{{Short description|Belfast-based activist group}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Array Collective''' is the alias of 11 Belfast-based artists and activists. In 2021 they became the first Northern Irish winners of the Turner Prize.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=1 December 2021|title=Turner Prize 2021: Irish pub installation wins award|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-59490291|access-date=3 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220105185403/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-59490291|archive-date=5 January 2022}}</ref>
== Work == Array Collective are known for projects that support "gay rights, marriage equality, feminism, reproductive rights and anti-austerity activism".<ref name=":0" /> The Turner Prize judges commended the group for their work to "inspire social change through art" and "working collaboratively with local communities".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Tate|title=Array Collective Win Turner Prize 2021 – Press Release|url=https://www.tate.org.uk/press/press-releases/array-collective-win-turner-prize-2021|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201212057/https://www.tate.org.uk/press/press-releases/array-collective-win-turner-prize-2021 |archive-date=2021-12-01 |access-date=3 January 2022|website=Tate|language=en-GB}}</ref>
Array Collective's activities have included placard-making workshops and participating in activist events and demonstrations with elaborate costumes and props.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Culture Night at The Black Box - Full Programme|url=https://www.blackboxbelfast.com/event/culture-night-at-the-black-box-full-programme/|access-date=2022-01-03|website=The Black Box|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2 December 2021|title=The 11-strong Array collective on winning the Turner prize: 'We'll have to have a meeting about this!'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/dec/02/array-collective-winning-turner-prize-belfast-bar-drinking-den|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220105211213/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/dec/02/array-collective-winning-turner-prize-belfast-bar-drinking-den|archive-date=5 January 2022|access-date=3 January 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=2021-12-01|title=Northern Ireland art group Array Collective wins 2021 Turner prize|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/dec/01/northern-ireland-art-group-array-collective-wins-2021-turner-prize|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222034537/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/dec/01/northern-ireland-art-group-array-collective-wins-2021-turner-prize|archive-date=22 December 2021|access-date=3 January 2022|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Array Collective win the 2021 Turner Prize|url=https://artreview.com/array-collective-win-the-2021-turner-prize/|access-date=2022-01-03|website=artreview.com|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Magazine|first=Wallpaper*|date=2021-12-01|title=Array Collective wins the Turner Prize 2021|url=https://www.wallpaper.com/art/turner-prize-2021-winner-array-collective|access-date=2022-01-03|website=Wallpaper*}}</ref>
=== ''The Druithaib’s Ball'' === ''The Druithaib’s Ball'' - for which they were nominated for the Turner Prize<ref>{{Cite web |last=Laws |first=Joanne |date=2021-07-21 |title=The North is Now {{!}} The Visual Artists' News Sheet Online |url=https://visualartistsireland.com/the-north-is-now |access-date=2022-07-29 |language=en-GB}}</ref> - has had several forms to date.<ref name=":4" /> The first was an event held at the Black Box venue in Belfast in 2021. The event was conceived as "a wake for the centenary of Ireland’s partition",<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Good luck to Array Collective who are finalists in #TURNERPRIZE2021 {{!}} Arts Council of Northern Ireland|url=http://artscouncil-ni.org/news/good-luck-to-array-collective-who-are-finalists-in-turnerprize2021|access-date=2022-01-03|website=artscouncil-ni.org|language=en}}</ref> "which involved a phantasmagoria of performances, stories and wild costumes bringing a carnivalesque lightness to an often dark, difficult and divided political backdrop".<ref name=":2" /> A second iteration of the work was installed at the 2021-22 Turner exhibition held in Coventry during its year as UK City of Culture.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The installation took the form of an immersive síbín space [anglicised spelling ''shebeen''] or a “pub without permission”,<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=Winner Array Collective brings political charge to Turner Prize conversation|url=https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/array-collective-turner-prize-art-081221|access-date=2022-01-03|website=www.itsnicethat.com|language=en}}</ref> filled with banners, photographs, ashtrays, and snacks.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-12-09|title=Array Collective Shine at this Year's Edition of the Turner Prize {{!}}|url=https://flash---art.com/2021/12/array-collective/|access-date=2022-01-03|website=Flash Art|language=en-US}}</ref> A film of the Black Box event was shown in the síbín installation.<ref name=":2" /> The group imagined the space as “a place to gather outside the sectarian divides”, in reference to the historic conflict between Irish Catholics and Protestants.<ref name=":3" /> The performers of "The Druithaib's Ball" event and subsequent installation are Vasiliki Stasinaki, Richard O’Leary, Cleamairí Feirste, Phillip Hession, Méabh Meir and Rosa Tralee.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Array Studios/Collective on Instagram: "Array Collective have been so grateful to be given an opportunity to shine a light on the ecology of art and activism in the North of…"|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CXBQaUVInyb/}}</ref> A third was an exhibition across two sites in Galway, in 2022. The installation ran in Galway Arts Centre’s performance space, Nun’s Island Theatre, from 13 August – 30 September 2022 whilst a wider exhibition of works were displayed in Galway Arts Centre’s gallery space.
