Welcome to the Neighbourhood
Askeaton Contemporary Arts Residency
July 2016

During the two week ACA Welcome to the Neighborhood residency, Kassam intervened with the existing painted fabric of the site of his workspace to create three new propositional paintings. These works (one on the exterior of the building, and one in each of the upstairs rooms) posture as the potential results of 'The Artist's Excursion', a popular genre in painterly mythology. They are all representations of the landscape, artistic activity and experience of somewhere other, Askeaton Co. Limerick.









Photography by Askeaton Contemporary Arts
​
​
About Askeaton Contemporary Arts
​
Since 2006, Askeaton Contemporary Arts commission, produce and exhibit contemporary art in the locale of a small town in County Limerick, Ireland. An annual residency programme entitled Welcome to the Neighbourhood situates Irish and international artists in the midst of Askeaton each summer, while thematic exhibitions, publications and events often occur. Through these methods, over seventy artists projects have been realised.
​
With no ‘white-cube’ gallery spaces in Askeaton, artists work in public spaces throughout the town. This form of engagement focuses on the existing dynamics of the locale, intending to bring forward the diverse layers of daily life and create a rich framework for subjective encounters. A local audience are often actively implicated into the development of projects through their assistance or participation. Such an approach is built on a belief that contemporary art can be used as an active hub for local society, as a form of critique, investigation and celebration where artists are at the center of these dialogues playing a primary and fundamental role.
​
Askeaton Contemporary Arts has introduced the work of artists from Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Columbia, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Norway, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Northern Ireland and Ireland to Askeaton.
​
The Welcome to the Neighbourhood Resident artists in 2016 were Fiona Marron and Fiona Reilly from Dublin, Limerick's Ramon Kassam, and David Bestué of Barcelona. Along with many other visitors, they were joined by Alan Counihan of Kilkenny, Catalina Lozano of Bogota, Filip Van Dingenen from Brussels and Jorge Satorre from Mexico, Limerick’s Liz Ryan and Martyn Turner, cartoonist for The Irish Times, each of whom are developing new artworks as part of the ongoing state centenary programme entitled The Askeaton Commune.
​
​