People’s Park

People’s Park, LimerickGoogle Maps

This park was initially built in 1838 as a private key-holder park for the residents of Pery Square, who were the most affluent people in Limerick in the 19th century. It was opened to the public in 1877 and renamed the People’s Park.
It has been used as a venue for EVA for seven editions in 2020/2021, 2016, 2014, 2002, 1998, 1996, and 1994.
This site was one of 12 listed venues for the 20th edition of EVA in 1996, curated by Guy Tortosa (b. 1961, France), where the works of Bertrand Lavier (b. 1949, France), Alain Bernardini (b. 1960, France) and Fabrice Hybert (b. 1961, France) were situated.
Bertrand Lavier presented a site-specific installation titled Lovely Day (1996): multiple flowers were planted to spell the words ‘lovely day’ in the green of the park.
The park was used more recently in Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the 39th edition of EVA for a project called Park Life: Ecologies of the People’s Park. This was an interdisciplinary project developed with students from Fine Art programmes at Limerick School of Art and Design that explored the different ecologies of People’s Park through themes of SOIL, PLAY, and SHELTER, and resulted in a printed booklet.