Artist Breda Burns has been commissioned by Bealtaine Festival 2017, in partnership with Sligo Arts Office and Mayo Arts Office, to develop a sound and radio-based work, ‘Archiving Activism’. This commission has developed in response to the Bealtaine 2017 theme of collectivism. A society only progresses when citizens care enough to contribute to its fabric and its future. The arts can be the mortar that holds society together and counties Mayo and Sligo are particularly blessed with the contribution its citizens have made to this field. These people are often the unsung architects of a thriving society where people can access music, visual arts, and literature in so many different ways. As a response to this commission, Breda Burns will collate an archive of the vanguards of the arts community and through a series of radio interviews to be broadcast locally, an archive of ephemera relating the artist-led movement in the Sligo/Mayo region. Breda will run archiving activism drop in days in advance of the exhibition, collecting the memories, stories and printed materials of those involved in establishing or running arts projects, festivals or exhibitions in the counties of Mayo and Sligo during the 1970’s – 90’s. Breda will also create an ‘Archiving Activism Manifesto’ with a commissioned text by author Brian Leyden in response to the archive. This exhibition will be launched in Áras Inis Gluaire on Wednesday 24th May at 6pm and will also be looking back on the arts in Erris in the pas 25-30 years.