Shared Island Civic Society Fund 2024

A Journey for Change – Exchanging Intercultural Practices

Shared Island Civic Society Fund

A Journey for Change – Exchanging Intercultural Practices

In 2024, Mother Tongues and ArtsEkta initiated their collaboration for the project “A Journey for Change”, as part of The Shared Island Civic Society Fund, funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs. This initiative, aimed at fostering practical North-South cooperation, provides support to civic society and community organisations, enabling them to strengthen existing partnerships, forge new cross-border connections and champion inclusivity and diversity across the island.

The year-long collaboration was between six artists from diverse, migrant and minority ethnic backgrounds. Together they explored themes of resistance and reconciliation in their public work and shared their own experiences of arts practice.

As the final output, we created an interactive installation called My Working Space. The installation, exhibited at the Mother Tongues Festival 2025, consisted of video interviews with the six artists, offering personal insights into their creative journey and discussions on the impact of the cross-border exchange. The artists invited viewers to reflect on the complexities of identity, belonging and the power of cultural exchange. Accompanying the videos, each artist has created an interactive, personal workspace installation, offering viewers a glimpse of their creative process. Each table acted as a canvas, inviting attendees to sit and experience the personalities of our artists in moments of rest and reflection.
This installation offered a glimpse into the cross-border collaboration and celebrates the resilience of artists working in diverse communities north and south. Wath the videos and the photo gallery of the installation below.

This cross-border initiative endeavours to:

Create opportunities for artists from migrant and minority ethnic backgrounds to engage in various arts disciplines.
Foster North-South links through networking, co-creation, and cultural exchange.
Establish a framework for artistic collaboration.
Showcase new artwork to audiences in Dublin and Belfast.
Cultivate a lasting cross-border partnership to nurture future employment prospects.

The year-long project consists of:

Artist exchanges in both cities.
A residential Summer School spanning 2 days in Tallaght (hosted by Mother Tongues) and 2 days in Belfast (hosted by ArtsEkta). This immersive experience will culminate in the creation of a new artwork to be shared at the Mother Tongues Festival in Tallaght, Dublin (February 2025), and ArtsEkta in Belfast (August 2025).

Interviews

My working space - mother tongues festival 2025

Meet the artists

Denise Jimena is a freelance artist from Mexico, currently based in Belfast. Her artwork draws inspiration from traditions, culture, and community. She sees art as a profound expression of humanity and believes it serves as a universal language. Through workshops and exhibitions, Denise shares her culture and traditions with the local community. Her aim is to inspire others to express themselves creatively, demonstrating that art can be accessible, enjoyable, and fun, rather than intimidating.

Jinny Ly is a Chinese-Vietnamese-American visual artist based in Dublin. Born and raised in California, she spent most of her time in Oakland’s Chinatown where her refugee family settled after fleeing the Vietnam War. Her practice explores the intergenerational impact of refugee familial stories through applied materials, personal archives and process-driven research. After receiving her BA in Art from San Jose State University in California, under artist Consuelo Jimenez Underwood in 2009, Jinny completed her MFA at NCAD under Dr. Helen McAllister in 2023, where she was selected as an RDS Visual Arts Award Exhibitor.

With over two decades of experience in performance, production, and dance education, Mar has honed expertise in a diverse array of subjects including Ballet, Contemporary Dance, and Middle Eastern Dances. As a Mexican artist with a rich multicultural background, she also brings proficiency in Latin and Indian dances. Throughout her career, she has guided both artists and students, fostering their passion for movement and expression. Mar has worked extensively within the Lebanese community in Mexico and performed at prestigious venues such as El Teatro de La Ciudad and El Teatro de Bellas Artes. Additionally, she has collaborated with renowned organizations including Cirque du Soleil, EDC Festival, OCESA, the Seville Conservatorio de Danza, and Arts Ekta in Northern Ireland, to name a few.

Margot Jones is a performer, researcher, facilitator and puppeteer. She holds a PhD (Theatre) from the University of Hawai’i (USA) and an MA in Dramatherapy from the University of Roehampton (England).
She is currently interested in the development of tailored participative work with small diverse audiences. The focus of her work is on enjoyment, participation, creativity and enablement.
Recent performances include a shadow puppetry performance of Gilgamesh, directed by John McCormick. She is based in Co. Wicklow and works in both Irish and English.

Paola Invernizzi, an Italian visual artist based in Dublin, completed her Arts and Health studies at the Brera Academy of Art in Milano. She leverages her experience in health and education to explore art's potential in fostering well-being. Using a phenomenological approach and various techniques, Invernizzi aims to strengthen the connection between individuals and art, enriching community belonging. Since 2018, she has focused on arts in health, education, and early childhood in Ireland. Recognized by the Arts Council of Ireland with awards in 2020 and 2021, she is active in school residencies and collaborations with Mother Tongues.

Sheila Chakravarti was born in Mumbai and raised in both India and the UK. Since 1969, she has lived in Belfast, where she worked and raised a family after marrying a local. Upon retiring from full-time work, she focused on developing her photography, with a particular interest in exploring the complex post-colonial relationship between Northern Ireland’s local population and the BAME community. Her current project involves documenting the lives of BAME individuals, aiming to shed light on the discrimination they face while advocating for open dialogue and avoiding divisive labels in the fight against systemic discrimination.

Project Partners

Mother Tongues and ArtsEkta share similar values and work to improve the experience of migrants by creating cultural initiatives that enhance everyone’s sense of belonging in their local community.

Founded in 2018, Mother Tongues is a pioneering not-for-profit organisation promoting multilingualism and intercultural dialogue in Ireland. Mother Tongues is the first organisation in Ireland to employ creative arts to support families to embrace their mother tongue & increase confidence in linguistic & cultural identity.

ArtsEkta, established in 2006, works at the grassroots to strengthen and deepen relationships within and between black and minority ethnic (BME) and indigenous communities through a series of exciting, inspiring and innovative cultural and heritage-based programmes