An Ciúnas / The Silence
A solo exhibition by Marianne Keating
Curated by Miguel Amado
Wexford Arts Centre
26th August – 1st October 2025
Opening Launch: Saturday 23 August at 2pm
Wexford Arts Centre is pleased to present An Ciúnas / The Silence, a solo exhibition by artist Marianne Keating. The exhibition will run in the lower and upper galleries from Tuesday, 26th August, to Saturday, 1st October, 2025.
Marianne Keating is a London-based Irish artist and researcher whose practice examines intersecting and overlooked narratives of Irish emigration to the Caribbean, particularly Jamaica, where the Irish were recruited as a new labour force after the abolition of enslavement. Keating’s multidisciplinary film installations that combine a range of archival materials, found footage, newly shot footage, text, and sound.
An Ciúnas / The Silence traces multiple trajectories of migration from Ireland to both Jamaica and Britain from the period preceding the Great Famine of 1845–52 to the present day. It identifies catalytic moments in the history of the British Empire through the lenses of Ireland and Jamaica to illuminate how events from the past inform current politics and society. The work establishes a radical account of Ireland’s and Jamaica’s fights for self-determination, the social conditions of Ireland in the nineteenth century and today, the evolution of the Jamaican political system, and the power structures at play in both countries before and after independence.
An Ciúnas / The Silence is presented as a multichannel film installation and collages a myriad of moving and still images (often manipulated), either drawn from or referencing public records, online videos and photographs, and newspaper articles. The montage of fragmentary episodes moves back and forth in time and incorporates various creative modes, including textual graphics and audio effects. The overlaying of information, visuals, and sonic outputs amplifies the depicted perspectives, and the work’s presentation as a continuous loop undermines typical storytelling and the notion of a single official, dominant narrative.
Marianne Keating: An Ciúnas / The Silence is organised by Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh, Co. Cork. It is part a tour that includes The Model in Sligo, Rua Red in Dublin, Limerick City Gallery of Art, and Wexford Arts Centre. The exhibition was initially organised by The Showroom in London.
The production of An Ciúnas / The Silence is funded by the Arts Council through a Project Award. The tour of the exhibition is funded by the Arts Council through the Touring of Work Scheme.
An Ciúnas / The Silence will run at Wexford Arts Centre from Tuesday, 26th August, to Saturday, 1st October, 2025.
Wexford Arts Centre is supported by the Arts Council and Wexford County Council.
Wexford Arts Centre
Cornmarket, Wexford
Tel: +353 (0)53 912 3674
Email: info@wexfordartscentre.ie
Web: www.wexfordartscentre.ie
Gallery hours: Tuesday-Friday from 10am-5pm and Saturday from 10am-4pm.
For further information on An Ciúnas / The Silence or artist Marianne Keating please contact Catherine Bowe – Curator, Wexford Arts Centre, Cornmarket, Wexford on +353 (0)53 91 23764 or email catherine@wexfordartscentre.ie.
