The F.E. McWilliam Gallery and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, is delighted to present Together Now: The Engagement Project. Together Now is a large group exhibition of painting, drawing, installation, sculpture and film by artists from the Kilkenny Collective for Arts Talent (KCAT), in Callan, Co. Kilkenny and artists from very different practice contexts from all over Ireland, who have been working together in residencies and other forms of engagement since 2014. Curated by Catherine Marshall, and following a symposium at KCAT in Callan at the end of 2018, this exhibition, drawing on the work of the 26 artists, is touring to venues in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The work on show has been made as a result of collaborations and conversations between the artists from KCAT and artists who prioritise social engagement, performance, installation and a variety of media from film and video to very un-traditional interpretations of traditional media such as painting and sculpture.

The artists who are engaged in these collaborations of hand and mind are Saturio Alonso, Steven Aylin, Thomas Barron, Declan Byrne, Francis Casey, Diane Chambers, Mary Coady, Alan Counihan, Eileen Mulrooney, Lorna Corrigan, Sinéad Fahey, Fergus Fitzgerald, Mary Ann Gelly, Breanna Hurley, Fintan Kelly,  Sinéad Keogh, Nevan Lahart, Alistair MacLennan, Paul Mosse, Rachel Parry, Andrew Pike, Gypsy Ray, Anna Spearman, Dominic Thorpe, Jason Turner and Margaret Walker.

Opened in June 2019 at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre, Together Now travelled to the OPW galleries at Farmleigh before arriving at the F.E. McWilliam Gallery in Banbridge. In 2020 the exhibition will tour to the Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar, Ballinglen Art Foundation and Ballina Arts Centre in Co. Mayo before finishing back in Callan, Co. Kilkenny.

F.E. McWilliam Curator Dr Riann Coulter said, ‘We are delighted to be able to bring this important and unique exhibition to Northern Ireland. The exhibition is the result of a long-term engagement project and showcases the collaborative approach championed by KCAT. The artist’s involved have created a diverse range of compelling work that is sure to appeal to gallery visitors’.

Funded by the Arts Council of Ireland Touring Grant, this exhibition is engaging, challenging, colourful and fun. Most of all, it is focused on encouraging awareness of the diversity of arts practice. It is accompanied by a publication from the Together Now symposium which is available to purchase in the Gallery shop.