EVA International

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, Republic of Ireland. It is known as Ireland's biennial,[1] and is held in even-numbered years.

For Electronic Visualisation and the Arts conferences, see EVA Conferences.

EVA International
GenreBiennial of contemporary art
FrequencyBiennial, every two years
Location(s)Limerick, Republic of Ireland
Inaugurated1977
Next event2020
Websitewww.eva.ie

History
large-scale arrangement of red cuboid shipping containers in the shape of a letter X on display in a park with trees in the background. People walking underneath.
Luc Deleu, 'Construction X' on display in Arthur's Quay Park, Limerick for EV+A 1994. Large-scale outdoor installation made from shipping containers.

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’.[2] Between then and 2017, there have been 37 editions of the citywide exhibition.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[5]

Curator Matt Packer was named Director of EVA in March 2017. Packer was previously the Director of CCA Centre For Contemporary Art, Derry.[7]

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.[8] Following incorporation as a company limited by guarantee in 2012, the organisation has operated under the business name ‘EVA International’.[9]

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.[10]

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.[11]

Editions
yeartitlecurator(s)notes
1977The 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 Murray
1979EVA 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’Doherty
1981EVA 81Pierre Rastany
1982EVA 82Liesbeth Brandt Corstius
1983New Work of Past WinnersFor 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 Fuchs
1986EVA 86Nabuo Nakamara
1987EVA 87Ida Panicelli
1988Limerick Exhibition of Visual + Art 88Florent Bex and Alexander Rozhin
1989EV+A 89: New Work of Past Winners 1984-1988
1990EV+A 90: Climates of ThoughtSaskia Bos
1991EV+A 91Germano Curant
1992EV+A 92Lars Nittve
1993EV+A 93Gloria Moure
1994EV+A 94Jan Hoet
1995EV+A 95María de Corral
1996EV+A 96Guy Tortosa
1997EV+A 97Paul M. O'Reilly
1998EV+A 98: Circus ZZJeanne Greenberg Rohatyn
2000e v + a 2000: friends + neighboursRosa Martínez
2001e v + a 2001: expandedSalah M. Hassan
2002e v + a 2002: heroes + holiesApinan Poshyananda
2003e v + a 2003: on the border of each otherVirginia Pérez-Ratton
2004e v + a 2004: imagine limerickZdenka Badovinac
2005OPEN e v + a 2005Dan Cameron
2006e v + a 2006: give (a)wayKaterina Gregos
2007OPEN e v + a 2007: a sense of placeKlaus Ottmann
2008e v + a 2008: too early for vacationHou Hanru
2009e v + a 2009: reading the cityAngelika Nollert and Yilmaz Dziewior
2010e v + a 2010: mattersElizabeth Hatz
2012EVA 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 Kouoh
201838th EVA InternationalInti Guerrero2018's 38th EVA International was the first edition under Director Matt Packer.
2020Scheduled to open on 3 July, it was delayed twice, opening 18 September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12][13]

References
  1. "Here's the Artist List for the 2016 Ireland's Biennial". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  2. EVA International (1977), 77 Exhibition of Visual Art, Limerick: EVA International.
  3. "Eva curator's praise for Limerick as 37th exhibition is launched". Limerickleader.ie. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  4. Valerie Connor (2001) EV+A 2001 expanded, Third Text, 15:56, 86-92, DOI: 10.1080/09528820108576933, p. 86
  5. "EVA International". Eva.ie. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  6. EVA International (2016), Still (the) Barbarians, Limerick: EVA International
  7. Greenberger, Alex (28 March 2017). "Matt Packer Named Director of Ireland's EVA International Biennial". ARTnews. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  8. 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]
  9. "EVA International". Eva.ie. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  10. EVA International, e v + a 2010: Matters: Catalogue, Limerick: EVA International
  11. "Platform Commissions - 39th EVA International 2020 - Announcements - e-flux". www.e-flux.com. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  12. "The Major Biennales Going Ahead in 2020". Ocula.com. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  13. "39th EVA International 2020-2021". Limerick.ie. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
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