Making Feminist Archives

We are looking for artists, researchers, art~culture~community workers, archivists, activists, and anybody interested in the intersection of feminist artistic practices and community-led archives, to take part in this workshop.

Focusing on selected materials from the Patricia Hurl Archive, held in IMMA Collections, we will be collectively developing propositions around how feminist-informed artistic practices on the island of Ireland could be best archived, and made widely accessible to the public.

You don’t need to be an expert, we are looking for people with a strong interest in the subject. The workshop will start at 2pm, ending at 4pm, light refreshments will be provided. We will meet at the entrance of Galway Arts Centre at 1.50pm. Please note places are limited, so be sure you are available to attend in person. Your place will be confirmed no later than the 17th of July.

Please bring an archival material of your choice; this could be a photograph, a document, a text, a note, a notebook, a small object, an audio file, a digital file, a book, a magazine, a zine, or anything that you would like to add to a potential feminist art resource centre. You might be the author of this material, but it could also be the work of someone’s else – along with the appropriate credits. This item will be returned at the end of the workshop.

The workshop is facilitated by Dr Alessia Cargnelli, post-doctoral researcher focused on establishing the first all-island community-led and feminist-led resource centre in partnership with the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) and National Irish Visual Art Library (NIVAL) in Dublin.

Please note that some sections of the workshop will be audio recorded, transcribed, and made openly accessible on the Digital Repository of Ireland, ensuring further dissemination of knowledge, accessibility, and potential re-use of data. For any further information, please email cargnellia@staff.ncad.ie.

Register your interest via Google Form HERE

Alessia Cargnelli is a visual artist and researcher based in Belfast, north of Ireland, and currently Research Ireland Enterprise Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) and the National College of Art and Design (NCAD), in consultation with the National Irish Visual Arts Library (NIVAL). Alessia is a former co-director of the artist-led initiative Catalyst Arts Gallery (2016-2018). She completed a BFA with Hons in Visual and Performing Arts at IUAV University and a MA in Contemporary Art History at Ca’Foscari University in Venice, Italy. In 2024 she completed her doctoral research at the Belfast School of Art, with research on feminist-led women-artists’ advocacy groups connected with the island of Ireland.

In 2023, Alessia was appointed post-doctoral researcher at the National Irish Visual Arts Library (NIVAL), based in NCAD; with a pilot project focused on expanding underrepresented categories in the library’s collections. Along with artist Emily McFarland, she is co-founder of the feminist-led artist-run initiative Soft Fiction Projects (2018-ongoing). Alessia is also a member of Array Collective, a Belfast-based group who, since 2016, creates collaborative actions in response to the socio-political issues affecting the north of Ireland. Array Collective was the winner of the 2021 Turner Prize.

Feature Image:
Women’s Group Workshop 1992, Patricia Hurl, Artist Archives,
Courtesy of IMMA Collection

Profile image:
photography by Mitch Conlon