Jordan Doherty, Marilynn Gregg and Rachel Nolan, for the loan of their artwork.