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In 2026 we welcomed six artists to Limerick for our Open Futures residency. The three pairs of dance and digital artists will spent two weeks in Limerick in May where they worked collaboratively on their proposed research as well as taking part in a creative lab day, Junctions, and presenting an end of residency sharing at Dance Limerick.

The artist pairs were Ed Devane and Doris Vahtra (IRL), Clémence Debaig and Rebecca Evans (UK), and Roberta Ceginskaite and Diarmuid Farrell (IRL).

The artists were in residence at Dance Limerick, Digital Media and Arts Research Centre and the Irish World Academy of Music & Dance at the University of Limerick, and Limerick City Gallery of Art. Open Futures 2026 was curated by Laura Murphy and Jürgen Simpson.

Artists

Ed Devane and Doris Vahtra’s research

In this residency Ed and Doris aimed to explore how gesture, weight, spatial orientation and vibration can function as compositional material, generating sound and light in real time. A key focus is the dialogue between flow and restriction: how a dancer negotiates technical constraints such as sensors and wiring while remaining intuitive and physically expressive.

Clemence Debaig and Rebecca Evans’ research

The artists planned to develop the world of mixed reality dance work ‘Atomic Gardens’ through an interdisciplinary lens. The project sits between choreography, immersive technology, sound, and systems design, and requires a context where these disciplines can be explored together rather than sequentially.

Roberta Ceginskaite and Diarmuid Farrell’s research

During Open Futures, Roberta and Diarmuid explored portable/wearable tech sculpture which has an element of interaction/pre-recorded content. This fed into a new solo dance Roberta is working on and has brainstormed with Diarmuid. The pair used the residency as a testing ground using TouchDesigner and RaspberryPi – to see what else might be needed to support and make the ideas come together.

Junctions

This lab day was designed for individuals who are interested in deepening their practice, connecting with other artists working in these fields, and engaging in conversations, provocations and exchange of information.

Featured speakers and artists included multi-disciplinary artist Jo Mangan, Hutchinson | Kemp, the collaborative practice of Sophie Hutchinson and Billy Kemp, Georgia Tegou and Kristina Pulejkova, Aoife Dunne, Jürgen Simpson, Aisling Murray and this year’s Open Futures artists.

Read more about Junctions here.

 

Studio Light Moves – Open Futures is funded by The Arts Council | An Chomhairle Ealaíon and Limerick City and County Council. The programme is supported by partners Dance Limerick, Limerick City Gallery of Art, and the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance and DMARC at the University of Limerick.