We at aemi were very happy to present the first in-person edition of Rough Cut in March 2023 in Studio 6 at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios. This was the first of three Rough Cut events that we will present this year and the sessions form part of our Artist Support programme. These events offer film artists the opportunity to share and discuss works-in-progress in a supportive peer environment. 

Two artist-filmmakers present work at each event and we invite a guest curator, programmer, critic or producer to lead the event by offering in depth feedback and responses to both projects. The topics discussed are specific to each presentation, ranging from concept development and production methodology to exhibition strategy. These events are not open to the public and instead the audience is made up of a small group of invited peers who are invited to actively participate in the conversations about both works. Because the work being presented and discussed is still in process, Rough Cut events are not recorded for public presentation.

Film artists Venus Patel and Aoife Desmond presented work at Rough Cut on March 20th 2023 and Sheena Barrett was invited to lead the responses to both projects. 

Venus Patel is an experimental film and performance artist based in Dublin. She was born in Los Angeles with a BA in Fine Art from TU Dublin. Patel’s work concerns her experience as a trans femme of colour, trying to navigate the world. Through the use of costuming and loose gender expression, she encapsulates the campy blend of her queer identity. In 2022, her short film, Eggshells won the Taylor Art Award from the RDS Visual Art Awards, was shown as part of the Gaze Film Festival, and exhibited for Periodical Review 12: Practical Magic with Pallas Projects. Her first solo exhibition, “Monsters of the Apocalypse” is set to open in April 2023 at Pallas Projects + Studios, Dublin. 

As part of this Rough Cut event Venus and her cinematographer Murky Onyango generously shared a rough cut of Daisy: Queer Prophet of the Apocalypse, an experimental film  that follows a radical trans prophet preaching about the imminent end of the world, accompanied by her monstrous cult.  

Aoife Desmond is a filmmaker and interdisciplinary artist who focuses on performative actions, distinct sites and ecologies. She works predominantly with 16mm and Super 8mm film. Recent screenings include A Boated Roof at Cork Film Festival 2022, Mná & Sons at an Architectural Heritage screening at TEST SITE co-presented with aemi (Artists Experimental and Moving Image Ireland) 2021, Garden Clearance at Experiments in Cinema, Albuquerque 2020, Interior Exterior in Merciful Hour, The Darkroom, Dublin 2019. Boat Voyage at SeaFest, Cork  2019, Walking in the Stones in Deep Time, Cornwall Film Festival and Plymouth University, UK 2018, RetroReflection in Technology, Nature and the Essay Film Form, Cork Film Festival 2018, RetroReflection at Nuns Island Theatre, Galway 2017, RetroReflection in Irish Artist & Experimental Film, IMMA, Dublin 2017, RetroReflection at Crawford Art Gallery, Cork 2017. 

As part of this Rough Cut event Aoife generously shared a rough cut of Sirius – Harbours Mouth, a short 16mm film-in-progress commissioned by Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, East Cork. In the film a female body responds to industrial and colonial architectures through a punctuation of gentle movements.

Cinematography by Peter Martin. Sound Recording by Billy Kemp.

Sheena Barrett joined Dublin City Council in 2006 as Assistant Arts Officer and Curator to lead the development of the LAB Gallery as a critical platform for emerging arts practice in Ireland. Having previously held roles at Breaking Ground Public Art Commissioning Programme, Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, the National Gallery of Ireland and the National Museum of Ireland, she has extensive curatorial experience, supporting artists and audiences through ambitious public programmes and commissioning. Barrett is part of the curatorial team for Living Canvas, Europe’s largest digital screen for cultural use developed by IPUT in partnership with Dublin City Council. She is a founding member of MONTO Arts and Dublin Placemaking Network and part of the programme team for MA Art Research Collaboration at IADT, Dun Laoghaire. She will start her new role as Head of Research & Learning at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in April 2023. 

If you’re a film artist, producer or curator and have an interest in attending Rough Cut in the future, contact us at [email protected]. Our sincere thanks to TBG+S for generously hosting us for this event.