The road towards better decision making is plagued by uncertainty and misguidance, some inadvertent and some purposefully erroneous. The prominent queries are: should I adopt veganism? Are bovines responsible for our horrific weather conditions? Aren’t we entitled to inexpensive sustenance? Deirdre O’Mahony, who has devoted her professional life to scrutinising our relationships with the earth and its customs, could potentially have the answers in her latest exhibition.
O’Mahony has conceived several intriguing projects in her career such as X-PO, a community hub housed in an erstwhile post office in Co Clare; Spud, a pioneering attempt to broaden the expressive possibilities of the potato, notable for baking spud cakes for the prestigious Frieze art fair, and Farm, an insightful parallel analysis of issues facing farmers in Ireland and Colorado from declining crops, degraded soil, flooding to droughts.
All these endeavours make O’Mahony a remarkably compelling artist working in Ireland. While she comes across as strikingly unpretentious, her art reflects her consistent dedication towards activism over the years. She possesses a unique knack of involving diverse personages, viewpoints and communities in her undertakings. Her 2017 project Speculative Optimism delved into the potential of sainfoin, a majorly forgotten animal feed crop. This gives an insight into the resounding impacts agricultural policies could have.
The Green Revolution led high-yield grains to replace crops like sainfoin. Norman Borlaug, heralded as the catalyst of the Green Revolution and Nobel Peace Prize laureate of 1970, was admired for devising ways to feed over a billion people. However, these high-yield seed species mandated increased use of chemical pesticides, fertilisers and water, leading to the establishment of larger farms and more mechanised economic structures for farming and food production. It also triggered soil exhaustion, lethal wastewater leakage and immense pollution of aquatic resources. The real issue lied not with the concept itself, but with the volume of its deployment and the extremity of its acceptance, making what was initially a gamechanger, a stepping stone to disaster today.
The Douglas Hyde Gallery at Dublin’s Trinity College is hosting The Quickening by O’Mahony, where an unlikely star, a dung beetle, steals the show. Individuals who have not closely encountered dung beetles are often taken aback by their unexpected beauty. They exhibit an array of iridescent colours and a complex armour that conceals their fragile wings. The pivotal piece of the display is The Quickening, a film derived from four years of interconnected studies by the artist. The title borrows from a book authored in 2008 by James F Collins, called Quickening the Earth: Soil Minding and Mending in Ireland.
O’Mahony organised two gatherings where farmers, scientists, food entrepreneurs, politicians and policy makers convened around a dinner table, drank from potato-based porcelain cups designed by the artist, and consented to have their discussions recorded. The recorded conversations form the lyrical element of The Quickening’s soundtrack. The artist characterises it as a libretto that leans more towards traditional folk music rather than opera, subtly embedded with profound knowledge and wisdom upheld by tradition, and disseminated through song.
A statement from the libretto says “People buy plant-based foods without realising that they are manufactured in industrial complexes with supply chains that stretch over a thousand miles”. It later queries, “Is there any good news?”, and notes that “Farmers are being blamed for climate change, but it was the authorities who advocated for the removal of the hedges.”
Looking up dung beetles online would yield ample suggestions on extermination, however, these beetles are a crucial component of our ecosystem. The enchanting murmurs in The Quickening reflect the intricate processes, like that of the dung beetle, that are fundamental to Earth’s ecology. Later in the film, a colossal crop-spraying machine appears, it folds its colossal arms mimicking a pair of wings, as it traverses massive fields. Its size is so enormous, it is almost hard to comprehend.
“The Quickening narrative starkly highlights the fact that agro-industrial lobby groups do not embody the entire farming community, which is a spectrum ranging from large-scale cultivators to smallholder farmers barely scraping by. Furthermore, distinguishing the voices of farmers from the communication strategy of multinational food corporations and chemical manufactures, whose interests differ markedly, can be challenging. This leaves farmers in a precarious situation.
One of the key strengths of The Quickening is O’Mahony’s deft balancing of these various elements, carefully sidestepping divisive debates that typically overshadow the conversation. Therefore, advocating for a return to traditional agricultural practices does not necessarily imply an acceptance of debilitating conditions such as rickets in children. Even within divergence, there is room for everyone to hold fragments of truth yet simultaneously be somewhat mistaken.
