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Supported by the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon

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VAARI CLAFFEY

Vaari Claffey, Gracelands at the Milkmarket, EVA International, 2012. ‘‘Crossed Readings, Having a Coke with You’ by Vaari Claffey and Dan Keogh. Photo: Oisin Byrne Vaari Claffey, Magnetism, Hazelwood, Sligo, 2015. Sculptural installation by Mikala Dwyer. Photo: Denis Mortell Vaari Claffey, Magnetism, Hazelwood, Sligo, 2015. Sculptural installation by Siobhán Hapaska. Photo: Denis Mortell ‘The People's Cinema, Pavilion III, The Object', Design by Erika Hock, 2016. Curated by Vaari Claffey & Séamus Kealy. Photo: Andrew Phelps, Salzburger Kunstverein. Vaari Claffey, Magnetism, Hazelwood, Sligo, 2015. Installation by Laura Morrison. Photo: Denis Mortell
Kunstverein will accompany the artistic practice of Vaari Claffey in a curatorial capacity throughout 2026. Claffey is currently developing a major new project, The Clearing. This ambitious, multistage public art project will unfold across a series of unusual and established community and cultural locations around Aughrim and Tinahely, County Wicklow. Supported by an Arts Council Project Award, and working in collaboration with commissioned artists, the Courthouse Arts Centre Tinahely, and Aughrim’s Craic in the Granite Music & Arts Festival, The Clearing will take place (in the form of an exhibition, performace event, and screening programme) in Summer 2026.

Vaari Claffey is an independent curator, researcher and writer based in Dublin, Ireland. Known for her innovative and experiential projects,  Claffey’s practice involves collaborating closely with artists and other practitioners to conceive and stage large-scale exhibitions, performance/screening events, filmworks and outdoor artworks.

Claffey’s practice has often involved the establishment of speculative curatorial platforms.  These include: 33rpm (2025–), Dirty Solutions, Exhibition Club with Isabel Nolan, Francis Halsall, Lily Cahill and Aphra Hill, (2023–), Gracelands (2008–), Isolation TV with Salzburger Kunstverein & others (2020–21).  Exhibitions include Magnetism, Hazelwood, (2015) and The People’s Cinema, Salzburger Kunstverein with Seamus Kealy (2017). Film Projects include Why Be An Artist? with Oisin Byrne (2022) and This is Going to Take More than One Night (2010). Performance and Screening Programmes include I am the Beat at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2019) and Resistance is Fertile at the Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven (2017). A podcast, Producing Strategies with Francis Halsall & Guests launches in February 2026.

Kunstverein’s collaboration with Vaari Claffey is supported by the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.