Clara Mcsweeney

Catch Mel Galley and myself at this year’s International Forum for Artist Research at NUIG this Thursday!

⏰ 3.10pm - 3.50pm
📍O Donoghue Studio 1 NUIG Galway

For the conference, Mel and Clara will give an introduction to the research, development and methodology of the their project Holdings!

This will then lead into a performance of Holdings, followed by our reflections on the process of creating and sharing this work and where we will take it next.

One member of the conference will be welcomed as our caller for the performance, which will be through the phone with one actor based remotely, while the rest of the audience will be invited to consider and record their own answers to the survey through a handout.

Delighted to have been included in The Housing Question: Themed Issue! We reflected on the making and sharing of our Dublin Fringe Festival 2025 show Holdings 🥳

We considered how our collaboration started, the research weaving into and through the piece, how the work was materially and digitally brought into being and, finally, where we will take it in the future (stay tuned for exciting updates this summer!) 👀

A MASSIVE thank you to the Holdings team who we could not have done this without: Blaithín Ward, Sarah Griffin, Aoife Sweeney O’Connor, and Áine Ryan (actors); Dr Danielle Hynes and Dr Samuel Mutter (researchers); Maria McSweeney and Patrick Fleming (photography and videography); and Clíona Malin (dramaturg and editor)

Also a big thank you to for inviting us to contribute 🥰

Me 🤝 photographing foodvans 😂

✨Save the Date✨

The Rain Tells Us Everything
11th July – 19th September 2026

Catherine McDonald, Katie Nolan and Niamh Schmidtke Curated by Clara McSweeney.

📍Regional Cultural Centre Letterkenny Donegal. Gallery 2 and Foyer

🍷Opening: 11th July - 6pm

The Rain Tells Us Everything investigates occurrences that are encroaching on landscapes due to the climate crisis. Through trespassing, tracking and collective singing, these artists question these changes through sound, film, fabric and drawing.

Whether it is the invasion of Ireland’s data storage industry on the lands that were previously fruit farms, wild lands or forestry; tracing the movement of salt as a catalyst for disruption in freshwater systems from the Arctic to the Philippines; or collectively protesting bauxite waste into the Shannon Estuary through active song, the artists reflect on and respond to the unfolding conditions of the Anthropocene.