Overview
126 Artist-Run Gallery & Studios presents Groundwork, an exhibition of work by Forensic Architecture which traces the ongoing Nakba (catastrophe) in Palestine.
Using methods such as ‘situated testimony’ interviews, open-source research, and cartographic analysis, these investigations document the immediate and long-term impact of cycles of forced displacement, systematic massacres, and destruction of land and civilian infrastructure. Groundwork observes relationships to place through memory and multigenerational lived experience, foregrounds acts of resistance to the continuum of erasure, and affirms solidarity between Palestine and Ireland through a shared understanding of occupation and colonialism.
Forensic Architecture is a research agency based at Goldsmiths, University of London, operating across human rights, journalism, architecture, art and aesthetics, academia and the law. Their team is dedicated to developing and employing cutting-edge techniques for investigating state violence and human rights violations.
Exhibition Launch: Friday 26th September, 6pm.
Open Wednesday – Sunday, 12 – 6pm, until 26th October 2025.
Please see details on associated events below.
Curated by Kate McSharry.
Advanced Researcher Elliot Bourne will deliver a presentation on their work with Forensic Architecture at 1pm on Saturday 27th September. The talk will be followed by a Q&A session. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about a number of selected projects and to consider the capacity of this work within a gallery context.
Elliot Bourne is an Advanced Researcher at Forensic Architecture. Their practice examines the human causes and consequences of environmental violence – engaging with technology both as a tool and a subject of inquiry. They graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2022.
At Forensic Architecture, they have worked on investigations addressing armed conflict, state and corporate violence, colonial dispossession, structural neglect, and the destruction of cultural heritage. Across these projects, Elliot combines digital spatial analysis with witness testimony to produce precise visual and spatial narratives that advance legal processes, inform public advocacy, and preserve historical record.
This event is free to attend and no booking is required. We look forward to welcoming you to 126 Artist-Run Gallery & Studios.
Visual: Still from “‘when it stopped being a war’: The Situated Testimony of Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah”, Forensic Architecture.
Art Beats Writing Workshop, 2pm Sunday 12th October 2025 at 126 Artist-Run Gallery & Studios.
Art writer Meadhbh McNutt and poet Fiachna Quinn invite participants to an open discussion and writing session responding to Groundwork – an exhibition of work by Forensic Architecture which traces the ongoing Nakba (catastrophe) in Palestine.
Epistemic violence is a form of harm, exerted through knowledge, which seeks to erase and invalidate the experiences of marginalised groups. This workshop will explore how language, storytelling and realism operates in relation to epistemic violence.
Referencing material from Forensic Architecture’s research – alongside writings by Palestinian authors and activists, Raja Shehadeh and Edward Said, and German filmmaker Hito Steyerl – we will consider creative practice as an incomplete yet persistent means of recognising and resisting the myths that sustain colonial power.
Participants are encouraged to take some time to view the exhibition before the workshop. Please note that this exhibition contains upsetting descriptions and imagery.
Duration: approx. 2 hours. Ages 18+
The workshop is free but places are limited. Please book in advance through Eventbrite.
Meadhbh McNutt (meadhbhmcnutt.com) is a Galway-based artist and writer who is interested in ways of connecting and belonging in the fragmented Information Age. She has exhibited in Ireland, the UK, Hungary, Poland and Hong Kong, with writing and photography appearing in Tank Magazine, Circa Art Magazine, Mirror Lamp Press, HeadStuff and other publications.
As a freelance writer, Meadhbh has worked with organisations such as the Douglas Hyde Gallery, TU Dublin School of Creative Arts, Cúirt International Festival of Literature and Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture. In 2020, she was awarded the VAI/DCC Art Writing Award. She currently works to amplify research in business, law and public policy as a Communications Officer at the University of Galway.
Fiachna Quinn is a poet based in Galway who was recently awarded a residency at Áras Éanna, Inis Oírr. His work was exhibited at 126 Artist-Run Gallery in 2024 and has been published in journals. Fiachna has facilitated multiple workshops and performed extensively.
