The Square Tomato
'The Square Tomato' by Lisa Fingleton Feb-Mar 2025
In one generation they will forget that tomatoes were round”
Inspired by the work of Indian writer and global food activist Dr Vandana Shiva, artist Lisa Fingleton, exposes the challenges of our food systems in terms of biodiversity, climate change and health.
Through her role as embedded artist with two large scale Creative Climate Action Projects, she supports communities to explore how we can grow food, protect nature and be creative all at the same time? What is the future we want to be?
A timely, humorous and thought provoking exhibition that featured work created with Creative Climate Action Projects (Brilliant Ballybunion & A Creative Imagining), Kerry Visual Artist in Residence programme and time at Navdanya Seed Bank in India with Dr. Vandana Shiva.
This exhibition was supported by Siamsa Tire, Creative Ireland (Creative Climate Action Fund), The Arts Council and Kerry County Council Arts Office.
The official opening took place at 3pm on Sat 1st February 2025, click on the video to view the opening event. Exhibition took place at the Gallery in Siamsa Tíre from 1st Feb - 22nd Mar 2025.
Entry for all exhibitions is free to enjoy 10am-5:30pm, last entry for exhibitions is 5pm. Hours may change seasonally or during events, please see our Building Opening Hours for latest updates.
Artist Talk & Workshop:
Thirty women took part in ‘The Art of Sustenance, Sisterhood and Solidarity’ event as part of International Women’s Day 2025.
The event was hosted by Lisa Fingleton and Siamsa Tire to coincide with The Square Tomato exhibition. The event started with a tour of the exhibition and a screening of the film ‘The Radical Art of Living’ with Dr Vandana Shiva. Inspired by Dr Shiva, Lisa’s work the Monto Man is about challenging the use of pesticides and herbicides which are having such devastating implications for health and ecosystems. The Monto Man hangs from the roof of the gallery.
Over the course of the morning, artists Amelia Caulfield, Bernadette Kiely, Lisa Fingleton, Silke Michels, Zoë Uí Fhaoláin and Zoe Rush shared their creative climate projects and work relating to the important issues of our time including biodiversity loss, climate change, food, farming and flooding.
Lisa said: “The feedback from the event was so positive even though we were talking about very challenging issues. It was really great to see how artists can take can process the big problems we face and translate them into art so people can engage with them in a more accessible way. “Women were really impacted by the work of Bernadette Kiely. She told us how her house was flooded at the age of three and how that experience has informed her paintings for the last few decades”.
The Neart na Machairí shared how they are working in a tangible and creative way with the community in the Maharees. They also facilitated a number of creative exercises at the end of the morning including collage, painting with natural dyes and creating a mandala.
The artists talk and workshop was open to all artists and creatives, amateur and professional, who want to produce work sustainably and explore the role of artists in creative climate action and protecting mother eARTh. The event took place on 8th March @10am-1pm and tickets cost €10
Artist Bio:
Lisa Fingleton is an artist, writer and grower who has spent over twenty years cultivating deep-rooted connections between art, food, nature and peace. Through her role as embedded artist with two large scale Creative Climate Action Projects, she supports communities to explore how we can grow food, protect nature and be creative all at the same time?
Lisa is currently the embedded artist with Brilliant Ballybunion and has just finished her role as Kerry Visual Artist in Residence. Her studio is based at The Barna Way, an organic farm, woodland and wildlife sanctuary near Ballybunion.
Lisa was the embedded artist with A Creative Imagining, one of 15 pilot projects funded by the Creative Climate Action Fund. She worked with the Dingle Hub, Green Arts Initiative of Ireland and the Marei Centre to creatively look at ways in which farmers can respond to climate change. As part of the project she created a 100 foot drawing project called The Creative Climate Wall with Creative Ireland and IMMA at the National Ploughing Championship.
Lisa’s two books The Local Food Project and The Last Hug For A While explore the power of eating local food and the impacts of the pandemic. Lisa has MA in documentary film (Goldsmiths College, London) and a degree in Fine Art (NCAD). Her work is held in the OPW and other national collections
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