Please tell us who you are and what you’ve been working on recently.
We work together as part of the curatorial collective Liquid, alongside Iarlaith Ni Fheorais. Liquid has recently curated Silver-Tongued Seas at Jupiter Woods. As part of the project, Rosa has curated I Like To Watch, an online exhibition of moving image work exploring voyeurism and the cinematic gaze, and Roisin presents Liquid’s radio show, ‘Decolonise Our Genitals,’ on Montez Press Radio.
What drew you to each other’s practice?
As writers and curators, we have been aware of each others’ practice for a number of years, frequently making work that crosses over in theme and sparks interesting discussions between us. We are united in our desire to provoke discussion and debate, and this led to a collaboration in 2018, I Am Dynamite, a two-day symposium exploring dissent and disagreement in cultural discourse. Our shared interest in intimacy, its exchanges and expressions, later led us to co-found a curatorial collective, Liquid, alongside Iarlaith Ni Fheorais. Our shared interests, experiences and sensibilities have long meant that we have shaped one another’s’ practices through social interactions, and we would like to develop this connection and shared vision further by devoting time and resources to undertaking collaborative research in an area that excites us both.
How will you use the 1:1 FUND?
We will be working on the first stage of a collaborative research project exploring the aesthetics of intimacy, representations of desire, and the transactions that underpin both. We propose doing this through a discursive research methodology based around shared texts and artworks over the course of a six-week period. Each session will look at two works, one suggested by Rosa and one by Roisin. These may include essays, lectures, films, pieces of music, short fiction or exhibitions relevant to the central ideas of intimacy and transaction, touching upon subjects including fetishism, voyeurism, female/queer desire, pleasure, sex work and how these are portrayed. These sessions will offer a way to exchange ideas and a basis for a future collaborative curatorial project. The format will mimic an informal seminar-style approach based on peer-driven pedagogy and consciousness-raising groups.
Rosa Abbott is a writer and curator based in London. Her curatorial practice is informed by her fascination with pop culture, material culture and literature. Since May 2021, she has held the position of Assistant Curator at VISUAL Carlow, working on exhibitions including Forensic Architecture and Woman in the Machine. She has recently written artist texts for The Great Invocation, curated by Pádraic E. Moore at GARAGE, Rotterdam; contributed to the online platform of New Contemporaries; and worked on communications for On Railton Road, a play about gay squatters in the 1970s by Ian Giles.
Roisin Agnew is a writer and filmmaker based in London. She’s the recipient of Arts Council Ireland’s Next Generation Artist Award in Literature 2020/21 and she’s currently in development with her first feature film with Screen Ireland, attached as writer/director. Roisin’s writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Irish Times, Elephant Magazine, Dazed & Confused, and Vice. She’s recently written an exhibition text for Jupiter Woods and has a forthcoming piece in Another Gaze.
