press release

June 24–August 13, 2022
Opening reception: June 23, 6–8pm

Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley
I NEED YOUR HELP / TÁ DO CHÚNAMH AG TEASTÁIL UAIM

WHEN I LOOK INTO YOUR EYES I SEE POWER. I SEE SURVIVAL. I SEE MORE THAN A BODY.

WALK WITH ME.

We will learn what you are willing to give up and what you can’t let go of.

Secrets may come to pass...

Projects Arts Centre is pleased to present I NEED YOUR HELP / TÁ DO CHÚNAMH AG TEASTÁIL UAIM, the first solo exhibition by Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley in Ireland, curated by Tendai Mutambu.

I NEED YOUR HELP / TÁ DO CHÚNAMH AG TEASTÁIL UAIM is an immersive, interactive environment; an experiment in worldbuilding; and part of the artist’s continuing archival project to record the lives of Black trans people in the present so that they will not be be forgotten in the future.

At the centre of this new installation is a full-motion video (FMV) game using pre-recorded video files to display action in a game in which the audience is left to answer the question: WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO GIVE UP?

The exhibition further consists of image- and text-based works that chronicle the process of finding a community and learning that living as a trans person is not done in isolation.

I NEED YOUR HELP / TÁ DO CHÚNAMH AG TEASTÁIL UAIM is about needing everyone; a journey towards understanding that you have needed others and others that you never knew existed may need you too.

I NEED YOU ALL.

I HOPE YOU FIND A NEED FOR ME TOO.

WALK WITH US: a community discussion on trans futures

On August 11, curator and writer Iarlaith Ni Fheorais will host a panel discussion with members of the trans community, holding a conversation on the future of healthcare, rights, power and coalition building. With limited access to healthcare in the south of Ireland and legal barriers in the north, where do we go from here?

Please contact Sorcha FitzGerald at marketing@projectartscentre.ie for further information and queries.

Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley is an artist working predominantly in animation, sound, performance, and video game development. Their practice focuses on intertwining lived experience with fiction to imaginatively retell the stories of Black Trans people. Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley produced a solo performance work at Tate Modern, London, in 2020. Recent solo exhibitions have been held at QUAD, Derby, England (2021); Focal Point Gallery, London (2020); Science Gallery, London (2020); and MU Hybrid Art House, London (2020). Group exhibitions include Re$$urection Lands, Les Urbaines, Lausanne, Switzerland (2019); BBZ GRADUATE SHOW, Copeland Gallery, London (2019); and Transpose: The Future, Barbican, London (2018). Brathwaite-Shirley lives and works in London.

Tendai Mutambu is a curator and writer presently working as Associate Producer on Aura Satz’s first feature length film Preemptive Listening and Curator at Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary, New Zealand. Previously he was Assistant Curator of Commissions and Public Programmes at Spike Island in Bristol. His recent work includes: Otherwise-image-worlds and George Watson: Kōtiro, Emepaea at Te Uru; The Conch at South London Gallery; We Are Here: Work from the LUX and British Council Collections; Artist in Profile: Marwa Arsanios at Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival. Tendai has written for Frieze, Art Monthly UK, LUX Moving Image and Ocula Magazine. His writing has appeared in several artists’ publications including Ufuoma Essi: From Where We Land, South London Gallery (2022); Peggy Ahwesh: Vision Machines, Spike Island (Mousse, 2021).

Iarlaith Ni Fheorais is a writer and curator based between London and Ireland.