YOUNG FOSSIL - BUILD SCHOOL
6TH-7TH OF JUNE
SOWN, Ballyfad, Y25T9N4, Wexford/Wicklow
TIKETS
BUILD SCHOOL is a weekend of expert and artist-led workshops & talks on the 6th and 7th of June in Ballyfad, Wexford, exploring local building and making practices of collective and shared spaces.
We want to celebrate and invite participants to leave their mark on the work-in-progress and next evolution of YOUNGFOSSIL into a residency studio.
YOUNGFOSSIL is an experimental building which began its life in 2021 as a series of seating structures in the gardens of IMMA. It then found its permanent home in 2023 when it was assembled in the fields of SOWN in Ballyfad, Co. Wexford.
With the support of the Arts Council, Forerunner are in the process of enclosing YOUNGFOSSIL so it can begin its next lifecycle as a usable, enclosed studio space for residencies and we want to celebrate this evolution and learn something along the way from some of Ireland’s finest artists and makers.
Refreshments & Food will be provided by Cow House Studios.
WHERE? SOWN, Ballyfad, Y25T9N4, Wexford/Wicklow border, in a meadow beside a 200-acre ancient woodland.
WHEN? Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June, 2026.
WHAT? Day and Weekend Tickets are available.
Your ticket will provide you with access to the workshops and talks, refreshments and a nourishing lunch, with a special barbecue on Saturday afternoon.
SATURDAY 6th JUNE - includes a lime workshop with Traditional Lime Company founder Edward Byrne, a talk and presentation with artist and writer Adrian Duncan and a delicious lunch and afternoon barbecue by Cow House Studios.
Saturday 6th June @ 10:00am - 1:00pm
Edward Byrne is the founder of the Traditional Lime Company and has been a preeminent proponent of building conservation and restoration in Ireland for more than 40 years. Join Edward for a 3 hour workshop to learn about the history of Lime, its importance in local building heritage and the ways we can bring it back. From old lime kilns to lime-washed cottages to the rows of pointed Georgian townhouses, lime mortar has a special place in Irish traditional architecture. Edward will showcase various uses, techniques and tips for practical application of Lime as well as sharing the history of its uses and production across the Island.
Saturday 6th June @ 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Adrian Duncan will present an excerpt from a new experimental video exploring themes from both his forthcoming novel and related exhibition in the RHA – all of which is preoccupied with how modelling-in-small-scale relates to building practices and memory.
Adrian is an artist and writer. His latest film Latina, Latina (84mins, 2025) looked at fascist-era architecture in Italy and his next novel A Thought without Collision will be published in August 2026 by Tuskar Rock Press. He is an editor with PVA Books and Paper Visual Art Journal.
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SUNDAY 7th JUNE - includes a Wild Clay Workshop with ceramic artist E Williams, a talk & presentation with designer and researcher Colm O’Neill and a delicious lunch and refreshments by Cow House Studios.
Sunday 7th June @ 10:00am - 1:00pm
On Sunday morning join Wexford-based ceramic artist and educator E Williams for the Wild Clay Workshop where participants will explore clay harvesting and brickmaking. Over three hours participants will learn about harvesting clay, how to sift and check for usable soil, firing processes and brick forming. Prepared clay harvested from around YOUNGFOSSIL will then be available to us as we explore brickmaking and leave our mark on the next phase of its life cycle. Workclothes and shoes recommended.
Sunday 7th June @ 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Other Networks with Colm O’Neill, designer and researcher, introduces the idea of "Other Networks", building a signal relay from rural Ballyfad across the hills to Carlow town using renewable energy. Learn about the ways we can adapt and reimagine how our communications and networks are governed, with particular regard to the large energy and information networks we are a part of, from the internet, to phone signals to the electricity grid - how are these connections reflected rurally and how can we build our own? Colm works as designer and researcher in Carlow and Brussels. His work is concerned with mediations of digital literacy through graphical, user and programmatic interfaces.
WHO ARE WE?
Forerunner is a collaborative art practice founded by Tom Watt, Tanad Aaron, and Andreas Kindler von Knobloch.
SOWN is a hub in the making, founded by Juliana Doyle, sitting beside the ancient woodland of Ballyfad, Co. Wexford. Creativity, community and climate are at the heart of what we do. SOWN is a place where people can gather to celebrate and explore how these essential seeds of life intersect are sown and germinated.
Delicious food, refreshments and nourishment will be provided by Frank Abruzzese, co-director of COW HOUSE STUDIOS.
TEAM
Artists: Tom Watt, Tanad Aaron, Andreas Kindler von Knobloch, Edward Byrne, Adrian Duncan, E Williams, Colm O'Neill.
Food & Refreshments: Frank Abruzzese, Cow House Studios
SOWN Curator & Director: Juliana Doyle
Producer: Katie Joyce-Holmes
Volunteers: Karen Noble, Dawn Nolan, Tobiah Walters, Dewi Williams.