EASCAIR: Celebrating the Irish-Afro Community

Date:

Fri 19 Apr 2024

Please Note:

Please note: no shoes are allowed in Studios

Venue:

DanceHouse

Admission:

Free, Advanced BookingRequired

‘Eascair' is a cultural event celebrating the contribution of Afro-Irish artists to Ireland's rich cultural scene, with a focus on people of the African diaspora in the arts. Led by dance artists Karen Aguiar (Project Manager/Event Producer) and Tobi Balogun (Artistic Director/Co-Curator).

This event will showcase contemporary work in dance, featuring film screenings, exhibition, and food sharing as well as in-depth conversations focusing on collaborations and how traditions are carried through the community and into new contemporary forms and spaces. Catering will be provided by Mama Shee.

Panelled artists include Amanda Ade, Tobi Bello, PIUS OjOjo, Alessandra Azeviche, Fortune. Also an exhibition featuring work by Craig Chiko, Tobi Bello and Pati Guimarães supported by visual artist Alice Rekab, who is also providing mentoring and production support to these artists.

This cultural event is designed to immerse attendees in a celebration of the Afro-Irish community with a unique presentation centred on the spirit of collaboration. A day filled with discussions, food, exhibitions and the truest connection of different lands, creating space for conversation, networking and nurturing.

Show times:

19 April 12-4PM, Exhibition and informal discussion with artisits and partners.

19 April 4:30-6:30, EASCAIR - panel discussion and performance

Drinks Reception to Follow

Book in below!

 

 

 

This event is supported by the International Decade for People of African Descent Fund. Eascair is managed by Create, with additional funding from The Rowan Trust and Dublin City Council, presented with support from Dance Ireland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meet the Artists

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tobi Balogun is a Multidisciplinary Artist, working across Dance, Theatre, Voice and Design. His work focuses on cultural sustainability and the exploration of Black masculinity. In 2020 he received a Create Bursary to develop phase one of BLACK CANVAS - an R&D project examining the experiences of Black-Irish creatives and communities. Work emerging from this included curatorial residencies in Dance Ireland (MoveMEANT 2022/23), LIBERTY VIBES - an event supported by DCC Local Live Performance, and NATIVES as part of Culture Night (2022). His work is funded by the Arts Council and has been supported through residencies at Dance Ireland (2020-2024), Photo Ireland (2023), Project Arts Centre (2023) and Centre Culturel Irlandais (Paris 2024). In 2023 he worked with Theatre Company Brokentalkers, as a performer in ‘Manifest’ (Project Arts Centre) and performed in John Scott’s ‘Dancer from the Dance Festival' 2022/23. In 2022 he choreographed and performed JUXTA for Project Arts Centre’s Open Day. As a choreographer and movement director he worked with Theatre Maker Louise White, Poet Felispeaks and with music artists Jafaris, Burna Boy and Ed Sheeran among others. With a background in Street Dance he has won International competitions and has developed youth projects in association with artists Cathy Coughlan, Maria Nilsson Waller and with organisations such as South Dublin County Council, Tallaght Community Arts, Dublin City Council, CoisCeim Dance Theatre Broadreach, Project Arts Centre and Dance Ireland. Over the last 5 years Tobi has established himself as a new voice in Irish clothing, creating bespoke pieces for specific events and commercial video work, as well as made to order designs for his own clothing line and ongoing project - WAHALA.

 

 

 

Karen Aguiar, a Socially Engaged Artist and Cultural Producer who believes in the transformative power of dance to unite people and nurture collective spaces. She has been performing, building community and producing dance & performance in Ireland since 2018. She is also a recipient of the Artist in the Community Scheme Bursary Award: Collaborative Arts and Dance funded by the Irish Arts Council, managed by Create in partnership with Dance Ireland. As the founder and creative director of Go Dance For Change, a platform for intercultural collaboration, Karen envisions dance as a means of meaningful integration, individual growth, and collective action. With a postgraduate study in Art & Ecology at NCAD and closing a dance residency (2023-24) at Rua Red South Dublin Arts Centre, Karen's movement practice incorporates embodied ecologies, knowledge, activism, culture, and play.