What is Aontaithe?
Aontaithe is an annual campaign run by USI to highlight the hidden costs incurred by students in creative arts courses. To achieve that, USI organizes a series of exhibitions and invites students to submit their work for presentation at these exhibitions. The exhibitions are open to the public, and local politicians are invited to hear from students the extent of costs that must be met for them to produce the work they are presenting. A full brief for student artists that wish to participate in Aontaithe 2024 can be found below.
How to get involved?
The campaign is run by USI and facilitated through participating students’ unions. Students wishing to participate in Aontaithe and, as part of that, submit their work for presentation at the exhibitions, are invited to submit an application to the relevant contact within their students’ union and to include the following:
- A picture of the artwork;
- A brief description of the artwork to be presented along with the artwork;
- A breakdown of the costs incurred in the production of the work; and
- Indicate whether you would like to have your work presented at all the exhibitions (see below for dates and venues) or a specific exhibition.
Students are asked to refer to the list of participating unions below to check if their union is participating in the campaign this year. If your union is involved, you may submit the above to respective contact person.
Applications must be submitted by 5:00PM on Tuesday, February 26th.
Aontaithe Brief – Open Call for Artists
| Context and Campaign Background |
Creative students in Ireland are faced with inequality during the third level education and after graduating. Students are forced to deal with many hidden costs through their time in college, often spending thousands of euros during college on necessary materials. Historically and continuing up until today, the creative industry has always faced adversity in the forms of job instability, inaccessibility of education and stable routes into the field, excessive costs of production and now adding onto this we are entering another period of economic and social instability. Resources and materials are becoming more expensive, and locations for studios and creative spaces across the island are being revoked in place of businesses that make more money. Aontaithe is a series of exhibitions around Ireland being run by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) and member organizations to display the work of Irish art students and through doing so, highlighting the financial and personal struggles that those students must deal with while going through college We are inviting students from all around Ireland to submit visual art, performance, poetry, digital animation, film, and media that develop the themes of the struggles of the Irish art students. |
| Brief |
Students are asked to submit work around the topic of ‘The Cost of College’ (Some other examples of themes that the work might be the creative student experience, creative dismissal in society, creative austerity or brain drain). The medium of pieces is completely up to the students. Some forms may include; · Visual Art · Digital Art · Animation · Poetry · Video · Audio · Photography If you wish to submit another medium of art, please contact your union to ask any questions. |
| Criteria |
· Please be advised that these pieces will be exhibited across the country for multiple weeks. Do not submit work that may be required for assessment during the dates below. · If your piece is digital, video or audio, please send a WeTransfer or Google Drive link. · Due to the timeline of this campaign, all pieces must be exhibition ready (framed, ready to hang etc.) |
| Timeline |
The submission deadline is the 26th of February. · Dublin Exhibition: 4th-8th of March · Cork Exhibition: 11th-15th of March · Limerick Exhibition: 18th-22nd of March Further information about transport will be provided. Please contact your local SU to take part |