If it’s a large-scale international art event you’re after, head to Limerick some time between May 19th and August 12th this summer: eva International (formerly e+va) is back for its 24th instalment. This time round it bears the title After the Future, an homage to cultural theorist Franco ‘Bifo’ Beradi’s study of the concept of future, from punk to cyberculture. Berardi claimed that the future is over, because “we are living in a space that is beyond the future”, and this notion is taken as the starting point for an artistic discourse played out by the forty Irish and international artists exhibiting at eva International. The majority of these are dynamic contemporary artists, aptly paving the way for future art, but posthumous contributions from the likes of Modernist icon Marcel Broodthaers are set to add diversity, and throw our concepts of past, present and future further into disarray. A diverse range of works, from sculpture to film, will be dispersed throughout Limerick’s city centre for the exhibition – extending far beyond the white walls of its creative hub, the Limerick City Gallery of Art. What’s more, with no entrance fee, you’ve only the return bus ride and sambos to worry about forking out for. Unless you fancy taking on Limerick’s equally culturally challenging nightlife.
Words: Rosa Abbott
