CIRCA Art Magazine is an independent, artist- and writer-led online art publication. CIRCA takes art production as a dynamic point of engagement: we invite proposals for text and hybrid-media contributions that think with and through art, artworks and art practices, rather than simply about them. CIRCA’s geographical focus is the island of Ireland.
Website: we would like to thank the students of the Digital Skills Academy for their work on the new website: Andrew Wilkinson for his lead work in the project, Helena Legrange for the design as well as Eva Hayes, Peter Boyd, Mark McKechnie and Ronan Walsh.
CIRCA, the story so far
Arising from a need expressed by artists, CIRCA was founded in Belfast in 1981. First established as a bi-monthly publication with a distinctly Northern focus, within a couple of years it had extended its reach and developed an all-Ireland remit. By 1984 its main funders were Belfast City Council, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and An Chomhairle Ealaíon / the Arts Council of Ireland.
In its very first editorial, the editors made clear their aim for the magazine:
“To look at art production in a broad sense; we feel it is important to strike a balance between articles on particular art and artists and a more searching analysis of art production in a socio-political context.”
CIRCA became a quarterly in 1992. Its last statement in 2011 read:
“CIRCA is Ireland’s leading magazine for contemporary visual arts. Appearing quarterly, its 112 full-colour pages contain news, reviews, previews, interviews, feature articles and a host of images. The magazine is dedicated to reflecting visual culture as it unfolds throughout Ireland while also reporting on important developments further afield. CIRCA is a vital resource for artists, academics, students, researchers, arts administrators, those working in related fields and all who are interested in visual culture in Ireland.”
For various reasons, mainly funding-related, CIRCA stopped printing in Winter 2009. Its last printed issue was its 130th. It continued as an online publication until 2013.
In December 2015, Michaële Cutaya and Marian Lovett responded to a call for proposals on the future of CIRCA. Their collaboration on the project began in February 2016. They re-deployed CIRCA Art Magazine as an online publishing platform with two domains of activities: the archive and the magazine. Cutaya was editor of the magazine between 2018 and 2021, Chris Hayes was associate editor in 2018 and Aidan Kelly Murphy in 2019 and 2020. Laurence Greenfield has been our dedicated proofreader since 2016.
CIRCA Art Magazine is a charity incorporated in Northern Ireland.
CIRCA’s non executive directors are Michaële Cutaya (Chair), Peter FitzGerald (Secretary), Sara Greavu, Stephanie McBride and Gavin Murphy.
BIOGRAPHIES
Michaële Cutaya is a writer and editor on art living in County Galway. Her reviews and essays have been published in Irish Arts Review, The Stinging Fly and Art Monthly amongst others. She was co-founding editor of Fugitive Papers (2011–2013). Full Bibliography
Peter FitzGerald is an artist, web developer, editor, coder, and in charge of Dnote and iCulture. His latest project is at syndeticart.com
Sara Greavu works with artists and others to make exhibitions, projects and texts. In her role as Head of Public Programmes in CCA Derry~Londonderry and as an independent curator, she has developed and delivered a range of collaborative projects including exhibitions, research, engaged public programmes, educational platforms, and events such as lecture-performances, workshops, symposia, screening seasons, and reading groups.
Stephanie McBride is an academic, broadcaster and critic who writes and lectures on film, media and visual culture. Formerly Assistant Professor in the School of Communications at DCU, Tutor in arts, literature and film at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she has also taught in Visual Culture at NCAD. Selected publications include The Cinema of Place/The Place of Cinema, Ireland into Film:Felicia’s Journey. Her Intermedia column appeared in The Irish Times; a film and tv columnist with CIRCA Art Magazine, where she also edited a number of issues on film, art education, art and science; a contributor to Irish Arts Review.
Gavin Murphy is a lecturer in Art History and Critical Theory at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and is currently Programme Chair of MA in Creative Practice. He was on TULCA Board of Directors from 2013-2019, taking on the role of chair in 2018-2019. He publishes regularly on contemporary visual arts and photographic practice. Journal publications include Irish Review, Irish Studies Review, Third Text, Circa, Source Photographic Review, VAN and Printed Project. He has contributed the essay ‘New Media Art in Ireland’ to The Art and Architecture of Ireland, Volume V: Twentieth Century (Royal Irish Academy and Yale University Press, 2014). Two entries for the Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks series were published in the Irish Times and appear in the book of the same title, edited by Fintan O’Toole.
Brian Redmond (recently retired from the board, but still a board observer) is a photographer and consultant who is very active in supporting the arts and heritage in Ireland; see longmeadowstudios.com. He has been chairperson of the Irish Georgian society for a number of years.