In conversation event with artist Kathryn Ashill and curator Rachel Botha at the Tea Houses.
Join us at the Tea Houses for a conversation with artist Kathryn Ashill and curator Rachel Botha as they discuss the research, the process and the ideas behind the exhibition Burning Down the House, My House, as part of the Kilkenny Arts Festival.
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Kathryn Ashill is an artist, performer and drag king based in Barry, South Wales. Their practice combines drag, performance, video and installation. Their work embraces DIY aesthetics, amateurism and theatrically to present their personal experiences. Weaving together narratives, histories and place, their work traces the tensions between disabled, queer and working class experiences and rigid institutional structures. Ashill holds a PhD from the University of Manchester which explored interspecies co-working relationships. They were selected as one of the inaugural artists on the Future Wales Fellowship in 2022-2023. Their work has been presented across Wales, the UK, USA and Europe.
Rachel Botha is a curator, her expanded curatorial practice responds to the local context and investigates how people perceive their social framework. She holds a BA in History of Art & Architecture from Trinity College Dublin, and a MA in Visual Culture & Critical Studies from Technological University Dublin. Botha was the Provost’s Curatorial Fellow at The Douglas Hyde, Trinity College Dublin, a co-director of Catalyst Arts, Belfast, and the Emerging Curator in Residence at the Kilkenny Arts Office. She was appointed the Emerging Editor of Bloomers Magazine, and the Early Career Curator in Residence at the Regional Cultural Centre and Glebe House & Gallery in Donegal. Recently she was the Assistant Curator at Project Arts Centre, and supported the Irish Pavilion in the Venice Biennale 2024. Botha is currently the curator of the Tea Houses, an activated space to host a responsive public art programme situated by the River Nore in Kilkenny.
Supported by Arts Council of Wales, Wales Arts International, Kilkenny Arts Office, Kilkenny County Council, Arts Council, Ireland.
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