Visual: Still from “Return to Al-Ma’in”, Forensic Architecture in partnership with Palestine Land Society.
You are very welcome to attend our closing event in association with Groundwork at 3pm this Saturday 25th October. We are very pleased to announce this panel discussion moderated by Gavin Murphy, where we will hear from Shane Darcy and Amanie Issa about their work at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, University of Galway. We will discuss how their research and the practice of Forensic Architecture aligns in the pursuit of justice, followed by a Q&A and closing with a spoken-word performance.
Gavin Murphy is a lecturer in Visual Culture and Critical Theory at Atlantic Technological University and Programme Chair of its MA in Creative Practice. He has published regularly on contemporary visual arts and photographic practice for over 30 years. Recent publications include an essay on New Media Art for The Art and Architecture of Ireland, Volume V: Twentieth Century (Yale University Press and Royal Irish Academy), a chapter on Conceptual Art for Irish Art 1920-2020 Perspectives on Change (Royal Irish Academy) and an essay on Irish Art 1916-1922 for the Routledge Companion to Irish Art (Routledge 2025).
Professor Shane Darcy is the Deputy Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights in the School of Law at University of Galway. He teaches international criminal law, humanitarian law and business and human rights. He researches and writes on the role of international law in times of armed conflict, with a recent focus on Palestine and Ukraine. Shane is currently writing a book on the invocation of the laws of war in Ireland during the period 1916-1923.
Amanie Issa is a Palestinian PhD researcher at the Irish Centre for Human Rights and the Centre for Disability Law and Policy, University of Galway. Funded by Research Ireland, her doctoral work explores the intersections of gender, disability, and settler colonialism in Palestine. Her broader research interests span the history of settler colonial violence, the right to health, and Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies. Beyond her research, Amanie serves as a member of the Disability Advisory Committee of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. She is also a LaunchPad Ambassador with AHEAD and the National Disability Postgraduate Advisory Committee (NDPAC), where she advocates for equitable access to postgraduate education for disabled students and early-career researchers.
This event is free to attend and no booking is required.
Visual: Still from “The Massacre at Tur Al-Zagh: Al-Dawayima, 29 October 1948”, Forensic Architecture in partnership with Palestine Land Society.
Exhibition Images
[L-R]
1: A Cartography of Genocide, Maps, Forensic Architecture, 2025. Installation Image by Emma Zukovic.
2: Return to al-Ma’in (L); The Massacre at Tur Al-Zagh: Al-Dawayima, 29 October 1948 (R), Forensic Architecture in partnership with Palestine Land Society, 2025. Installation Image by Emma Zukovic.
3: The Massacre at Tur Al-Zagh: Al-Dawayima, 29 October 1948, Forensic Architecture in partnership with Palestine Land Society, 2025. Installation Image by Emma Zukovic.
4-5: Presentation by Elliot Bourne, Advanced Researcher, Forensic Architecture. Image courtesy of 126 Artist-Run Gallery & Studios.
6: Memory Map, The Massacre at Tur al-Zagh: Al-Dawayima, 29 October 1948, Forensic Architecture in partnership with Palestine Land Society, 2025. Installation Image by Emma Zukovic.
7: A Cartography of Genocide, Maps, Forensic Architecture, 2025. Installation Image by Emma Zukovic.
8: Art Beats Art Writing and Poetry Workshop with Meadhbh McNutt and Fiachna Quinn. Image courtesy of 126 Artist-Run Gallery & Studios.
9: The Massacre at Tur Al-Zagh: Al-Dawayima, 29 October 1948, Forensic Architecture in partnership with Palestine Land Society, 2025. Installation Image by Emma Zukovic.
10: Panel discussion with Shane Darcy and Amanie Issa of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, University of Galway, moderated by Gavin Murphy, lecturer in Visual Culture and Critical Theory at Atlantic Technological University. Image courtesy of 126 Artist-Run Gallery & Studios.
