* Paddy Bloomer testing his tractor, 1min HD stereo, 2025.

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RURAL LIFE 1.0

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Exhibition: 11 OCT - 31 OCT

Eventbrite info / tickets

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This autumn, Brown Mountain Diamond, an artist-run space in the hills of North Kilkenny, presents RURAL LIFE 1.0, an exhibition of new work. Over five months (May to September), six artists immersed themselves in rural life, collaborating with community groups from beekeepers and birdwatchers to choirs, farmers and conservation clubs. The exhibition opens on Sunday 12th October, bringing together sound, sculpture, film and installation, all shaped by the everyday textures of North Kilkenny.

Funded through Kilkenny County Council’s Public Art Programme 2024–2026 and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the project reflects the Council’s commitment to ambitious public art that engages communities in meaningful ways. Based in a former farm complex with its outbuildings, yards and fields, Brown Mountain Diamond has quickly become a place for experimentation and exchange, where artists and communities make work together, grounded in the realities and possibilities of rural life.

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In May, artist Sharon Phelan worked with the Mid-Kilkenny Beekeepers and BirdWatch Ireland (Kilkenny branch). Her work focuses on sound, voice, and the poetics of place. From dawn chorus walks to recording the hum of bees, Phelan created transformative listening experiences that attune audiences to the everyday yet extraordinary soundscapes of rural Kilkenny.

June saw artist John Byrne engage with the Ballyfoyle Agricultural Show, Kilkenny Mart, and the Kilkenny Gospel Choir. His witty film BootBoy (2025) documents his entry of a decorated wellington boot into a competition at the local show. Installed in Brown Mountain Diamond’s converted pig house turned cinema, and accompanied by the boot itself, Byrne’s work reflects on competition, failure, and community participation.

In July, Maria McKinney collaborated with the Kilkenny Shooting and Conservation Clubs and the Hillgrove Clay Shooting Club. Hosting a barbecue and shooting competition, she explored the heritage and complexity of shooting culture in Ireland. McKinney’s resulting works transform spent shotgun shells into intricate “road signs” depicting pheasants and mallards, symbols that reflect both tradition and modern debates around conservation and rural life.

August brought Paddy Bloomer, who worked with the Conahy Vintage Club and the Mothel Church Tractor Run. A day trip to the Moynalty Steam Threshing Festival inspired a large collaborative scarecrow sculpture, while Paddy’s participation in the Mothel Tractor Run, complete with a chaise longue hitched to his tractor and a live tin whistle player, turned local roads into a rolling artwork.

In September, Bog Cottage (artists Orla Meagher and Roberta Murray) arrived to learn with the Acorn Project. They embarked on the creation of a real pond on the Brown Mountain Diamond land, following ecological guidance and local know-how. Rooted in their practice of building imaginative “worlds,” Bog Cottage’s contribution blends environmental restoration with community engagement, linking art-making to the cycles of water, land, and biodiversity.

At its heart, RURAL LIFE 1.0 is about collaboration, between artists and community groups, local knowledge and experimental practice, heritage and innovation. By hosting residencies in the fields and farm buildings of North Kilkenny, Brown Mountain Diamond has created space for artists and communities to work side by side, producing art that is as much about process and participation as final outcomes.

The exhibition opens at 2pm on Sunday 12th October at Brown Mountain Diamond, inviting all to witness the results of five months of creativity, dialogue, and community spirit in the hills of North Kilkenny.

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