Temple Bar Gallery & Studios (Dublin) and Helsinki International Artist-in-residence Programme (HIAP)
Image: Antti LeppänenIn 2007, the Finnish Institute set up a pilot residency project to foster the exchange and deepen the professional networks between Finland and Ireland. Annually, one Finnish artist is selected to work for three months at the Temple Bar Gallery & Studios in Dublin and, vice versa, one Irish artist at HIAP in Helsinki. The next Finnish artist, Antti Leppänen, will begin his residency in Dublin in July 2009.
Experiences of the project have been particularly positive. The participating artists have gained visibility, formed durable networks and have been invited to undertake further projects in their host cities. The Finnish artists in the residency project have been Ulrika Ferm (2007) and Heli Rekula (2008), and the Irish artists, in turn, Sonia Shiel (2007) and Niamh O’Malley (2008).
The residency programme artists in the year 2009 are Antti Leppänen and Niamh McCann
Antti Leppänen will have a three-month residency at Temple Bar Gallery & Studios from July - September 2009. The residency is supported by The Finnish Institute in London, the Finnish Fund for Art Exchange (FRAME) and the Embassy of Finland, Dublin.
Antti Leppänen is interested in the cultural significance of various production processes and their role in shaping our immediate surroundings. His work exploits the connotative dimensions of materials; the inherent cultural, subjective and tactile significations. In his practice, he employs a variety of materials from standard-sized construction materials to found objects.
Niamh McCann will represent Temple Bar Gallery and Studios on the studios programme at HIAP from 1st October - 31st December 2009. Niamh McCann is an Irish artist living and working in Dublin. A graduate of Chelsea College of Art & Design, London, McCann has exhibited extensively in Europe, Ireland and in the USA, employing a variety of working methods from drawing to sculpture. She has recently had a solo exhibition, Purlieu, in the Green on Red Gallery, Dublin. In 2008 she had a solo presentation of work in Zoo Art Fair in London.