River Film
River is a short film by Dervla Baker and Neil Quigley, inspired by the diverse history of the Glen River Valley—a glacial landscape that has served as a mill, quarry, residential area, and is currently designated as a public park. The film follows the river’s path as it winds through the remnants of these environments, from stone-lined channels to marshy floodplains and man-made concrete weirs and culverts.
Using contemporary visual and audio techniques, River invites the audience to reflect on what the river can reveal to us about its surroundings, exploring themes of sustainability, transformation, and who benefits from these shifts. The film serves as a sensory exploration of the river’s enduring narrative.
The film will be premiered at The Gleann a Phúca Culminating event on Saturday 26th September at 7 pm
Dervla Baker Artist Film Maker
Dervla Baker is an accomplished artist, filmmaker, and photographer based in Cork City. Last year she obtained an MA in Film and Screen Media from University College Cork, adding to her distinguished qualifications in Fine Art and Photography from Crawford College of Art and Design. Her creative journey is characterised by a dedication to storytelling and visual expression.
Recently, Baker distinguished herself with a series of projects that underscore her commitment to exploring pressing environmental issues and collaborating with fellow artists and local communities. Notable works include “field” (2023), a self-reflexive documentary addressing local environmental concerns, and exploring how meaning is placed on landscape. She collaborated with artist and anthropologist, Jennifer Ahern, to create this amorphous work that looks at tension in the relationship between biodiversity, conservation and development in Cork city’s northern suburbs.
Additionally, she has collaborated with dance artist and choreographer Siobhán Ní Dhunnín on numerous projects including: “Bád Shiobhán (Siobhán’s Boat) is a dance and audio-visual performance piece by choreographer Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín and traditional boat-builder Pádraig Ó Duinnín, unravelling their shared life experiences moulded by boat culture through movement, text, and song, with performances at various festivals and screenings including Cork Midsummer Festival, Dance Limerick, and Florida State University Museum of Modern Art; and “Gearrscannáin,” a series of artistic portrait films, including the recently released “Rincí Ros a Mhíl” (2023) in collaboration with established choreographer and film-maker, Ríonach Ní Neíll, and composer, Neil Quigley.
Baker’s creative practice seamlessly blends fine art photography and film, often engaging with socially relevant topics and community participation. Her recent collaboration with Ni Dhunnín, “Pictúir Portach” (2023) exemplifies this approach, exploring the connection between the people of Carraroe, Connemara and their native boglands through portraiture and landscape photography, also in collaboration with Siobhán and Ríonach. The resulting exhibition, “GabháilMhóna,” curated by Ríoncah Ní Neíll, ran from May to July 2023 at Ionad Cultúrtha an Phiarsaigh in Ros Muc, Connemara.
Other notable exhibitions include “Holding – The Lismore Photo Project” at St. Carthage Hall (2022), in collaboration with Lismore castle Arts – an artist-led community residency that created a photographic archive for the town of Lismore, Co. Waterford; and participation contemporary exhibitions such as “Stories from Lismore and Beyond” at Lismore Castle Arts (2020), and “The Parted Veil: Commemoration in Photographic Practices” at The Glucksman Gallery, UCC (2019).
Neil Quigley Artist, Composer
Neil Quigley is a Composer and Artist from Ireland who is currently living between Kilkenny, Ireland and Glasgow, Scotland.
Neil primarily makes solo work but is also in a duo with the composer Sam Scranton called Physique, a quartet with Bryn Davis, Nick Meryhew and Sam Scranton called The World’s Greatest Drum Programmer and an electroacoustic ensemble with Simon Wiens and Rachel Ní Chuinn called Network Music Glasgow.
Neil is currently represented by The Contemporary Music Centre Ireland.
His recent solo works centre on a speculative history of an audio research laboratory based in parochial Ireland in the late 20th century. This work is released as an ongoing anthology series entitled the “Kilkenny Electroacoustic Research Laboratory Anthology”.
His other work focuses on sonic representations of space, both real and virtual, and the interpersonal politics of the musical workspace, viewing the dynamics of music culture as a way of examining broader issues of labour and societal hierarchies.
His work has been described as “all very synthetic, even sometimes comical” and “very confident” by The Journal of Music, as “also rather beautiful” by Nialler9, and as having a “dry and unpretentious wit” by Eoin Murray of the Quietus/DJ Mag. His most recent work has been released on Amalgam Records (US), Miúin (Irl), Destiny Trax (US), The Department of Energy (Irl) and Moot Records (Irl).
