MAKING SPACE

A Dialogue Between Seven Contemporary Irish Artists

FEXA 2026

1–18 OCTOBER

FUMBALLY EXCHANGE · DUBLIN

01 / EXHIBITION

Making Space is the inaugural edition of FEXA. It brings together six visual artists and one literary work.

At the core of the approach is collaboration — the artists in conversation with each other. Title, exhibition and programme were developed by the group.

The title is somewhat literal. A room in a working building is cleared, whitewashed and given over to art for eighteen days. Space is made — for the work, and for the artists.

Making Space reaches beyond the room and into the neighbourhood. Spaces across Blackpitts and the Liberties open for a day or two — a talk, a satellite work, an evening — making space in turn

The exhibition will be opened by Ali Curran, Chairperson of the Board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA).

Making Space is the inaugural edition of FEXA. It brings together six visual artists and one literary work.

At the core of the approach is collaboration — the artists in conversation with each other. Title, exhibition and programme were developed by the group.

The title is somewhat literal. A room in a working building is cleared, whitewashed and given over to art for eighteen days. Space is made — for the work, and for the artists.

Making Space reaches beyond the room and into the neighbourhood. Spaces across Blackpitts and the Liberties open for a day or two — a talk, a satellite work, an evening — making space in turn

The exhibition will be opened by Ali Curran, Chairperson of the Board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA).

"Making Space, rather than a traditional collaboration, offers a kind of crown shyness effect. The artworks, equally tall, speak to one another across the gap of juxtaposition. It's synaptic, almost, the viewer making the connections."

— Patrick Chapman, An Adventure in Art and Space

ABOUT FEXA

FEXA — Fumbally Contemporary — is a new annual visual arts initiative in Blackpitts, Dublin 8. Making Space is its inaugural edition.

FEXA exists to give serious contemporary work the room it needs: artists making rigorous, critically engaged work who are not fully served by the commercial gallery system, or who simply deserve to be seen more widely. Selection is artist-led.

It is rooted in the Fumbally Exchange, which has been making space since it began — a shared workspace and creative community in the Liberties, home to makers, designers and artists. The Exchange offered the room and backed the project from the start.

FEXA is a not-for-profit initiative and intends to grow — a regular fixture in the Dublin calendar, with a widening programme, deeper partnerships, and a publication accompanying each edition..

"With every new event such as this, a space is made, an idea is aired, a possibility is grasped."

ARTISTS

Detail of "Magical Thinking"

Caroline McCambridge

Assemblage

Detail of "Untitled (Meadowsuite)"

Frances Donnelly Jung

Painting

Detail of "Quantum Memory"

Stephen Dunne

Painting

Detail of "Flag No 54"

Conor Horgan

Photography

Untitled

Natasha Conway

Painting

Detail of "Content Creator"

David Newton

Collage

Patrick Chapman

Writing

THE VENUE

Fumbally Exchange is a creative co-working space in the Liberties. The Hackett Room at the entrance of FEx is being transformed for FEXA / Making Space

FUMBALLY EXCHANGE, ARGUS HOUSE, MALPAS STREET, BLACKPITTS, DUBLIN 8

VISIT

OPENING DATES & HOURS

2–18 OCTOBER 2026

SUN & MON, 15:00-18:00 | TUE – SAT 10:30–18:00 | THURSDAYS UNTIL 19:00

EVENTS

THU 1 OCT · 18:00

Opening reception with Ali Curran — Fumbally Exchange

THU 1 – SAT 3 OCT

Pop-up extension of the exhibition — Hen’s Teeth

FRI 2 – SUN 18 OCT

Extended exhibition wall — Fumbally Café

SAT 3 OCT · 13:00

FEXA presentation and film launch: The How of Collage by Luke Danniells — Hen’s Teeth

SAT 10 OCT · 13:00

Artist talks, hosted by Shane Hoey, with Caroline McCambridge, Conor Horgan, Stephen Dunne and Frances Donnelly Jung — Fumbally Exchange

SAT 10 OCT · 14:15

Poetry reading, Patrick Chapman — Fumbally Exchange

SAT 10 OCT · 15:00

Workshop — Postcard Collages with David Newton — Fumbally Exchange

SAT 17 OCT · 11:00–16:00

Open House Dublin — Fumbally Exchange

SUN 18 OCT · 15:00

Finissage — Fumbally Exchange

NOTES

September 2026

Making Space Poster

10 October 2026

Artist Talks & Poetry Reading

1 January 2066

MAKING SPACE

MAKING SPACE

ABOUT FEXA

ARTISTS

Caroline McCambridge

Frances Donnelly Jung

Stephen Dunne

Conor Horgan

Natasha Conway

David Newton

Patrick Chapman

THE VENUE

VISIT

NOTES

Making Space Poster

Artist Talks & Poetry Reading

Workshop Announcement