I. A quiet exit, a global arrival.
It’s a common story in Irish culture: the artist who has to leave the country to find their audience. But for Cork-based visual artist Elinor O’Donovan, the international stage has come to her, and she’s responded with a work of considerable wit and depth. Her short film, Wild Geese 2: Wilder Geese (2023), has been picked to represent Ireland in the 2025 edition of the well-respected Artists’ Film International (AFI) programme. This is no small feat.
AFI, now in its 18th year, is a touring programme of artists’ moving image that was set up by Forma in London. It’s a joint project, bringing together sixteen cultural organisations from all over four continents. This year’s theme, ‘Dream States’, is a great topic to explore the idea of “the emancipatory potential of dreams, altered states, and cinematic illusion”. It’s in this strong thematic framework that O’Donovan’s film, picked by the Crawford Art Gallery, fits into the global picture. It’s a real achievement for a young Irish artist to be part of such a strong global programme, and it shows just how unique her vision is.
II. A Playful Response to a Poetic Invitation
Wild Geese 2: Wilder Geese is a four-minute-and-one-second single-channel video filmed in Stöðvarfjörður, Iceland, while the artist was on an artist’s residency at the Fish Factory. But to just describe it based on its logistics is to miss the bigger picture. The work is a fun and thoughtful take on the poem ‘Wild Geese’ by the late American poet Mary Oliver. Oliver’s poem is a gentle but firm way of telling people to stop worrying and be at peace with the world. It’s a really popular text, almost like a spiritual scripture for people who are into that kind of thing. O’Donovan’s film takes this starting point and, with his usual sense of fun, flips it around.
As the artist herself has explained, the film “in a light-hearted way plays with the idea of cosmic nihilism: what if, instead of the universe being indifferent to our existence as some people believe, it is ‘overly’ concerned?” This is a great idea, almost absurdist. The film stars Barry Manilow and looks at how much the universe is interested in our personal issues. It’s a piece that uses humour and popular culture references to take apart and then put back together a more radical, thought-provoking way of seeing the world. It talks about the idea that the worlds we live in are shaped by the stories and cultural ideas that we’ve inherited.
O’Donovan’s work is all about questioning “knowledge, memory and truth” and he does this through filmmaking, digital collage, installation, drawing and sculpture. She gives “playful answers” to these serious questions. In her work, she looks at how tiny details can show bigger stories. She often uses an aesthetic of neoteny – forms that are not fully developed or seem childish – to show ideas of worlds where things might be different.
III. A Voice on the International Stage
So, what’s it like for an Irish artist to get involved in a programme like AFI? For O’Donovan, it’s a great chance to see how her work fits into the global picture. The artist has been really open about what it all means, saying: My work is based on cultural contexts and references that I use to create meaning. I test these in different settings with people who might not be familiar with the pop-cultural shorthand I use. This shows me that the worlds we live in are made up of stories. This is a mature and self-aware understanding of the artistic exchange; it’s a process of verification and reinvention.
Her selection for AFI’25 is just the latest in a series of achievements for the artist who hails from Cork. Back in 2024, she made the shortlist for the Golden Fleece Award, which is Ireland’s biggest art prize. She’s also bagged the Jane Anne Rothwell Award from the Cork Midsummer Festival and the first Cork International Film Festival Commission Award. Her first film, The Immeasurable Grief of the Prawn (2023), premiered at the Everyman during the Cork International Film Festival, which she said made her feel extremely proud.
Her work has been exhibited all over the place, including in Ireland, the UK, Portugal, Italy and Mexico. It’s great to see it being part of a broader conversation. She’s a studio member at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios in Dublin, and her career has been pretty steady with the Arts Council and other institutions showing her a lot of support. Her exhibition at the Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh recently, called Metametamorphosis, mixed images of The Beatles with a nod to Franz Kafka. It shows the playful, smart way she works.
IV. Crawford Art Gallery’s Vision
Picking O’Donovan for AFI’25 is a big deal, and it shows that the curators have some pretty strong opinions about it. The Crawford Art Gallery has chosen Wild Geese 2: Wilder Geese, a work that’s really involved in the current artistic conversation. As the films in the AFI’25 programme challenge how we see reality and open doors to other possible futures, O’Donovan’s contribution is a really important Irish voice. Back in October 2025, audiences in Cork got to see her film alongside works from artists representing Belgium, Germany, Serbia, Argentina, Turkey and beyond. The Arc Cinema hosted the screenings. The programme is also being shown at partner venues around the world, making sure her work reaches audiences from Berlin to Mumbai to Los Angeles.
V. A Dreamer’s Invitation
Elinor O’Donovan’s success shows the vital, outward-looking energy that exists within the Irish visual arts. Her work joyfully and intelligently challenges our preconceptions and makes us think about a world where the universe is not indifferent, but perhaps overly involved in our lives.
It’s a great place to be.
