The Guesthouse was established in 2009 under the aegis of the CAC Ltd. and began in collaboration with Cork City Council and with the support of the Arts Council of Ireland.

In 2004 Shandon House was purchased by Cork City Council and entrusted to the CAC to develop a new visual arts initiative. The process of developing the project began in 2005 during Cork’s Capital Of Culture. The building became an active testing site that informed its development and renovation plan in 2006.

In 2009, operating on a voluntary basis, The Guesthouse was launched and developed as a creative initiative, led by artists who were actively engaged in experimentation, interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity and collaboration. Its creation formed a unique type of workspace and social space that facilitated conversations and cross-practice exchanges within the arts and beyond.

Inspired by the residential and domestic nature of the house, with the kitchen at its centre, open events became a key gathering point and an interface between the artists and the visiting public.

The Guesthouse has undergone significant changes over the past years and has maintained its vitality and necessity by assessing and questioning itself. It evolves in response to artists and a changing arts environment.

The Guesthouse is an artistic endeavour, continuously questioning the notion of organisation. It is presently managed by The Guesthouse Collective on a voluntary basis. The co-directors are Irene Murphy, Mick O’Shea, Eavan Aiken, Billy Kemp, and Andy Ingamells.

2020–present

2020 marked a change in the orientation of the project. The A.I.R. residency duration was extended to enable visiting artists to establish deeper ties over a 3-month period. From 2020 to 2023 we formed a non-resident community of artists, InHouse, to utilise the building as a shared work and meeting space, developing relationships, collaborating, and programming activities and events.

InHouse developed as an opportunity for local artists to join us for the duration of one year and actively participate in our creative setting. InHouse artists attended regular gatherings in the Guesthouse. InHouse facilitated experimentation that tested out new approaches to artistic practice. We invited artists to find a new way of imagining, activating and utilising the Guesthouse building. We were interested in transdisciplinary practitioners who enjoyed collaborating. This opportunity gave artists a place to share skills, participate and host activities and events with us over the duration of one year.

Developments included:

• Sunday Sessions – multidisciplinary improvisation;
• T-Junction – hosted discussions, presentations, workshops and food;
• G0 SHOW – an archive of the InHouse exploration of asemic writing in the co-create space through shared drawing, sound-making and movement;
• Expanding Island Fluxus box – an archive from a 3-week residency on Cape Clear containing audio-visual recordings, text scores, recipes, drawings and instructions.

From 2024 onwards:

• We are in the process of forming membership to create a community of artists who want to become active participants;
• We will be offering local artists the opportunity to engage in year-long residencies as key-holders;
• We will be announcing an opportunity for artists to make proposals for short-term periods of production in our Makerspace.