We are delighted to support Dublin Fringe Festival's Weft Studio for the second time this year. Weft was first launched in 2022 and focuses on talent development and network building for emerging and early career Black artists and artists of the global majority. The 4 Weft Studio artists for 2024-2025 have now been announced (see below for thier bios). The programme will be led by award-winning writer and creative producer Shannon Yee, with interventions from national and international mentors.

Announcing Weft Studio Artists 2024-2025 

Dublin Fringe Festival have announced the four talented artists selected for the 2024-2025 Weft Studio:

Subhashini Goda is a dance artist and academic originally from Chennai, India, now residing in Ireland. Specialising in Bharatanatyam, she has presented her work at notable festivals including the Dancer from the Dance: Festival of Irish Choreography, Clonmel Junction Arts Festival, Cashel Arts Festival, Scene and Heard, and the Imagine Arts Festival. As the Emma O'Kane Bursary recipient for 2024, she is focused on evolving her choreographic voice to reflect her changing relationship with Indian dance traditions through cross-cultural collaborations.

David Ferreira-Alves is a theatre practitioner who discovered their love for reading long before acting and started writing at the age of eleven. Their research is an autoethnographic study based on the experience of devising, performing and evaluating a performance art work combining theatre, dance, text and music. Current research includes producing an acted and choreographed theatrical live performance to analyse stories about persons who are in the margins of society. Also, they have undertaken practice-based research projects since 2022, including collaborations with actors, autoethnographers and musicians. They hold an MPhil in Theatre and Performance from Trinity College Dublin. 

Andrew Ajetunmobi (Bless), is a Nigerian-Irish musician and multi disciplinary artist from Cavan who has appeared in the Arts Council funded production of Revenger's Tragedy at Beyond The Pale Festival 2023 and Dublin Fringe Festival 2024. Passionate about music and poetry, Andrew explores themes of love and relationships in his writing. Andrew's aim of creating a creative-centric community for integration, collaboration and growth has driven him to exploring art through the mediums of dance and drama.

Tatiana Santos is a multidisciplinary artist, journalist and cultural mediator whose work explores migration, belonging, and de-colonisation. She is one of the leading artists exploring Brazilian rhythms in Irish dance spaces, and currently collaborates on The Welcoming Project (Catherine Young Dance Company), promoting social cohesion through Palestinian Dabke, Ukrainian, Irish and Afro-brazilian dance styles. Her notable works include Hot Brown Honey’s Hive City Legacy and her solo show Threads at Solo Sirens Festival 2023, which delves into everyday acts of solidarity. Tatiana is the 2024 Artist in Residence at Roscommon Arts Centre, where she will research her new theatre piece. 

10 people smiling and posing for a camera
The 2023 Weft participants pose for a photo after meeting with British Council to discuss their projects and how the programme has helped them develop their craft.

Weft Studio 2023

British Council Ireland were delighted to support Weft, a Dublin Fringe Festival initiative, which focuses on talent development and network building for emerging and early career Black artists and artists of the global majority. In weaving, the ‘weft’ are the horizontal threads that create the woven foundation that holds a tapestry together in a loom. Dublin Fringe believe there is a lack of support and holistic understanding for Black artists and artists of the global majority early in their careers in Ireland to learn more about their own creative habits, develop their artistic skills and take the lead in creating their own work on their own terms.

Weft Studio, first launched in 2022, addresses this gap, by interweaving individual artist support with practical project development opportunities within a community of peers who have experiences of what it is like to live and work in Ireland as a Black artist or artist of the global majority.

The 2023/24 programme was led by the acclaimed writer and creative producer Shannon Yee, with interventions from international mentors, the Weft Studio programme ran from August 2023 to February 2024. 

 

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