What If We Were Brilliant? is a hopeful and creative project by Brilliant Ballybunion and artist Lisa Fingleton for for IMMA Earth Rising which explores how communities can be “brilliant not brutal” in the face of biodiversity loss and climate change.
The project has been selected for the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) Earth Rising festival from 12th-14th September. Earlier this year IMMA invited proposals for collaborations between visual artists, Irish-based environmental groups, and local communities and Brilliant Ballybunion was one of the four* selected projects.
Earth Rising is a vibrant festival of art, ecology, and ideas now in its’ fifth year. From radical talks to joyful workshops, restorative installations to grassroots action, Earth Rising 2025 features over 50 free events designed to inspire, connect, and activate.
According to Project Manager, Grainne Toomey, “We are really looking forward to taking part to Earth Rising and sharing the work of Brilliant Ballybunion with a national audience in Dublin. We are a small community on the West Coast of Ireland and are delighted to be having such a positive impact in protecting the world around us”. Community is very important to us. There is a great community spirit in Ballybunion.”
Brilliant Ballybunion is Creative Climate Action project, supporting the local community to grow food, protect nature and be creative all at the same time. The projected is managed by Ballybunion Community Forum in partnership with The Barna Way.
What If We Were Brilliant? includes a number of participatory events over the weekend which invite audiences to envision the future we want to create through art, storytelling, and community collaboration. Community collaborators share their experiences of growing food, protecting nature and being creative together.
The Future We Want to Be is an interactive drawing workshop with artist Lisa Fingleton and community collaborators. Lisa says “I believe very much in the power of creativity and imagination. It can be quite overwhelming to think about all the impacts of climate change. It is really important for communities to create a vision of how we would like the world to be in the future and how we can do this in a way that ensures a just transition for everyone”.
On Sunday Sailhymn, a singer songwriter, shares their soulful reconnection with the generous, bold spirit of living heritage at The Barna Way through a residency with Brilliant Ballybunion.
This will be followed by an inspiring conversation called the Birds and the Beans with ecologist Dr Joanne O Brien, Sean Culhane and community collaborators. This talk showcases the strength of collaboration between people, communities and nature, celebrating collective effort and shared ideas. There will be a particular focus on the new Ballybunion Nature Group (Ring Plover Conservation) and Ballybunion Bean Festival. This very successful festival took place in August and focused on our relationship with the bean, ‘boldly going when no one has bean before’ to explore a more climatarian and plant based diet.
The project will also share ongoing conservation efforts through soundscapes and drawings, and new moving image work inspired by local biodiversity. Rooted in deep community engagement and creative climate action, What If We Were Brilliant? asks audiences to imagine new, more connected ways of living — with nature and each other.
WEEKEND EVENTS:
What If We Were Brilliant?
Activation Space, Drawing and Film Installation, 10.00-19.00
Studio 9 and 10, Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th
The Future We Want to Be
Interactive Drawing Workshop with artist Lisa Fingleton and community collaborators
Studio 10, 14.00-16.00 Saturday 13th
Sailhymn
Seeds for Songs with Brilliant Ballybunion
Greenhouse stage, 11.30-12.30, Sunday 14th
The Birds and The Beans
Panel and Conversation with Dr Joanne O Brien, Sean Culhane, Grainne Toomey, Antoinette O Sullivan, Rena Blake, Lily Toomey, Karen Costello with Lisa Fingleton
Lecture Room, 12.15-13.15 Sunday 14th
Making Kin, Making Change
Artist Conversation. From humpback whales to wild herbs, upland rituals to offshore resistance, join us for a rich and hopeful conversation about creative climate action, rural innovation, and the power of place-based storytelling. Hosted by Lisa Fitzsimons with Lisa Fingleton, Grace Wells, Alannah Robins and Samuel Arnold Keane
Chapel, 2.30-3.20 Sunday 14th
Artist Film Screening
Including The Radical Art of Living and The Monto Man by Lisa Fingleton
Living Canvas Screen, 10.00-17.00, Friday 12th-Sunday 14th
*The 3 other ambitious, community-rooted commissions for Earth Rising include:
- Dinnseanchas– Hometree & artists William Bock, Síomha Brock, Zoë Rush, Heather Griffin, Patrick Mulvihill, Peadar-Tom Mercier, Róisín de Buitléar, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Grace Wells, Jennifer Ahern, Aindrias de Staic, João Tudella, Myriam Riand and David Teevan;
- Bearing Witness | Holding Space– Interface Inagh
- Skate + Forage– Samuel Arnold Keane, Elida Maiques & Pablo Marín García.
This project is supported by IMMA, the Creative Ireland Creative Climate Action Fund and Kerry Visual Artist in Residence Programme (Arts Council and Kerry County Council)
https://imma.ie/whats-on/earth-rising/
Press Information: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Pm5Faw3OsZoBr4PUat05jkLimtxBZ-EZ?usp=drive_link
