A Disentailing Deed
Project Arts Centre presents A Disentailing Deed, a visual arts exhibition by Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty exploring how cultural, political and environmental issues are affected by ideas of ‘Irishness’, as shaped by popular constructions of history. Running from 7th August – 10th October 2026 at Project Arts Centre, this event – the artists’ largest presentation to date – will feature video installation, sculpture, painting, and a live music performance.
A Disentailing Deed brings together many strands from the artists’ collaborative practice, drawing on their extensive research into Irish and diasporic histories. Two video installations, originally commissioned for the 41st EVA International—Ireland’s Biennale of Contemporary Arts, have been specially configured for us here at Project Arts Centre. One, presented as a bilingual karaoke-style video, features a newly composed song about land ownership and popular resistance in North Sligo, while the other presents ‘patriotic’ American firework shows as a mirror image of the state violence they commemorate.
A number of historical objects have been hand-replicated by the artists, each chosen for the physical traces and overlapping stories of emigration and political struggle they contain. A newly composed score will accompany the exhibition, inspired by marching tunes once played by the students of the Royal Hibernian Military School in the Phoenix Park, which trained boys for combat in the British Army until the formation of the Irish Free State in 1922.
To launch the event a live concert responding to the exhibition will take place at Project Arts Centre in The Space Upstairs at 7:30pm, featuring Ruth Clinton (Landless, Poor Creature), Aoife Hammond (Surge, Extravision), Eleanor Myler (ØXN, Percolator) and Cormac MacDiarmada (Lankum, Poor Creature). Willie Stewart (Nyahh Records) will keep the vibes going on the decks from 8:30pm in the Bar.
Speaking on the exhibition, Curator of Visual Arts at Project Arts Centre Marysia Więckiewicz says:
“I am very happy to be collaborating with Niamh and Ruth on their remarkable solo exhibition, A Disentailing Deed, which brings together years of research and collaborative practice in one place. It is a privilege to support this ambitious project and to help bring these important stories to audiences at Project Arts Centre.”
Speaking on the work, artists Ruth Clinton & Niamh Moriarty say:
“We are grateful to bring this exhibition to Project Arts Centre. A Disentailing Deed foregrounds stories of contested histories, collective action, and the struggle to authentically remember. It is enriching for us to get to work with Marysia and the team at Project to make an immersive exhibition, extend access through audio and video guides, and programme a series of experimental ancillary events.”