We were delighted to bring DELVE back to life with a recent visit to Carlow Arts Festival.
The DELVE (Discover, Explore, Learn, Visualise and Engage) programme – aims to support artists to experience and be inspired by art through a range of festivals and programmes throughout Ireland. We go, we see, we watch, we listen, we learn, we connect with art and art makers and we get inspired.
At Carlow Arts Festival two ISACS artists Polina Shapkina (Erebidae) and Gillian Byrne (Gilly Bean) were invited to join Lucy Medlycott – Director of ISACS and experience the festival.
Together, they attended the following:
- ‘Grow’ by Cian Kinsella.
- ‘A Handful of Dreams’ by Fidget Feet Aerial Dance
- ‘Invisible Opera’ by Irish National Opera.
- Special mural commission by Maser Art
Here’s what they had to say about their DELVE experience:
DELVE was such a gorgeous experience. To see what different artists have been cooking over the last while was just such a breath of fresh air and would fire up anyone with inspiration. It really exposed that even through a global pandemic Irish artists have held onto their passion and ability to create and share with the world.
DELVE was an uplifting and insightful experience that also shed light for me on possibilities for outdoor based shows in future. Big ups and big love to ISACS for taking us on this journey.
Polina Shapkina
I was absolutely delighted to be chosen for the DELVE Carlow program this year with ISACS. After such a long time without seeing live shows and feeling very separated from the arts world, it was beautiful to be immersed back into it at the Carlow Arts Festival.
Lucy, Polina and I had the opportunity to see 3 very different shows, all of which I highly enjoyed. From the hilarious site-specific ‘GROW’, to Fidget Feet’s ethereal and joyful aerial offering ‘A Handful of Dreams’, we finished off our evening with the immersive ‘Invisible Opera’, where the paradigm of virtual audiences over the last year was flipped on its head in surrealist magic. It was wonderful to experience these shows, and have company to discuss them with. We had the chance to meet and chat with some of the artists afterwards, and meet some of the team behind the festival.
I left Carlow inspired to reconnect with my peers and create pieces of work, and feeling more aware of possibilities and support networks available to me as an emerging artist. DELVE was a fantastic opportunity, and I’m very grateful to ISACS, Carlow Arts Festival, and Lucy Medlycott for this experience.
Gillian Byrne