King’s Inns names inaugural recipient of creative residency award

King's Inns names inaugural recipient of creative residency award

The King’s Inns, in partnership with Dublin City Council Culture Company, has named visual artist Jesse Jones as the inaugural recipient of a new creative residency award.

The six-month creative residency, commencing on 1 September 2019, will support Ms Jones to explore her practice and the theme of art and law, and to develop a new work, with reference to King’s Inns and the extraordinary and historic environment of Henrietta Street, where both organisations are based.

Ms Jones’ work has a strong connection to law and activism, perhaps most noticeably seen in “Tremble Tremble”, her representation for Ireland at the 2017 Venice Biennale. Over the course of the residency, she will collaborate with legal advisors, key workers and activists to create a new work, which will be hosted by the King’s Inns for public presentation.

She will be supported by an advisory group whose membership includes Mary Griffin, under treasurer and CEO at the King’s Inns; Renate Ní Uigín, librarian at the King’s Inns; and barrister Michael Cush.

Ms Jones will have unprecedented access to King’s Inns venue and resources, including the library, park, staff and students as well as offering accommodation, living expenses and artwork production alongside opportunities for shared practice and peer learning.

Commenting on the award, Ms Jones said: “I am deeply honoured to take part in this new and exciting collaboration between The Honorable Society of King’s Inns and Dublin City Council Culture Company.

“The law has always been an important touchstone in my practice from a feminist perspective in relation to justice and our collective values as a society.

“I hope this residency will allow me to explore this further in my practice, it is a unique opportunity to access to the inner workings of the King’s Inns as a site of learning, archiving of the law and in a community context in and of itself; which is richly connected to the history and practice of the law in Ireland.”

Ms Griffin added: “This represents a new adventure for King’s Inns, our members have always made valuable contributions to many aspects of society and we feel it is timely and appropriate to explore how the arts and legal communities can complement each other.

“I was bowled over by the number and quality of the applications and would like to thank the selection panel and acknowledge the ongoing contribution of the advisory group.”

Iseult Byrne, CEO of Dublin City Council Culture Company, said: “We are delighted to provide a mechanism, support and space through this partnership for an artist of Jesse’s calibre to develop her work as part of this inaugural residency.

“It has been a pleasure to begin this partnership with King’s Inns and we look forward to working closely with Jesse and the advisory group for this residency in the coming months.

“This residency is a unique opportunity for us to help develop and strengthen the cultural impact through collaboration, by providing essential resources and support directly to artists working in Dublin.”

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