Kunstverein Aughrim is leading the visual arts strand of the Craic in the Granite Music & Arts Festival 2025 with two major new commissions by contemporary artists Eslam Abd El Salam and Marc Reilly.

 

Eslam Abd El Salam, who works primarily through photography, will spend time in Aughrim as artist-in-residence. While in the village he will develop a new body of work, casting his lens towards the local landscape, meeting with members of the community, engaging with artists, craftspeople and groups, and exploring the neighbouring woodlands on foot. This will result in a newly commissioned exhibition of installation based photographic and moving-image work to be unveiled at Kunstverein Aughrim as part of the launch event of the Craic in the Granite Music & Arts Festival 2025, at 6pm at the Monument, on Friday 27th June.

 

Marc Reilly, whose artistic practice responds to the natural world through mark-making and site-specific painting processes, will develop a series of creative workshops in collaboration with local practitioners and craftspeople. From willow work to foraging, and from drama and movement to panning for gold, these workshops will conjure stories and explore ideas around how we engage with the earth’s natural resources through our hands and our imagination. The project will culminate in a new body of visual and performance-based work that weaves between songs and stage as part of the weekend’s festivities.

 

Creative Workshops include Drama & Movement with Andrea Kelly, Willow Work with Aoife Patterson, Wild Foraging with Geraldine Kavanagh, Clay Workshop with Christien van Bussel, and Panning for Gold with Karl Payne. Stilt walkers and face painters will bring hidden stories to life among the festival-goers.

 

The visual arts strand of Craic in the Granite Music & Arts Festival 2025 is produced by Kunstverein Aughrim, supported by Wicklow County Council Arts Office festival awards funded through the Arts Council.