This exhibition by Marianne Keating presents two films that examine Ireland’s position within histories of nationalism, migration, and decolonisation.

Marianne Keating’s upcoming exhibition brings together two new films that interrogate Ireland’s shifting place within histories of nationalism, migration, and global power. Cad Leis a Bhfuilimíd Ailínithe / To What Do We Align (2025) is a multi-channel film that reflects on Éamon de Valera’s idealised vision of Ireland, its economic stagnation and mass emigration, and the country’s subsequent reorientation under Seán Lemass, as Ireland chose to align itself with Western hegemony rather than the newly formed Non-Aligned Movement.

No Irish Need Apply (2025) examines the experience of the Irish in Britain during the 1970s and 80s, a period when political violence in Northern Ireland fuelled systemic discrimination, surveillance, and social prejudice against Irish communities. Together, these works explore how Ireland has been both the subject of, and complicit in, wider histories of colonialism, migration, and exclusion, revealing the contradictions at the heart of national identity

Marianne Keating is an Irish artist and researcher based in London. She holds a practice-based PhD in Visual & Material Culture and Contemporary Art Practice entitled, ‘They don’t do much in the cane-hole way’, Hidden Histories of the Irish Diaspora in Jamaica, funded by KSA at Kingston University, London and a TECHNE Associate. She has an MA in Fine Art from the Royal College of Art, London and a BA in Fine Art from Limerick School of Art and Design, Ireland. She is currently an Associate Lecturer at the Royal College of Art, London (2020- Present).

Keating was shortlisted to represent Ireland in the 2022 Venice Biennial and has exhibited extensively throughout Ireland and internationally. Upcoming and recent exhibitions include (2025)The Irish Pavilion, World Expo, Japan; The Model, Sligo; Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick; Wexford Arts Centre, Wexford, Ireland. Collections include The Office of Public Works, Ireland; Royal College of Art, London; Norlinda and José Lima Collection, Portugal; Zuckerman Museum of Art, Georgia, USA; Palazzo Fogazzaro, Vicenza, Italy.

www.mariannekeating.com