As part of the King’s College Arts and Humanities Festival 2017, The Fence network of international playwrights and theatre makers, staged a live performance and discussion for the imagined future scenario of Ireland Striking Oil which mapped that moment of crisis in Europe from creative, journalistic and academic perspectives. The event was developed by Irish-Nigerian playwright Gabriel Gbadamosi as creative editor with visual artist Jonathan Armour and performance artist Tara Flynn, radio producer Colin Grant and with King’s academics and oil journalists as pundits. It was produced on behalf of The Fence network by Jonathan Meth.
As delegates arrived into the Anatomy Lecture Theatre, they were treated to live music from the Quiery Brothers with a pop-up Guinness bar. Projected onto the large screen was the film “Terra Nullius?” below, in which the territory of Ireland is embodied as a man lying in the “recovery” position. This reminds that whilst oil exploitation enterprises treat the terrain as a terra nullius, under the skin the country is rich with centuries of social history. The sound track is derived from a recording of the music and chatter around the bar in the Anatomy Lecture Theatre.
The conference look place in the main Anatomy Theatre where films were projected onto the screen above the panel, reflecting the three sessions about Ecology, Governance and People, and International Relations in the context of Brexit.
Jonathan Armour 