Invited guests included: Amanda Coogan, Vaari Claffey, Francis Fay.

Moderated by Xavier de Sousa and Sally Rose

Why Live Art, Why Now: This final event following on from the series of curated ‘Live Conversations’ was an open discussion exploring current trends within live art, with particular focus on the importance of Live Art for artists – with specific reference to the ecology and landscape of liveness and performance in Ireland. The enquiry into Why Live Art, Why Now was a fruitful series that enabled us to agree on the importance of ‘liveness’ and it’s ability to address personal, political or cultural issues of in a meaningful and urgent way.

The conversation encompassed a series of key points – outlined below – and debated the language of performance art/live art, exploring the definition of these labels with reference to historical context both in Ireland and beyond. 

The following clip is approx. 1 hour in duration – this reflects the cyclical nature of the conversation and discussion points. Below are signposts to the topics of discussion in chronological order throughout the clip.

1.    The ecology of Performance art and live art in Ireland, and Northern Ireland and the line of descent that can be traced

2.    That alive fire in your belly – live art, context and the constant need to provoke political discourse

3.    DIY contexts, lines of support

4.    Curator vs. Producer 

5.    Artist’s development, venues – what is the potential for independent festivals, and producers to initiate and support this.

Other points of interest discussed in the session included:

– The changing times

– Governance and the structure of arts organisations

– Literature – and other art forms in Ireland

– Arts training in Ireland

Part1: 

Part 2