UK New Artists Weekender look back

Between Friday 20–Monday 23 May 2022 CCA partnered with UK New Artists to host a micro-residency UKNA Weekender! Six new artists from across the UK met in Derry~Londonderry to explore our city, participate in workshops developed for the Weekender by Array Collective and to find time to reflect on their own practices and creating new connections and friendships that will last beyond.

Curated by Sophie Mak-Schram, the Weekender took language as its starting point, particularly exploring how language brings people together as well as keeping them apart; a timely theme as the residency took place during the largest rally calling for the implementation of the Irish language act across Northern Ireland.

The artists were Alice Harry, Cal Freeman, Dudley, Kinnari Saraiya, Kristina Nenova and Suds McKenna. Over the weekend the group shared their practices, their own unique experiences and interests stemming from ideas of language.

Friday welcomed the artists with visits to CCA and a performance of 4 Ballads but Mark Buckeridge and talk about the current exhibition as well as visits to Art Arcadia with their artist in-residence Laura McCafferty (and CCA's Public Programmes Curator), Void Gallery and the Museum of Free Derry. The workshops began on Saturday with Alessia and Tom from Array Collective introducing the cohort to their practice and approaches to art-making in context of our very particular social and political climate backdrop. From this the group made banners for a protest of their own choosing, ranging from critiques of colonialism to trans rights, land use, language and identity. The banners were processed through the city and the artists made a banner drop in Guildhall Square – the site of so many historic protests and moments of political history for our region.

This was a very special weekend and being witness to the new bonds formed by the group, their openness, mutual care and support was something we feel privileged to be a part of.

The banners made by the Weekender artists is now on show through our windows at 10–12 Artillery Street in CCA's Project Space until 10 June 2022.