• Launching with a major solo exhibition by Sam Gilliam (1933 – 2022), one of the great innovators in post-war American painting

• And a new performance by award winning New York based Sweat Variant, the collaborative practice of Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born

IMMA, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, is excited to launch Summer at IMMA 2025, a dynamic programme of free events for all ages, that includes exhibitions, performances, screenings, talks, workshops, tours and more, taking place in the beautiful surroundings of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham from June to August.

The 2025 summer programme launches with a major new exhibition Sam Gilliam: Sewing Fields, presenting for the first time in Ireland a solo exhibition by Sam Gilliam (1933 – 2022) one of the great innovators in post-war American painting, opening on 13 June 2025. Also showing this summer is a major display from IMMA’s Permanent Collection Art as Agency; a stunning exhibition of quilts by theGee’s Bend Quiltmakers; and an ambitious new exhibition Staying with the Trouble showcasing the work of over 40 artists which includes a life performance event on 26 July.

IMMA is excited to present a new performance installation by New York based Sweat Variant, the collaborative practice of Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born, who present my tongue is a blade, on Sat 14 and Sun 15 June, from 2 to 5pm, in the Chapel at IMMA.

Other highlights include a new IMMA Horizons workshop series exploring creative interventions in urban ecologies; a storytelling eventthat shares Travellers stories inspired by the IMMA Collection work Why the Moon Travels by Leanne McDonagh; and a harvest celebration of The Model Plot by Deirdre O’Mahony where you can take part in a feast of spuds, music and storytelling. These bespoke events are presented alongside visitor favourites including art workshops, biodiversity tours, heritage tours, yoga classes and our popular Music in the Courtyard series on Sunday afternoons.

The summer programme culminates with EARTH RISING, IMMA’s vibrant free festival of art, ecology, and ideas, running from 12 to 14 September.

This summer IMMA will launch a new app, joining forces with Smartify the world’s most popular digital museum guide. The app provides new digital experiences for visitors to IMMA enhancing engagement through interactive features such as audio tours, interactive maps, image recognition and more.

Summer at IMMA Programme Highlights

Emerging in the mid-1960s, Sam Gilliam (1933 – 2022) is best known for his canonical Drape paintings, which expanded on the principles of Abstract Expressionism in entirely new ways. Suspending unstretched lengths of painted canvas from the walls or ceilings of exhibition spaces, Gilliam transformed his medium and the contexts in which it was viewed. This exhibition of his work Sewing Fields,co-organised with the Sam Gilliam Foundation, draws on a period in the early 1990s when Gilliam visited Ireland and began a sequence of abstract paintings in reaction to the Irish landscape – a body of work which showcases his exceptional mastery of colour, form, and material. Following his time in Ireland, Gilliam continued his innovative exploration of sewn and collaged works, liberating canvases from traditional supports blurring the boundaries between painting and sculpture.

A new durational performance installation my tongue is a blade by Sweat Variant, the collaborative practice of Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born, acclaimed for their highly experimental, formally inventive cross-disciplinary work, has been created for IMMA and is supported by the Sam Gilliam Foundation. my tongue is a blade is a three-hour durational movement practice that is a work with relation, memory, and reflection. It asks: What are the limits of our attention and how does that test the strength of our bonds? Three performers commit to remembering each other, holding each other, bearing each other, and sustaining the world that contains them. This rich visual and sonic landscape is an invitation to the audience to witness this practice and resonate within it.

IMMA Horizons presents a new workshop series Creative interventions in urban ecologies that investigates the intersections of art, ecological thought and urban farming as sites of resistance, resilience and reimagination. Participants will explore how creative interventions in urban ecologies can challenge dominant narratives of land use, ownership and sustainability.

Throughout the summer Living Canvas at IMMA, Europe’s largest digital outdoor art screen presented at IMMA by IPUT Real Estate, will feature film and moving image works by artists Ammar Bouras, Pádraic Barrett, Marion Bergin, Sarah Browne, Linda Brownlee, Atoosa Pour Hosseini, Ahree Lee, Susan Thomson and Sweat Variant, amongst others. The programme includes one-off film screenings on selected Thursday evenings from 6 to 8pm.

Summer at IMMA celebrates Pride Month with a special programme of events that includes a Family Friendly Pride Day on 22 June, with a LGBTQ+ inclusive Céilí and family art workshop. Other events include Queer Eye on the IMMA Collection a guided tour of LGBTQ+ artists in the exhibition Art as Agency on 21 June; a workshop Explore queer identity and creativity through zine making on 27 June; DJ performances by JWY and President Todi on 29 June; and a screening of Jessica Lauren Elizabeth Taylor’s film work laying fire (2022), an experimental memory work on intimacy.

IMMA Talks invites renowned critical thinkers, writers, artists, and international curators to share their contemporary views. Keynote talks, artists’ discussions and gallery talks draw on IMMA’s programmes to explore themes of land, agency, resistance, and the environment. Highlights include a panel discussion L’internationale Museum of the Commons Summer School exploring Landscape (post) Conflict on 9 and 10 July; Lifelong Creativity & Learning for the Curious with Professor Rose Anne Kenny, Director MISA, James St Hospital on 16 July; and to celebrate National Heritage Week a conversation Recording History: Picturing Derry with directors of Picturing Derry Sylvia Stevens and David Fox on 19 August.

A variety of community events, gatherings, and workshops will take place as part of Summer at IMMA. These include a workshop led by the Bahian artist Thaís Muniz, founder of the Turbante-se platform, that explores the history, meaning, and everyday practice of turbans and headwraps across Afro-Atlantic cultures, on 5 July. A Sarau Session on 6 Aug, this is a live gathering connecting transcultural multidisciplinary artists who live and make art in transit. Throughout the summer a series of zine making workshops will explore queer identity; the immigration experience; and feminist discourse. The Engagement Hub: Art in Action will run three family workshops, this partnership between IMMA, Superprojects and the Angelica Network aims to empower racialised and ethnic diverse artists to participate in arts education for children and young people.

Summer at IMMA’s much-loved programmes, delivered by IMMA’s Visitor Engagement Team, continue this year. These include Slow Looking Art Tours, Art & Mindfulness workshops, yoga classes, heritage tours, biodiversity tours, family workshopsand Parent and Baby Hour at the Museum.

IMMA’s popular Music in the Courtyard series continues on Sunday afternoons and will feature family Céilí’s with live trad music; DJ sets; singer songwriters and jazz and theatre bands.

To round off a very special summer EARTH RISING returns for a fourth year from 12 to 14 September. This year’s festival will spark transformative climate conversations and actions through immersive cultural experiences. This year’s theme, “Making Kin,” invites audiences to explore meaningful connections — with each other, the natural world, and the urgent challenges of our time.

The new IMMA Café, which includes an outdoor van, is open all summer for coffee, lunch and treats!