After a very successful weekend show on Sherkin Island, a selection of the work by the graduating students of the BA Visual Art Degree Programme (BAVA) will be shown at a curated exhibition at Uillinn.

Featuring painting, sculpture, photography, film, multi-media and digital work, sound, installation and performance by Maria Archer, Dianne Curtin, Terry Farnell, Fiona Hayes, Svetlana Majerova, Cath McCarter, Niamh Ní Chearbhaill, Ann O’Leary, Kevin Rooney and Robert Sobura – the exhibition highlights the deep engagement of the students with the island context over the course of the four year programme, with much of the work concerned with the ecology, community and future sustainability of the island.

In recognition of the quality of the work presented, five of the graduating students, Dianne Curtin, Fiona Hayes, Svetlana Majerova, Niamh Ní Chearbhaill and Robert Sobura have been longlisted for the RDS Visual Art Awards, the most important platform for visual art graduates in Ireland.

The exhibition, which will be the eighth BAVA graduate show hosted by West Cork Arts Centre, will continue at Uillinn until 15 June.

This year’s ten graduating students will join the ranks of eighty-eight alumni of this prestigious and highly successful programme. Graduates have gone on to Masters and PhD level programmes, including the inaugural MA Art and Environment (TU School of Creative Arts); have secured work through teaching, lecturing and arts facilitation; and have developed careers as successful artists in west Cork and elsewhere.

BAVA continues to grow and develop with an invitation for applicants to this four-year modular honours degree, offering a dynamic and creative programme in contemporary visual art, fully accredited, managed and delivered by the Dublin School of Creative Arts at TU Dublin, is open now for the 2022/2023 academic year. For further information, contact TU Dublin Programme Coordinator, Glenn Loughran at glenn.loughran@tudublin.ie and Sherkin Island Development Secretary, Fiona Collins at sidssecretary@gmail.com

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 Dublin School of Creative Arts, Technological University Dublin (TU) 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.