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Cork Printmakers: ‘In from the Margins’ Project

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In From the Margins features Irish partner, Cork Printmakers. The project will work with artists with experience of displacement and exile and engage with people seeking asylum, with schools and wider communities.

'In from the Margins' is one of seven projects funded by Creative Europe's Co-operation Projects strand in 2020. The Irish partner in this project is Cork Printmakers. It will be a a three-year programme of Studios of Sanctuary residencies working with artists with experience of displacement. The project will feature exchanges of their work as well as engagement with refugees, schools and wider communities.

Chief Executive of Edinburgh Printmakers, the UK partner, Shân Edwards, explained:

'We’re so excited to be able to work with this amazing partnership of print studios across Europe. We’ve been working on the project for two years and it has never felt more important to ensure that artists from refugee and migrant backgrounds have a safe and supported space to share and make their work and share stories and cultures.'

The Studio of Sanctuary model grew from Shân Edwards’ work establishing the first UK Studio of Sanctuary at The Art House, Wakefield, where she worked as Artistic Director/Chief Executive, with Iranian-born artist-in-residence, Mohammed Barrangi Fashtami. The evolvement of this model into In from the Margins was informed by the experience of repurposing curating into a civic practice that Miguel Amado, former Director of Cork Printmakers, carried out at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, England, where he served as Senior Curator.

Cork Printmakers is thrilled to have been successful in this new Creative Europe funded project that will establish Europe’s first ever Studios of Sanctuary network for refugee and migrant artists. Director of Cork Printmakers Aideen Quirke said:

'This is a brilliant initiative that furthers Cork Printmakers commitment to work with artists and communities from migrant and refugee backgrounds, while furthering the medium of printmaking as an egalitarian art form. We are delighted to play a part in bringing the work of refugee and migrant artists to wider audiences and help build the Studio of Sanctuary network alongside our European partners.'

MORE ABOUT INTO THE MARGINS ACTIVITIES

Into the Margins will run from 2020 - 2023 and will offer opportunities for 30 artists from refugee and migrant backgrounds to take up supported residencies in print studios at internationally recognised arts organisations: Cork Printmakers, Ireland; Edinburgh Printmakers, Scotland; AGA Lab, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Funen Printmaking Studio, Odense, Denmark; and the International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

These arts organisations all have a strong history of public engagement, based in multi-cultural cities on the margins of Europe, either on coastal fringes or in the East of the continent.

This project brings the work of refugee and migrant artists 'in from the margins' to mainstream programming and looks for ways to explore and celebrate cultures and artistic traditions which are marginalised by the Western artistic canon and traditional curatorial output.

In from the Margins emerged from a Scotland-Europe project supported by the British Council & Creative Scotland, for Edinburgh Printmakers to develop a network of European partners working with both refugee and migrant artists and communities, and which involved Cork Printmakers as a key contributor.

For more information click here or contact Aideen Quirke via enquiries@corkprintmakers.ie.

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