We are delighted to announce Jack Reardon and Joan Somers Donnelly as the two Irish artists joining Status Lab, joined by Sarah Blanc and Felix Mufti (UK), and Lyn Bentschik and Declan Whitaker (Switzerland).
Irish & international artists announced as part of Status Lab
SICK! in partnership with Lowry (UK), Project Arts Centre (Ireland), Gessnerallee and Kaserne (Switzerland)
Led by SICK! Festival, the Status Lab is a new international artist development programme bringing together socially engaged artists from the UK, Ireland and Switzerland.
Across 11 months, these six artists will work individually and collectively, online and through residencies in Zürich, Manchester and Dublin, connecting with artists, activists, communities, policymakers, teachers and others along the way.
At the heart of Status Lab is a question: What does it mean to create work in the now?
Together, the artists will explore how socially engaged practice can respond to the world around us: when we need time to reflect, when we need to act, and what kinds of performance, tools and platforms might speak to the needs of communities now.
Guiding the journey are incredible UK-based artists Brian Lobel and Sheila Ghelani, who have helped shape the Status Labs and will support the artists across the programme. Both bring practices deeply rooted in socially engaged work, collaboration and lived experience.
The journey begins this August with our first residency at Gessnerallee in Zürich, before travelling to Manchester in November and Dublin in February 2027.
More about Jack Reardon
Jack Reardon is a multi-disciplinary artist working in theatre and film, with a particular focus on community engagement. His work engages with community groups and organisations through interviews and workshops attempting to find the accidental poetry in every day language. Jack sculpts worlds and characters inspired by his research looking to see communities we think we know but rarely hear.
Jack’s theatre credits include 1984 (Hackney Town Hall) , Dear Tottenham (Lyceum Theatre West End) , From Out the Land (ART2023 Open Call Recipient) , Hunchback of Notre Dame (In the Open/Faoin Spéir recipient), PUCKED by Cathal Ryan (National tour). Jack was artist in residence with Clonmel Junction Arts Festival (2019-2024) and has recently developed work at the Bush Theatre and Young Vic Theatre in London.
More about Joan Somers Donnelly
Joan Somers Donnelly is a Dublin-based artist with a collaborative performance practice. They are primarily concerned with examining existing social structures and creating not-yet-existing ones, using live situations as testing grounds for experiments in different ways of relating. Much of Joan’s work in recent years has focused on the creation of frameworks for exchange and collaboration, such as the group improvisation practice messing, the platform for experiments in one-on-one collaboration You and Me, an Anger Club, and a practice-sharing space for women and genderqueer artists called In practice(s).
Their most recent project was the improvisation-based co-creation project when the world shifts, in collaboration with people living with brain injury and a multidisciplinary artistic team, in partnership with Headway Ireland. Joan’s current focus is on building a community of improvisation practice that supports a diverse range of movers and makers to explore their own idio-aesthetics, develop their performance practices and contribute to co-creative projects.
Status Lab is led by SICK! in partnership with Lowry (UK), Project Arts Centre (Ireland), Gessnerallee and Kaserne (Switzerland), creating an international space for experimentation, exchange and the development of new ideas. Status Lab is supported using public funding by Arts Council England, with support from Manchester City Council, The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon and Pro Helvetia, alongside our international programme partners.
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