The Joinery

The Joinery

Founded 2007
Closed 2014
Location Stoneybatter, Dublin
Website thejoineryarchive.org

The Joinery was a not-for-profit art space in Stoneybatter, Dublin, which encompassed gallery/project/performance spaces and small studio/workspaces. Set up in 2007 by Miranda Driscoll and Feargal Ward, the Joinery provided a platform for emerging artists and musicians to experiment and explore their practices. The Joinery could be seen as a site for experimentation – for making, exhibiting, performing and discussing. Since 2007 they curated, programmed and facilitated the work of artists, curators and musicians in the gallery and project space. They programmed events, actions and one-off situations that considered the space where art, music, writing and dialogue can meet. The Joinery was synonymous with a challenging and energetic programme that encouraged diversity and cross-disciplinary collaboration.¹

History

The organisation was not-for-profit and volunteer-run. It required significant funding to continue its work and this came from a variety of means; over the years they fundraised, operated by profit-share, was supported by Dublin City Council and at times by the Arts Council. For the most part it relied on large fundraising drives to keep the doors open annually. The Joinery closed in December 2014.

Press release:
The independent Dublin art space the Joinery will close it’s doors this December after seven years.

In that time, the Joinery has programmed over four hundred visual art and music events, both in Stoneybatter, Dublin 7 and beyond, supporting emerging artists and experimental musicians in their practices. It has become synonymous with a challenging and energetic programme that encourages diversity and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

We feel at this point that, without a permanent funding structure, we can do no more, and have decided to leave on our own terms. We are greatly indebted to all of the artists that we have worked with over the years, and to a loyal and committed audience. We are deeply grateful for all of the help, support and advice received from many advocates and friends.

This closure will be marked in November and December by a project that will bring together selected artists and musicians to celebrate the ideologies, ethos and life of the Joinery. The project will consider ideas around collaboration, community and collectivity with an emphasis on improvisation and the event, using a variety of disciplines as platforms for a celebration. We aim to celebrate the culmination of the Joinery; a seven-year multi-disciplinary project. By doing so we will demonstrate our continued resistance to the increasing commercialisation of the city.

Miranda Driscoll, director of the Joinery.