Introduction to Collaborative Work

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For more than twenty years I have worked collaboratively with community groups, in particular women's organisations as well as establishing women's art projects exploring creative ways to engage with social and political issues in Ireland. Each time I have striven to create a feminist social art practice combining my admiration for feminist art practitioners/activists, theorists, artists and curators with project participants. Some of the projects I was involved with included setting up a woman's art group as well as facilitating feminist life drawing classes, curating exhibitions for International Women's Day, running workshops with midwifery students at Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Limerick as well as workshops for the National Women's Council,  Clare and Limerick Women's Networks.  All of these projects developed as collaborative and participatory projects and drew on feminist collective practices.

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However, in this section I want to share details of two projects in particular Keeing Mum (2008-2010) and The Elephant Collective (2014-2019) that challenged me to develop my working ethos and extend my social practice.It is important to point out that both projects were about addressing the politics surrounding childbirth in Ireland. Developing a feminist socially engaged art activism in relation to reproductive justice has been at the centre of my work for over ten years now.