Sherkin Island 18 and 19 May • Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre 25 May to 15 June

Explore Sherkin Island through art

The all-island, two-day installation of artwork by the graduating students of the BA Visual Art Degree Programme is happening once again on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 May.

All welcome.

Every second year since 2012, over the course of a single weekend, hundreds of people have visited Sherkin Island to experience the graduate exhibition of the BA Visual Art programme (BAVA), an innovative honours degree programme delivered on Sherkin Island. The programme is embedded within the island community and the graduating students are deeply engaged within this local context. Much of the work is concerned with the ecology, community and future sustainability of the island.

Engaging with Sherkin Island as both inspiration and installation space, this unique exhibition takes the form of an island-wide art-trail and offers visitors a fascinating insight into both the work of the graduating students, and the island itself. This is an opportunity to view a series of original and innovative contemporary artworks in one of the most scenic locations in the country.

Featuring the work of seven students – Natalie Allen, Sorcha Browning, Daniel Flynn, Hammond Journeaux, Macha, Paula Quirke and Sarah Wainwright – the exhibition will occupy a variety of interior and exterior locations throughout the island. The work ranges from painting, drawing and sculpture to photography, film, multi-media and digital work, from sound and projection to installation and site-specific work using the landscape, dwellings and other island buildings.

Ferries will be running regularly from the pier in Baltimore and, considering the popularity of this event on previous years, extra ferries will be operating. A special price deal will be in place for visitors to Beyond the Frame for the weekend, with lunch and refreshments on offer at The Jolly Roger and Sherkin North Shore.

Following the exhibition on Sherkin Island, BA Visual Art graduating students will show their work at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre from 25 May to 15 June in an exhibition curated by Director Ann Davoren.

The ninth group to graduate, this year’s seven graduating students will join the ranks of ninety-nine alumni of this prestigious and highly successful programme. Graduates have gone on to Masters and PhD level programmes, including the MA Art and Environment, have secured work through teaching, lecturing and arts facilitation; and have developed careers as successful artists in West Cork and elsewhere.

This four-year modular honours degree, offering a dynamic and creative programme in contemporary visual art, fully accredited, managed and delivered by the TU Dublin School of Art and Design is  OPEN NOW FOR APPLICANTS to the 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR

For further information, contact TU Dublin Programme Coordinator, Jesse Jones at jesse.jones@tudublin.ie or Sherkin Island Facilitator, Majella O’Neill Collins at 086 8771765.

The programme will run subject to continued funding

BA (hons) in Visual Art is a community-based, four year, honours degree, visual art programme based on Sherkin Island. It is fully accredited, managed and delivered by the School of Art and Design, Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) in partnership with Sherkin Island Development Society (SIDS) and Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre, and is part-funded by the Department of Community and Rural Development and Cork County Council.