Deirdre O'Mahony
Rural Socials
11 March 2025
Rural Socials are a monthly event at The Dock inviting artists and curators based or working in rural contexts to meet, connect, and share their work.
The Rural Socials return this harvest season with special guests: Welsh artist Manon Awst and Polish curator Sebastian Cichocki. Join us for a vegan lunch provided by Edergole Kitchen followed by a field trip to the local peatlands restoration project on Bencroy Mountain led by Gerry McGourty, farmer and member of the Leitrim Sustainable Agricultural Group.
Over lunch, Sebastian will give an overview of his role as Head of the Postartistic Practice studio at the University of Arts in Poznań and share insights into the gleaning practices which prompted his curatorial investigations in Ireland and South Korea. Manon will talk about her research on wetland ecologies and minoritised languages that inform her current collaboration with Dylan Huw for the Welsh pavilion at the 61st La Biennale di Venezia.
Lunch: 12.30—2pm
Field Trip: 2—4.30pm
This is a casual gathering for artists, arts workers, creative producers, and curators. As places are limited, please email your interest to attend to Director Mary Conlon at mary.conlon@leitrimcoco.ie.
Gerry McGourty. Photo by James Connolly.
Manon Awst is an artist based in Wales, with a sculptural and performative practice rooted in specific sites. The ways in which materials stick to and transform locations and communities is of particular interest, helping us navigate more sustainable pathways on a range of scales. She was granted a Henry Moore Foundation Artist Award (2022–23) and a Future Wales Fellowship (2023–25) as part of Arts Council Wales and Natural Resources Wales’ Creative Nature programme. This allowed time and space to creatively explore Welsh peatlands in connection to the National Peatland Action Programme. She currently representing Wales at the 61st La Biennale di Venezia in collaboration with artist Dylan Huw, Oriel Davies and Oriel Myrddin with their project Sownd.
Sebastian Cichocki is a curator, writer, and educator. He is Head of the Postartistic Practice studio at the University of Arts in Poznań (UAP), Poland. He served as a curator at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw (MSN) 2008-2026, where he curated Banner. Engagement, Realism and Political Art (2025), The Penumbral Age: Art in the Times of Planetary Crisis (2020), Making Use. Life in Postartistic Times (2016) and other exhibitions and research programmes. Selected exhibitions by Cichocki include The Gleaners Society for the 40th EVA International –Ireland's Biennial of Contemporary Art (2023) and Primary Forms at the 3rd Thailand Biennale in Chiang Rai (2024).
Sebastian Cichocki's visit to Ireland is supported by IMMA and the Polish Ministry of Culture.
Accessibility
The Dock venue is wheelchair accessible and we provide a range of supports to facilitate different needs. The visit to the peatlands restoration project will required a medium level of fitness as the natural pathway is uneven and on an incline. Please wear suitable, waterproof clothing.
For queries on accessibility, please email Curator Erika Holum at erika.holum@leitrimcoco.ie.
