Hugh Lane Gallery and Create commission recipient: Jijo Sebastian

Following on from our successful partnership on the prestigious CAPP Commission in 2017, and in keeping with both The Hugh Lane Gallery and Create’s commitment to principles of equality, diversity and inclusion, Hugh Lane Gallery and Create came together with a new commission inviting submissions from artists from a minority ethnic background and/or who have lived experience of displacement and/or are shaped by histories of intergenerational migration

Hugh Lane Gallery and Create are delighted to announce the successful recipient of this commission 2022 – 2024, filmmaker Jijo Sebastian.

Jijo Sebastian is a collaborative filmmaker with more than ten years of experience in participatory, collaborative and transcultural filmmaking in community-based contexts. He was awarded an Artist in the Community Scheme Project Realisation Award in 2015 and an Arts Council ‘Next Generation’ Bursary Award’ in 2016, in addition to an Arts Participation Bursary (2020). He has co-written, directed and edited eight short films and one tele-film collaborating with individuals, groups and families from the Keralite Indian community and others in Ireland. Selected films have been screened at international film festivals. His practice and films find coherence in their shared immigrant-oriented themes, participatory methodologies and suburban Dublin geographical context. The key concerns that underpin his practice and current thematics are transcultural space, intercultural relations, the complex nature of immigrant identity and its trajectory of transitioning.

Jijo intends to use this commission opportunity to engage with families from diverse backgrounds in Dublin city, working collaboratively to make a film sharing stories happening in the liminal space between cultures, and communities. Jijo will bring these families together into a common creative space where stories and experiences will be shared to generate connections across differences. Conceptually this will be an opportunity to explore, question and mediate the existence and nature of a transcultural space and interrogate how the global and local both affect communities in Dublin in transcending cultural boundaries. This work is intended to forge true and lasting relationships and go past the ‘event’ culture by practising intercultural living via organising social activities with and among members of the group and participating in cultural events of different communities.

“Hugh Lane Gallery is delighted to once again collaborate with Create and congratulates Jijo Sebastian as the successful recipient.  As a filmmaker, Jijo’s work is deeply embedded in transcultural communities and the complexities of migrant identities. Through his collaborative and engaging approaches to filmmaking he pushes the conventional  boundaries of the medium and we are very excited to be working with him on this commission”.
Barbara Dawson, Director, Hugh Lane Gallery

“Create is really delighted to work with Hugh Lane Gallery in awarding Jijo Sebastian this important commission and supporting him during the process ahead. Our establishment of this commission speaks to both Create and Hugh Lane’s commitment to durational and relational collaborative work, in place. Jijo is recognised as a talented collaborative filmmaker with an inspiring track record of meaningful engagement with diverse communities. We look forward to seeing him bring his unique approach to this timely work, and the communities of Dublin city”.
Damien McGlynn, Director, Create

Hugh Lane Gallery and Create will support Jijo by facilitating an inclusive and intersectional creative axis where art making, co-production, learning and knowledge exchange are the principals on which the relationship between Jijo and the community is built, facilitating meaningful and in-depth engagement with the diverse communities of Dublin 1 and the wider Dublin City Council administrative area.

The panel which awarded this commission consisted of Dr. Carlos Garrido Castellano, lecturer Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies, University College Cork, Séamus Nolan, Artist and Curator, Dr. Barbara Dawson, Director, The Hugh Lane Gallery, Áine Crowley, Programme Manager, Arts and Engagement, Create, Jessica O’Donnell, Head of Education and Community Outreach, The Hugh Lane Gallery. Create staff member Vance Lau took minutes.