STAMP Festival Residency and Exhibition: Paul McKenna

STAMP is a visual arts, craft and design festival which highlights the contribution of these industries to the cultural vibrancy of the City. It will mark its 3rd iteratio, taking place over 3 days in Triskel, May 16th-18th.

The Festival is delivered by Sample-Studios, Benchspace, Cork Craft and Design and Shandon Art Studios and welcomes over 4000 people to over 50 events annually. The Festival was initiated in 2021 by Cork City Council, supported by the Europe CultCreate programme which seeks to stimulate creative tourism in European cities. In 2023, the organisations presented over 50 events and exhibitions by over 60 artists and creative professionals in one central venue, The Counting House welcoming 4342 people.

This new partnership with Triskel enables the Festival to move beyond once off event-based programming and begin to offer more developmental opportunities and platforms for our members. As part of this year’s programme, we will offer one member whose practice reflects the transdisciplinarity of the Festival the opportunity of a two week focused residency on site, followed by an exhibition which will be presented as part of the STAMP Festival programme and beyond.

Paul McKenna is a Cork-born painter and printmaker, rendering cityscapes and landscapes with a variety of techniques and materials. Inspired by his immediate surroundings, he visually explores the conflicts between forces of nature and social economic modernisation. Memory, and its relationship to a sense of place is also a significant topic of consideration.