SAMPLE-STUDIOS, SPIKE ISLAND, AND SIRIUS ARTS CENTRE TEAM UP TO HOST LOCAL ARTIST BARBARA DIENER IN SUMMER ARTIST RESIDENCY

Sample-Studios, Sirius Art Centre and Spike Island are delighted to announce that artist Barbara Diener has been awarded the annual Spike Island Summer Residency in 2025. This award was established between Sample-Studios and Spike Island in 2021, creating annual artist residencies with support from Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, for its artist members. To date, 8 artists have completed residencies and exhibited their work in what is now an annual exhibition in The Lord Mayor’s Pavilion in Fitzgerald’s Park, Cork City. The purpose of the award is for participants to create new artwork responding to the fascinating history and beauty of Spike Island, one of Cork’s best known heritage sites. 

Barbara Diener is a photographer and member of Sample-Studios who recently relocated from the US to Cork City to undertake the role of Photographic Collections Librarian in University College Cork. During her residency on Spike Island, Barbara will explore the interrelationship between time, obsolescence, and memory, using her photography to capture the expressive capacity of Spike Island’s monuments rather than just documenting their appearance. Barbara will be provided with resources at Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, as well as mentorship by its director, Miguel Amado, as she undertakes her work on Spike Island during summer 2025. Her work will later be presented in a solo exhibition at The Lord Mayor’s Pavilion in October 2025. 

In response to receiving the award, Barbara states: “There are several recurring themes that run through my work and are crucial aspects of my practice, many of which strongly resonate with historical events and natural elements that I encountered when visiting Spike Island. This residency will offer the opportunity for me to engage with this location as a place, a relic and witness to a fraught past, as well as incorporate the archival material that documents its history.”

Aoibhie McCarthy, Artistic Director of Sample-Studios, praises the opportunity this ongoing collaboration offers to local artists: “Over the last 5 years of this unique partnership, we’ve been able to support eight artists to make ambitious new work in film, painting, installation, sound and even smell with the most recent residency by local artist duo LaveryRing. We’re excited to see how Barbara explores both the site and its archives through photography and video. We have been delighted with the partnership and the developmental opportunity it provides for local artists to be inspired by this world class heritage  site and bring it to life for the public in new ways.”

Dorota Gubbins, Curator of Spike Island, remarks, “We are delighted to continue our partnership with Sample-Studios, which has led to the creation of several outstanding artistic projects. Further collaboration with Sirius Arts Centre in recent years has enriched the residency programme and enhanced the broader Cork Harbour experience. It is truly inspiring to see the history and heritage of Spike Island resonate with so many talented artists.”

Miguel Amado, Director of Sirius Arts Centre, comments: “We are happy to expand our collaboration with Sample-Studios, pioneering a Cork County and City artistic network, and increasing our dialogue with organisations in Cork Harbour such as Spike Island. We are committed to enabling artists to make new work, and this residency and overall support are at the core of such ambition. In addition, we are invested in facilitating the production and presentation of art that engages with the stories, institutions, and people of Cobh, and the proposal presented by Barbara couldn’t be more appropriate for that.”