May 2022
Catalyst Arts, Belfast
Catalyst’s library, which has been gathered across almost thirty years, reflects the changing hands of the artist-led organisation, representing the many interests, approaches and practices of those who worked there and interacted with the space. We observed that, often, when the library was ‘made public’ it was supplemented with books donated temporarily to the resource, filling gaps.
We wanted to question this process, bringing the library to the public in its honest form and highlighting what was missing. We created a collective list of suggested texts and readings, finding funding to add these to the library permanently, and held a series of events, book launches, reading groups and workshops that responded to the gaps.
Events as part of Made Public:
hand-building, ceramic workshop with Ronan Smyth
Conceived through conversations surrounding the new Catalyst site, in particular our outdoor space. During the workshop, Ronan guided participants through the making of clay pots. hand-building also invited the public to create a communal, shared resource of seeds and propagated plants to be sowed within the clay pots.
Free the Catalyst Archive, workshop with Marta Dyczkowska
Taking inspiration from the book Arkive City, in particular the essay New Model Arkive by Victoria Worsley, Marta held a workshop which mapped the beginnings of Catalyst Arts. Free the Catalyst Archive aimed to initiate discussions around how to make a living archive, and encouraged the audience to encounter and discuss the resource at Catalyst Arts.
Retreat to Stone, Stone in Retreat publication launch with Nollaig Molloy
Retreat To Stone, Stone in Retreat (2021) contains personal texts which resonated with archeological and industrial sites in Nollaig’s locality.These places are inhabited by limestone outcrops, hawthorn trees and gorse bushes; the ever-present yet changing characteristics of the land. The texts present memories of exploring ringforts as a child, digital and real-time experiences of earth works and the material economy of limestone and gorse flower. Within the publication, these materials occur in the form of screen-printed limestone ink and flocked gorse petal fibres.
slow studies, a reading group with Cecelia Graham and Grace Jackson
slow studies is a collaborative reading, listening and watching group that utilises the Catalyst Arts library as a springboard to explore alternatives to outcome oriented structures within the arts organisation. As a group, we will interrogate practices such as categorisation and hyperproductivity, and will create a collective list of resources which lay the foundation for an inclusive, accessible and honest arts space.