The fourth showing of the work was in their local city, Belfast, at the Ulster Museum. The museum also purchased the work for their permanent collection. Whilst the ''The Druithaib’s Ball'' was showing, there were a number of programming events including the Melt Gala, ''The Night Draws Near''<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Night Draws Near |url=https://www.ulstermuseum.org/whats-on/night-draws-near |access-date=2026-05-18 |website=www.ulstermuseum.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Antosik-Parsons |first=Kate |date=2025 |title=‘Stop Ruining Everything’: Array Collective's Disruptive Encounters with Art, Irishness and Nation |url=https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/iur.2025.0712 |journal=Irish University Review |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=113–127 |doi=10.3366/iur.2025.0712 |issn=0021-1427 |via=euppublishing}}</ref>, ''The Sky Gives Way''<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY0Rj8Ki3MU |title=Array Collective: The Sky Gives Way |date=2021-12-21 |last=Accidental Theatre |access-date=2026-05-18 |via=YouTube}}</ref> and a short documentary titled, ''Wholly Trinity''<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCm-0kNlCDc |title=Wholly Trinity: Abortion, Art and Activism in Ireland |date=2024-06-28 |last=OpenLearn from The Open University |access-date=2026-05-18 |via=YouTube}}</ref> was filmed inside the síbín featuring Alice Maher and Helena Walshe.
==Critical reception== Array's nomination and their Turner installation had a mixed critical reception. The White Pube review notes that "The whole room takes a jumble of things: queer aesthetics, performance, drag and activist aesthetics (and all the loaded meaning and weighty content that comes with them) as its main vocabulary, all in its true and messiest sense [...] The resulting work is palpable and urgent; it made me want to scream, but in a good way".<ref>{{Cite web|title=The White Pube {{!}} Turner Prize 2021, Bumper Pack|url=https://www.thewhitepube.co.uk/turnerprize2021|access-date=2022-01-03|website=the-white-pube|language=en}}</ref> ''The Guardian''<nowiki/>'s art critic Jonathan Jones questioned the "aesthetic achievement" of the installation while noting how it represented the "work of people who deploy their gifts in useful ways far from London galleries".<ref>{{Cite web|date=1 December 2021|title='If only it actually served pints': our critic on the pub that took the Turner prize|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/dec/01/our-critic-pub-turner-prize-served-pints-array-northern-ireland|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104201722/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/dec/01/our-critic-pub-turner-prize-served-pints-array-northern-ireland|archive-date=4 January 2022|access-date=3 January 2022|website=The Guardian|language=en}} [https://artreview.com/array-collective-win-the-2021-turner-prize/ Alt URL]</ref>
''The Druithaib's Ball'' came to viral prominence in early 2022 when a TikTok content creator uploaded an 8-second long video entitled, "Welcome to Coventry" on 12 January. The video's verbal exchange between the user and an artist in the street became a widely used TikTok sound for its wholesome and absurd delivery: "What's this?"/ "It's an art project."/"OK, I like it. Picasso. That way."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-07 |title=The "OK I Like It, Picasso" TikTok Trend, Explained |url=https://www.hercampus.com/culture/ok-i-like-it-picasso-tiktok-trend-explained/ |access-date=2022-04-05 |website=www.hercampus.com |language=en-US}}</ref> As of 5 April 2022, the video has been viewed 46.7M times, and its original audio has been used by over 200K users,<ref>{{Cite web |last=ReefaTV |title=Whats this I like it Picasso Yeah datway created by ReefaTV {{!}} Popular songs on TikTok |url=https://www.tiktok.com/music/Whats-this-I-like-it-Picasso-Yeah-datway-7052366336474778373 |access-date=2022-04-05 |website=TikTok |language=en}}</ref> amassing around 989M views in total.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yedroudj |first=Latifa |date=2022-02-22 |title=Coventry student goes viral on TikTok for "I like it Picasso" trend |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventry-student-goes-viral-tiktok-23149788 |access-date=2022-04-05 |website=CoventryLive |language=en}}</ref>
