collaboration and its discontents

http://www.visualartists.ie/collaboration.pdf

Visitors Interacting and Engaging with the Exhibit

The Exhibition Opening Night

Visitors Interacting and Engaging with the Exhibit
Reading "The Reavealer" Newspaper
Examining the documentation of the Media's coverage and skewed perception of Islam.
Provided on the tanle are archival documents and the "correct" texts the group members "edited" of a newspaper article.
The General Set-up.

HEAR THE PODSCAST HERE.

http://www.nearfm.ie/podcast/audio/nearfm-2009-05-04-56929.mp3

LINK TO PODCAST OF THE RADIO INTERVIEW WITH ARTISTS NADIA SHAH AND CATHERINE CLARK ON THE PROGRAMME ISLAM IN FOCUS ON EAST DUBLIN'S NEAR90FM.

CREATE IRELAND - PROJECT PROGRAMME ORGANISERS

http://ldprogramme2009.blogspot.com/2009/04/nadia-shah-and-catherine-clark.html

IN PREPARATION FOR THE SHOW

THE HARD LABOUR
PRINTING THE NEWSPAPER
WITH THE COMMUNITY

From Context to Exhibition

" Beyond The Veil" is an exhibition put together by Catherine Clark and Nadia Shah, which launched on Thursday 23rd April in the Lab on Foley st and ran for the successive week. 

The show was an archival display of the artists experience and the processes they went through with their elective community. The elective community was a relatively intimate and small group of muslim women who attend the South Circular Road Mosque in Dublin. The show proposed new representations of women in Islam. This was done through the culmination of the newspaper "The Revealer". 

The hand printed paper contains true life stories of these women along with articles which the women wrote themselves. Some articles critique the common misconceptions people have of muslim women and others offer insight into being a muslim woman living in Ireland. These women have provided an alternative representation through the form of a newspaper. 

The installation style exhibit requests the viewer to spend time with the work. There is a chair provided, inviting you to sit down and read a copy of "The Revealer" which is conveniently placed on a side table. The work also offers insight into the process of working collaboratively with the community. Blank audio tapes and empty photo albums are strategically laid out on a reading desk. The lack of sound and photographs signifies the girls difficulties in working with the women. Concerns were expressed by the women of using their faces and names in the work. Anonymity was a major battle for the artists during their collaboration. 

Edited Documents and hand printed texts offer further insight into the complications and difficulties the artists came across while working with the theme of prejudice and misrepresentation. Newspaper articles published over the years which voice prejudice and incorrect accounts of muslims have been "corrected" by the women.

Responses to the show have been amazing, with requests for copies of the limited edition newspaper rising each day to the consistent supportive and positive attitudes of the many artists and industry names visiting the show. Orla Moloney, head of the Art and Disability, Art and Health and the Arts Participation departments for the arts council spoke to the artista about their work and commended them, while also requesting a copy of the newspaper.

Talks have taken place in the gallery during the opening week of the show, during which many more artists who also engage in community arts such as Faisal Abdu Allah, Sarah Tuc, Paul O' Neill, Jesse Jones and Dylan Tighehave commended the artists for their efforts and in putting together such a great show. IMMA have been said to have called the collaborative art exhibit From Context to Exhibition, "The best show yet" that Create have put together. 

If you missed the show I would recommend contacting the girls about it at farahnadia1987@hotmail.com or by commenting on their blog, www.misrepresentationinislam.blogspot.com. Also try to catch the newspaper which Catherine and Nadia are currently in the process of printing and distributing. 

Declan Mulligan