An Agreement of Silence
Artist: Sinead McCann
Medium: Video
According to the artist ‘I often work collaboratively with arts and non-arts professionals to produce innovative and challenging artworks which add an artistic contribution to public debate on how we live together as a modern society. For this artwork, I drew inspiration from over 80 interviews conducted by the Justice for Magdalenes Research project in UCD with women who spent time in Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, and from the creative work of artists; Sandra Johnson, Ann Hamilton, Amanda Coogan, Michelle Browne, Fiona Whelan, Frank Berry and Brokentalkers.
Biography
Dr Sinead McCann is a Dublin based artist working across the mediums of performance, video, installation and sculpture often in a context, site or community specific way. According to Sinead ‘I often work collaboratively with arts and non-arts professionals to produce innovative and challenging artworks which add an artistic contribution to public debate on important social issues in modern life’.
Recent works include the following. Sound On! (2021), is a 3D creative sound project in collaboration with artist Alan James Burns and Saint John of God Liffey Service exploring happiness and human rights, funded by the Artist in Community Realisation Award. Small Talk (2021), is a 45-minute radio documentary in collaboration with The Bridge Project, Dublin 8 exploring access to employment for people with a criminal record, funded by a research grant as part of the Engage the City programme with Dublin City Council Culture Company and Artist in the Community Project Realisation Award. The Trial (2018), was a four channel synced video and sound installation made in collaboration with the Bridge Project Dublin 8, and University College Dublin medical historians Associate Professor Catherine Cox and Dr Fiachra Byrne, funded by a Participation Project Award from the Arts Council, a Community Award from Dublin City Council, with further funding from University College Dublin and the Wellcome Trust UK. The Trial went on National tour in 2019.
Living Inside (2019) is a photographic exhibition of the work of Irish photo-journalist Derek Speirs, Kilmainham Jail, co-curated with historian Dr Oisin Wall, funded by the Wellcome Trust UK, and University College Dublin. Health Inside (2018), was a public art intervention on large scale billboards and bus shelters in Dublin 7 near Mountjoy prison, in collaboration with UCD historians, Dr Oisin Wall and Associate Professor Catherine Cox funded by an Open Call Award.
Sinead studied for her degree in Fine Art at TU Dublin (00-04), and for her Masters of Fine Art (05-08) and practice-based PhD Fine Art Sculpture (2009-2015) at the National College of Art and Design Dublin. She has worked part time (since 2009) in Technological University Dublin coordinating socially engaged curriculum-based projects between community organisations, staff and students across disciplines. She served on the board of directors of Common Ground from 2013 to 2014.
