Salmagundi: The Project

He was awarded an Artist in the Community Scheme Project Realisation Award in 2015 and an Arts Council ‘Next Generation’ Bursary Award’ in 2016, in addition to an Arts Participation Bursary (2020). He has co-written, directed and edited eight short films and one tele-film collaborating with individuals, groups and families from the Keralite Indian community and others in Ireland. Selected films have been screened at international film festivals. His practice and films find coherence in their shared immigrant-oriented themes, participatory methodologies and suburban Dublin geographical context. The key concerns that underpin his practice and current thematics are transcultural space, intercultural relations, the complex nature of immigrant identity and its trajectory of transitioning.

“Hugh Lane Gallery is delighted to once again collaborate with Create and congratulates Jijo Sebastian as the successful recipient. As a filmmaker, Jijo’s work is deeply embedded in transcultural communities and the complexities of migrant identities. Through his collaborative and engaging approaches to filmmaking he pushes the conventional boundaries of the medium and we are very excited to be working with him on this commission”. Barbara Dawson, Director, Hugh Lane Gallery.

“Create is really delighted to work with Hugh Lane Gallery in awarding Jijo Sebastian this important commission and supporting him during the process ahead. Our establishment of this commission speaks to both Create and Hugh Lane’s commitment to durational and relational collaborative work, in place. Jijo is recognised as a talented collaborative filmmaker with an inspiring track record of meaningful engagement with diverse communities. We look forward to seeing him bring his unique approach to this timely work, and the communities of Dublin city”. Damien McGlynn, Director, Create

Hugh Lane Gallery and Create will support Jijo by facilitating an inclusive and intersectional creative axis where art making, co-production, learning and knowledge exchange are the principals on which the relationship between Jijo and the community is built, facilitating meaningful and in-depth engagement with the diverse communities of Dublin 1 and the wider Dublin City Council administrative area.

https://www.create-ireland.ie/hugh-lane-gallery-and-create-commission-recipient-jijo-sebastian/

Salmagundi: The Project

On view 3 November 2024-5 January 2025

This project, conceived and facilitated by filmmaker Jijo Sebastian, and commissioned following an Open Call by Hugh Lane Gallery and Create,  the national development agency for collaborative art began in April 2023. The aim of the project was two-fold: to bring a culturally diverse group of people together to make a feature-length collaborative film and, through this process, to create a transcultural community which would outlive the film and go on to engage in other creative endeavours. Over the course of the following 18 months, participants – most of whom had no prior experience of scriptwriting, acting or film-making – met in person and online to collaboratively workshop ideas, write scripts, rehearse, and shoot a feature-length film made up of six loosely connected segments dealing with issues of importance to members of the community. Outside of the film, participants met socially for shared meals, trips together to cultural events, the beach, bowling, and the theatre. The collaborative film on view in gallery 18 and the process room in gallery 6 capture the journey through the highs and lows of making collaborative art and the challenges of trying to build an authentically transcultural community.

Film Screening

Salmagundi and Free4aDay

Gallery 18

The two films on show in Gallery 18 are part of a collaborative project, conceived and facilitated by filmmaker Jijo Sebastian, and commissioned by Hugh Lane Gallery and Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts. The aim of the project was two-fold: to bring a culturally diverse group of people together to make a feature-length collaborative film and, through this process, to create a transcultural community which would outlive the film and go on to engage in other creative endeavours.

Over the course of the following 18 months, participants – most of whom had no prior experience of scriptwriting, acting or film-making – met in person and online to workshop ideas, write scripts, rehearse, and shoot a feature-length film made up of six loosely connected segments dealing with issues of importance to members of the community. The full film, Salmagundi, contains all six segments and deals with issues more suitable for an adult audience, while the children’s segment, Free4aDay, can be viewed separately and is suitable for younger viewers. A display tracing the journey through the project and the making of the film is on view in Gallery 6.

Screening Times

Salmagundi  (dur.  1 hr 47 mins )  Wednesdays 1pm and Sundays 1pm

Children’s Screening: Free4aDay (dur. 26 mins ) Saturdays 1pm