Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín
Hosted for residency in Folkestone, 2018

LET’S MEET WHILE THE TIDE IS OUT

Emerging artist: Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín (Ireland)
Residency place: Folkestone Fringe (Folkestone, UK)
Practice: Dance
Local artist: Gemma Riggs
Curated by: Georgie Scott

 

There is a saying: you may never step into the same river twice. During her residency, our MagiC Carpets emerging artist Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín was trying to answer a different question: can you walk on the same shoreline more than twice?

Artist Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín during her Magic Carpets residency in Folkestone (UK) / Photo by Mindaugas Drigotas / Nanook

Siobhán is a dance artist currently practicing and based in Cork City, Ireland. Siobhán’s work comprises of in-situ and often improvisational dance or movement performance works, based on her experiences, emotions, representative habitual landscapes or responses to natural surroundings.

Artist Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín during her Magic Carpets residency in Folkestone (UK) / Photo by Mindaugas Drigotas / Nanook

During her 2-stage residency in Folkestone, she stayed true to her interests, as her activities in Folkestone were deeply embedded in the locale she worked in, and her spontaneous responses to it. Yet this time, as she encouraged the locals to rediscover their surroundings and feelings they evoke, she explored not only her own reactions but the ones of the local residents as well.

Artist Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín during her Magic Carpets residency in Folkestone (UK) / Photo by Mindaugas Drigotas / Nanook

Siobhán spent the first part of her residency in Folkestone in May 2018, and she came back shortly, at the beginning of July 2018 for the final stage of her performance. It included an interactive fête of movement, walks, shared meals, exploration of what has been documented during her stay, inviting to share the experiences, memories, stories and the way people see the place they live in, to rediscover and reconnect.

Artist Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín during her Magic Carpets residency in Folkestone (UK) / Photo by Mindaugas Drigotas / Nanook

The main outcomes of her residency included a field journal that people received during the final walk (documenting movement and peoples’ stories Siobhán collected) and a dance film “Slowly Moving Seaward”, which she produced together with local filmmaker Gemma Riggs, shown at the destination of the walk.

For the final event, she invited many members of the local community with whom she had been interacting a lot, including fishermen, geologists, historians, skateboarders, and foragers. According to Georgie Scott, curator at Folkestone Fringe, “Siobhán has been fantastic at bringing local people into her research/work and their response has been wonderful. They’re all so appreciative of her interest!”

Author of the text: Agnė Poderytė