This afternoon symposium forms part of Lismore Castle Art’s wider 2026 - 2027 programme, presenting new research and work by artists Carol-Anne Connolly and Maria McKinney, curated by Dr Ciara Healy, Head of Department Fine Art & Education Limerick School of Art and Design Technological University of the Shannon.
The symposium foregrounds interdisciplinary exchange between the visual arts, environmental science, agriculture, poetry and archival film. It asks how artistic practice can work alongside scientific research and heritage knowledge to communicate complex ecological realities, particularly around wetlands, soil, freshwater systems, farming practices and place-based memory, in ways that are emotionally resonant, publicly accessible and culturally grounded. The symposium acts as a moment of shared reflection within the longer arc of the artists research which is funded by TUS, The Irish Parks and Wildlife Services and Teagasc VistaMIlk leading towards a 2027 exhibition of new work by Carol-Anne Connolly and Maria McKinney
Speakers include Maria McKinney, Carol-Anne Connolly, Professor Anthony Caleshu, Dr Elena Hayes, Richard O’Callaghan, Dr Cormac O’Shea. The symposium will also feature a curated sequence of short films from the Irish Film Institute Archive exploring Irish agriculture, rural labour and land use from the 1940s- 1980s.
Free event, all welcome. RSVP essential.
Entrance through Lismore Castle Gardens. Please meet at Gallery Reception from 1:30pm
Image: Carol-Anne Connolly, 2019
