Venous Returns

Venous Returns, 2023

Examining themes associated with women and their mistreatment by the state and the church, it attempts to untangle the visible and invisible legacy of the Magdalene Laundries and the mother and baby Homes, whilst exploring the female voice within Irish identity. Combining aerial performance, glass, and a soundscape captured in situ at the atmospheric Clarke Square in Collins Barracks, Dublin, this haunting performance of female subjectivity and resistance, juxtaposes itself against its military surroundings. Although the physical apparatus of the various Institutions that incarcerated thousands of Irish women and children may now be decaying, the intergenerational effects can still be felt by this generation. In this short work we ask will there ever be justice for these survivors…and what effect has this legacy had on Irish women?

Shown as part of the Belfast International Arts Festival in 2023 at the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queens, Belfast
 
The Dirty Laundry Collective was started by Kate Finegan, Alison Lowry and Jess Kavangh.

Venous Returns is directed by Laura Sheeran, costuming is provided by threadstories and Lia Cowan, with a soundscape created in collaboration with Isaac Gibson at the Sonic Arts Research Centre in Belfast.

To view click this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkyxzSzSh1o