Multi-Story – Creative Engagement for Housing Change (2020+)

Multi-Story - Creative Engagement for Housing Change is a project by artists Fiona Whelan and Feidlim Cannon and Housing Action Now (HAN), developed through a unique online collaborative arts process, exploring direct experiences of housing injustice through collective writing and performative story-telling. HAN is a collective of community workers, researchers, activists and artists concerned with the growing housing crisis in Ireland. The Apology is the first public act from the process. Launched on 22 February 2022 to an online gathering of over 300 people, The Apology is a performance which publicly acknowledges the failures of the Irish State with regards to housing policy and provision in this country. Watch The Apology here  On the 2nd of March 2022, 'The Apology' script was read into public record at Seanad Éireann by Senators Lynn Ruane and Eileen Ní Fhloinn as part of a Seanad Private Members Motion on Housing brought by Senators Ruane, Ní Fhloinn, Higgins, and Black. The filmed performance has since been screened at multiple housing and community events and in the AV room at Leinster House, each screening prompting conversations or workshops focused on ending the housing crisis. From April-May '22, The Apology was presented at Butler gallery Kilkenny, curated by Hollie Kearns.   Multi-Story Act 1: The Apology is supported by Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts, through the Arts Council's Commissions Award 2020. Follow Multi-Story on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.   See some media/writing about The Apology  here: https://www.rte.ie/culture/2022/0221/1282140-inside-the-project-artists-tackle-irelands-housing-crisis/ https://www.rte.ie/news/2022/0222/1282254-performance-housing-crisis/ https://www.thejournal.ie/art-group-apology-taoiseach-housing-crisis-5689132-Feb2022/   Image by Kate O' Shea and Fiona Whelan