To mark Refugee Week 2025, a new photography exhibition titled Foreign Land opens Tuesday, June 17 at Scariff Library and continues with a celebratory evening launch on Friday, June 20 in the Ralahine Room of the East Clare Community Co-op.
Curated by Avia Gurman Murphy, artist and Coordinator of Development and Training at the Co-op, the exhibition features the work of nine photographers from diverse cultural backgrounds, reflecting on what it means to find oneself in a “foreign land”.
The project is a result of a collaboration of ideas from both Avia and Fiona Cahill an Integration Support Worker Clare County Council.
“This project happened because I’m a photographer and I wanted to start the East Clare Camera Club,” Avia told the Clare Echo. “We got some funding from Clare County Council’s Arts Office to help make it happen, and I had the idea to do an exhibition at the end that would be about belonging. Then Fiona came and said, ‘There’s a Refugee Week, let’s do something for that.’ So the idea evolved, and that’s how Foreign Land began.”
The result is a community-powered exhibition where personal stories and images intersect. “We have an Irish photographer, an American, a Polish artist, myself Israeli, someone from England and also people from Ukraine, Nigeria, and China,” said Avia. “The fact that it’s not only professional artists makes it very special.”
Fiona Cahill , who co-organised the project, sees the exhibition as part of a wider integration effort. “This is not our first collaboration with the East Clare Community Co-op. We’re always in this conversation, trying to find new ways to promote inclusion through creativity and community,” she said. “The theme for Refugee Week this year is ‘Community as a Superpower’, and I think this community in East Clare is a melting pot of many cultures. People live here in harmony, and have always experienced a strong welcome.”
The East Clare Community Co-op, based in Scariff, has played a central role in making this project a reality. Founded over 37 years ago, the Co-op has long been a hub for grassroots community development, education, social inclusion, and the arts. It works to support individuals and families through a variety of programmes that foster creativity, resilience, and collaboration. “The Co-op has survived 38 years against all odds,” said Gurman Murphy. “It has brought many, many cultures together to live in peace. In a world that feels chaotic, this exhibition celebrates what we’ve built here—community, connection, and resilience.”
The exhibition will open at Scariff Library on Tuesday June 17 from 12pm to 1pm with a special performance by the East Clare Choir, singing “Walk With Me,” a piece composed by local musician Cliona Donlan.
Friday, June 20, the exhibition moves to the Ralahine Room in the East Clare Community Co-op, where it will open from 7pm to 9pm with live jazz from The Chalumeau Quartet and complimentary wood-fired pizza.
Foreign Land is supported by Clare County Council’s Integration Team and Clare Local Development Company through the SICAP initiative. Admission to both events is free, and all are welcome.
