Monkeyshine Artists in Residence 2020-2022

Monkeyshine are artists and makers dedicated to cultivating creativity and connection. The company is on a mission to shift the paradigm towards a more conscious, kind and playful world. One where our interdependent relationship with the earth is recognised, sacred and celebrated.

Throughout 2022, with support from the Watergate residency scheme, Monkeyshine will explore their human relationship with the more than human beings that we share our planet with. They will delve into the world of Deep Ecology and Spiritual Ecology and question preconceptions about our relationship with our planet and ourselves.

Monkeyshine will be approaching big questions with curiosity, wonder and a playful sense of adventure. They will be helped along the way by some very special beings including an entire woodland, lots of school children, students, scientists, deep ecologists, cultural researchers, architects, planners, layers and a whole host of artists, performers, musicians and makers.

While collaborating with a woodland in their home county of Kilkenny, Monkeyshine will work with mentors from Germany and the UK. They will also be joined by young researchers from schools in Kilkenny and Tallaght, as well as design and planning students from UCD, who will all be helping to explore and imagine a human society with an earth-centric world view.

In the autumn, Monkeyshine will be taking to the road with their mobile living arts space, The Nomad. They will be sharing discoveries and inviting audiences to step into a new world, adding their voices, their imaginations and their hearts to this important conversation.

Take part in-person in Kilkenny, Galway or Dublin or visit Monkeyshine's website and sign up for their newsletter to access some fun and intriguing activities that you can do at home with your own Earth Community.

Gain an insight into the importance of the relationship between professional artists and their local funded arts centre through the conversation with Watergate Theatre Director Joanna Cunningham and Monkeyshine Theatre Company founder and director Kareen Pennefather and co-director Jim Jobson. Enjoy the full conversation here on the Arts Council Ireland page!