EVA International (previously known as Limerick Exhibition of Visual Art and e v + a) is a large-scale contemporary art exhibition that takes place every two years in the city of Limerick, Ireland. It is known as Ireland's biennial, and is held in even-numbered years.
History
The first incarnation of EVA International was The 77 Exhibition of Visual Art, created by the original committee with the mission statement of providing the public ‘with an opportunity to visit and experience an exhibition not normally available in the region and, at the same time, to stimulate an awareness of the visual arts here’.EVA International (1977), 77 Exhibition of Visual Art, Limerick: EVA International. Between then and 2017, there have been 37 editions of the citywide exhibition.
Each edition is now curated by a different international curator of note, a practice that began with Sandy Nairne in 1979, the only exception to the international rule being Paul O’Reilly, Irish curator of the 1998 edition.Valerie Connor (2001) EV+A 2001 expanded, Third Text, 15:56, 86-92, DOI: 10.1080/09528820108576933, p. 86 The exhibit now has an international focus to its programming, aiming to bring international art to Limerick whilst increasing Ireland's standing in the international art world through invited curators. EVA exhibits have taken place in a number of venues across the city, notably at the Limerick City Gallery of Art, The Hunt Museum, and King John's Castle.EVA International (2016), Still (the) Barbarians, Limerick: EVA International For each edition, artists are selected through an open call for submissions, beginning with the first exhibition in 1977. Between 1994 and 2010, the exhibit also included an ‘invited’ selection of artists in addition to those who responded to the open call for artists’ proposals.
Curator Matt Packer was named Director of EVA in March 2017. Packer was previously the Director of CCA Centre For Contemporary Art, Derry.
Changes in name The name of the Limerick event has gone through several incarnations, with the original edition being known as the ‘77 Exhibition of Visual Art, Limerick’, the exhibit has variously been known as Exhibition of Visual Art, EVA, and e v + a.O'Reilly, Paul M. An EV+A compendium : being the catalogue for the invited EV&A exhibitions of 1994, 1996, 1998 and a remembrance of the 1997 EV+A colloquies on contemporary art and culture [editor: Paul M. O'Reilly] Following incorporation as a company limited by guarantee in 2012, the organisation has operated under the business name ‘EVA International’.
Young EVA Young EVA is the organisation's flagship education programme. Beginning in 1984, this has taken a variety of forms, frequently involving artist-led workshops with school-age groups, often resulting in an exhibition of young participants’ work.EVA International, e v + a 2010: Matters: Catalogue, Limerick: EVA International
Platform Commissions Platform Commissions is a programme initiative started in 2018 by EVA International that focuses on the commission of works and projects by artists based in Ireland.
Editions +yeartitlecurator(s)notes1977The 77 ExhibitionBrian King, Barrie Cooke, John KellyThe 1977 Exhibition of Visual Art took place across the Municipal Art Gallery (now the Limerick City Gallery of Art), the Cummins Gallery (no longer in operation), and The National Institute for Higher Education, Castletroy (now University of Limerick).1978The 78 ExhibitionAdrian Hall, Charles Harper, Theo McNab, Cóilín Murray1979EVA 79Sandy NairneEVA 79 marked the first time that the exhibit was presided over by an invited international curator and adjudicator. Nairne set no specific theme for the exhibition, and wrote 'I have selected for the exhibition work that I consider to be the highest quality' from amongst 400 submissions.1980EVA 80Brian O’Doherty1981EVA 81Pierre Rastany1982EVA 82Liesbeth Brandt Corstius1983New Work of Past Winners For the 1983 edition of EVA, the committee held a reflective event, inviting the winning artists of the EVA prizes awarded at the five exhibits that had been held to date, to submit new or recent work to comprise the year's exhibition. As such, no curator was appointed. An essay by Aidan Dunne reflecting on the success of EVA from its inception was included in the exhibit's accompanying catalogue.1984EVA 84Peter FullerPeter Fuller's curatorship was notable for his exclusion of photography on the grounds that it 'is not art', and his refusal to award the sculpture prize to any of the selected sculptural works. During the 1984 exhibit, there was an incident in which a local resident attempted to deface David Lilburn's self-portrait, entitled Towards from the Forceps to the Chains of Office and winner of that year's graphics prize. Having been warned of the event, a photographer from the Limerick Leader arrived in time to take photographs of the resident smashing the glass on the print and prevent any further damage being done. The event was a subject of controversy, reported nationwide, and the photographs were later hung alongside the print in another exhibition.1985EVA 85Rudi Fuchs1986EVA 86Nabuo Nakamara1987EVA 87Ida Panicelli1988Limerick Exhibition of Visual + Art 88Florent Bex and Alexander Rozhin1989EV+A 89: New Work of Past Winners 1984-1988 1990EV+A 90: Climates of ThoughtSaskia Bos1991EV+A 91Germano Curant1992EV+A 92Lars Nittve1993EV+A 93Gloria Moure1994EV+A 94Jan Hoet1995EV+A 95María de Corral1996EV+A 96Guy Tortosa1997EV+A 97Paul M. O'Reilly1998EV+A 98: Circus ZZJeanne Greenberg Rohatyn2000e v + a 2000: friends + neighboursRosa Martínez2001e v + a 2001: expandedSalah M. Hassan2002e v + a 2002: heroes + holiesApinan Poshyananda2003e v + a 2003: on the border of each otherVirginia Pérez-RattonSelecting works from the open submissions, Pérez-Ratton commented on how the theme took shape, “the process implied starting out with no previous structure or thematic axis, but rather allowing it to construct itself on the basis of the works presented. […] My intention in this year’s open ev+a focused on creating significant clusters of meaning – that is, grouping works that would relate to one another, and establishing aesthetic, sensitive or conceptual links between them” [taken from ‘Landing in Limerick’ Pérez-Ratton’s introduction to the 2002 catalogue].2004e v + a 2004: imagine limerickZdenka Badovinac2005OPEN e v + a 2005Dan Cameron2006e v + a 2006: give (a)wayKaterina Gregos2007OPEN e v + a 2007: a sense of placeKlaus Ottmann2008e v + a 2008: too early for vacationHou Hanru2009e v + a 2009: reading the cityAngelika Nollert and Yilmaz Dziewior2010e v + a 2010: mattersElizabeth Hatz2012EVA International 2012: After the FutureAnnie Fletcher2012's After the Future was EVA International's first edition as a biennial, and the first show under Woodrow Kernohan as director.2014EVA International 2014: AgitationismBassam El BaroniAgitationism was a part of the 2014 Limerick National City of Culture programme.2016EVA International 2016: Still (the) BarbariansKoyo Kouoh201838th EVA InternationalInti Guerrero2018's 38th EVA International was the first edition under Director Matt Packer.2020 Scheduled to open on 3 July, it was delayed twice, opening 18 September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
References
External links Official website