== Members == Array Collective are Sighle Bhreathnach-Cashell, Sinead Bhreathnach-Cashell, Jane Butler, Emma Campbell, Alessia Cargnelli, Mitch Conlon, Clodagh Lavelle, Grace McMurray, Stephen Millar, Laura O'Connor, Thomas Wells. Campbell, Cargnelli and O'Connor all gained Doctorates from Ulster University, and Bhreathnach-Cashell, Butler, Lavelle and Millar are all Ulster alumni.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ulster University PhD Researchers and Alumni in Array Collective win Turner Prize|url=https://www.ulster.ac.uk/news/2021/december/ulster-university-students-and-alumni-in-array-collective-win-turner-prize|access-date=2022-01-03|website=www.ulster.ac.uk|language=en-GB}}</ref>
== Exhibitions and installations == * November 2023 - September 2024: An Dún, a multi-narrative environment by Array Collective commissioned by IMMA for the major museum wide exhibition ''Self Determination: A Global Perspective'', as part of The Decade of Centenaries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Self-Determination, A Global Perspective - Artist Commissions |url=https://imma.ie/whats-on/self-determination-a-global-perspective-commissions/ |access-date=2026-05-18 |website=IMMA |language=en-IE}}</ref>
* 14 February - 3 May 2025: The Goose and the Common: Array Collective presents The Goose and the Common, a new exhibition commissioned by [https://www.ruared.ie/ Rua Red], Tallaght, Dublin<ref>{{Cite web |title=Array Collective |url=https://www.ruared.ie/exhibitions/array-collective |access-date=2026-05-18 |website=Rua Red |language=en-US}}</ref>
* 2021-2022: The Turner Prize exhibition at The Herbert, Coventry, 29 September 2021 – 12 January 2022.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ARRAY COLLECTIVE WIN TURNER PRIZE 2021 - The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum|url=https://www.theherbert.org/news/232/array_collective_win_turner_prize_2021|access-date=2022-01-03|website=www.theherbert.org}}</ref> Array Collective also added an etching of The Druithaib's Ball into the Gallery 2 displays at The Herbert.<ref name=":5" />
* October - December 2019: an installation 'As Others See Us' and a symposium 'If You Don't Play the Game, Don't Make the Rules' at Jerwood Collaborate! London.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Symposium: Array Collective presents 'If you don't play the game, don't make the rules'|url=https://jerwoodarts.org/exhibitionsandevents/events/symposium-array-presents-if-you-dont-play-the-game-dont-make-the-rules/|access-date=2022-01-03|website=Jerwood Arts|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Jerwood Collaborate!|url=https://jerwoodarts.org/exhibitionsandevents/projects/jerwood-collaborate/|access-date=2022-01-03|website=Jerwood Arts|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Array Collective win the Turner Prize 2021 – Jerwood Arts|date=2 December 2021 |url=https://jerwoodarts.org/2021/12/02/array-collective-win-the-turner-prize-2021/|access-date=2022-01-03|language=en-GB}}</ref>
== References == <!-- See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners on how to create references. --> {{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* Array Collective's website http://www.arraystudiosbelfast.com/array-collective.html
<!-- Categories --> Category:Irish artists Category:Artists from Belfast Category:Living people Category:Culture in Belfast Category:Art in Northern Ireland Category:Arts organisations based in Northern Ireland Category:British artist groups and collectives Category:Turner Prize winners Category:Year of birth missing (living people)