The VAN Podcast is a podcast series from Visual Artists Ireland.

Published every two months, The VAN Podcast comprises online conversations, recorded remotely, with various contributors to each issue of The Visual Artists’ News Sheet. This gives opportunities to discuss some of the ideas arising from published texts, while also offering insights into wider practice.

Episode 5 features an interview with Emma Campbell and Clodagh Lavelle, who are members of the Belfast-based art collective, Array. An edited version of this interview was published in the July/Aug 2021 issue of VAN.

Array’s work encompasses performances, protest rallies, exhibitions and collaborative actions in response to issues affecting Northern Ireland. Recent projects include public artworks in support of the decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland; challenging the legislative discrimination of the queer community; and participation in the group exhibition ‘Jerwood Collaborate!’ in London.

Array are shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize along with four other UK-based collectives. The jury commended how Array fuse seriousness with humour, while addressing contemporary issues using ancient folk imagery.

[Image: Array Collective, International Women’s Day 2019; photograph by Alessia Cargnelli, courtesy Array and Tate Press Office]