EVA International relocated four contemporary artworks to Gardens International in Limerick after a fire destroyed the Sailors’ Home, one of the venues planned for its 2023 programme.
The emergency move placed work by Sarah Durcan, Frank Sweeney, Cliodhna Timoney and Amna Walayat across the building’s foyer, retail unit and upper floors.
A festival adapting to the loss of a historic space
EVA International had previously used the Sailors’ Home on O’Curry Street for exhibitions.
Its destruction required the organisers to reconsider how the four works would be installed within a different architectural setting.
Gardens International, owned by Limerick Twenty Thirty, offered several distinct spaces rather than a conventional gallery sequence.
Architecture carrying its own history
The site originated in a development created by the Roche family in 1808.
Its early design included sophisticated heating and irrigation systems supporting rooftop and vertical gardens with fruit including oranges, grapes and pineapples.
A modern section was added in 2000 before the building entered its current redevelopment structure.
This history gave the relocated artworks a setting already shaped by experiments in architecture, cultivation and urban use.
EVA director Matt Packer connected the venue with Limerick’s long relationship with the festival, which had begun 47 years earlier.
The move did not replace the loss of the Sailors’ Home. It demonstrated the practical resilience required by a recurring citywide exhibition whose identity depends on temporary access to many kinds of buildings.
By distributing work across Gardens International, EVA turned an emergency into another encounter between contemporary art and Limerick’s changing architectural fabric.