My engagement with The Quickening coincided with my completion of Barbara Kingsolver’s riveting novel, Demon Copperhead. The novel’s climactic moment sees the protagonist, Damon or Demon, recounting how industrial mining corporations purchased farmland in Virginia, forcibly plunging locals into penury. This left them with no choice but to settle for meagre wages. Through Demon’s eyes, the comparison between the poverty experienced in urban and rural settings is rendered sharply, pointing out that even amid harsh rural conditions, community spirit and the ability to cultivate or forage for food can persist.
As echoed in The Quickening, “Every person should experiment with cultivating a crop and face potential failure,” or another adds, “We need to prioritise nutrition as a public health issue, and consider our nation’s health.” Yet another points out the cruel irony of our present system, “The less fortunate, who cannot bear the burden of ill health, are compelled to opt for the cheapest food.” The narrative punctuates these sentiments with, “As consumerism thrives, our natural habitats face the threat of extinction.”
What we often perceive as self-explanatory or unavoidable can indeed be shrewd fabrications propelled by influential stakeholders. Such realisation can trigger a raw rage, aptly described as quickening. This should also serve as a powerful motivator to counter partisan lobbying, encourage more enlightening discussions, and perhaps, instigate essential shifts in our approach to these issues.”
Deirdre O’Mahony’s artistic work, The Quickening, is currently showcased at the Douglas Hyde Gallery, situated within Dublin’s Trinity College, until June 23rd. It is further set to move to the Void Art Centre, located in Derry, in the year 2025. The exhibition features creative labs and workshops and includes a film displayed at unique events in barns, community centres, and farms for the Walls & Halls tour, lasting until May 4th. Locations include Kilkenny’s Callan, Wicklow’s Aughrim, Tipperary’s Clonmel, and Wexford’s Foulksmills.
Six other art exhibitions explore various aspects of our environment. Notable among them are Celina Muldoon’s The Gate, a performance and installation piece addressing climate urgencies, global politics, and late-stage capitalism, displayed at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin 2 until April 21st.
Cork Printmakers are hosting a Climate Action Programme season. Their work examines terrestrial themes through the perspectives of tradition, heritage, agriculture, and climate changes. Catherine Hehir’s Engaging with a Space In-between continues until April 26th. Following this, Dig Where We Stand by Aoife Barrett and Kate O’Shea takes centre stage from May to July, with Elize De Beer’s Arctic Archive from October to November.
Marine artist Martina O’Brien’s work, ‘Draft Fissure’, provides an underwater perspective based on her numerous sea expeditions off Galway’s coast. The exhibition explores the industrial and scientific practices that shape the ocean and our interactions with it. This exhibition can be viewed at the Galway Arts Centre until May 25th.
Finally, The Glenkeen Variations is another artistic event worth noting.
Ulrike Crespo’s renowned Glenkeen Garden in west Co. Cork, previously famed for its artist residencies since 2021, has set up exhibitions in the Goethe-Institut in Dublin, the Glucksman gallery at University College Cork, and the Working Artist Studios in Ballydehob, Co Cork. This unique exhibition features works by artists who have been previous residents at the Garden, and delves into the connection between art and nature. Elaborate works like ‘Composing Landscapes’ by Markus Huemer, Christiana Chiranagnostaki, Konstanza Kapsali, and Tania Rubio are made available to the public from Wednesday, May 8th to Saturday, June 8th. Notably, these artists are slated to give a talk at the Glucksman gallery on Friday, May 10th.
Additionally, the Glucksman gallery also hosts a collective exhibition known as ‘Groundwork’, featuring eco-conscious works from the University College Cork’s art collection. Featured artists include Dara McGrath, Gwen O’Dowd, Garrett Phelan, Miriam De Búrca, Norah McGuinness, Gabhann Dunne and others. This exhibition runs until Sunday, November 3rd.
Another attraction is the ‘Eco Showboat’, a solar-powered boat called the Mayfly. Operated by Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly, the boat traverses Ireland’s waterways, stimulating thought and discussion through pop-up events that draw together artists, scientists and thinkers. The Eco Showboat, a potential contender for a New European Bauhaus award this year, is destined for Lough Derg this summer.