“A Lake Burst is a phenomenon referred to in Irish mythology in which a previously non-existent lake comes into being, often where a grave is being dug.”

Lake Burst by Maïa Nunes is the interdisciplinary artist’s latest site-specific performance artwork in the form of a short film, directed by Clodagh Farrelly.

Lake Burst re-imagines an Irish folktale “River Claiming It’s Due” – the lore of a lake calling for the inevitable death of its next victim – as a story of inner conflict and spiritual rebirth.

Set in the dramatic bog-lands of glacial Lough Bré, Lake Burst explores the geo-mythology and symbolic significance of lakes as portals to the otherworld and subconscious realms.

Performed through site-responsive movement improvisation, the film captures the Irish-Trinidadian artist’s process of connecting to landscape as a pathway to belonging.

Three characters, bound by fate, embody fractured aspects of the self seeking integration and liberation; the ancestral, the egoic and the spiritual.

At its core, Lake Burst draws on global mythologies to narrate a resonant tale of the universal struggle between spirit and flesh, summoning and willpower, seduction and illusion, resistance and surrender.

In addition –

As part of Live Collision International Festival 2024 Maïa Nunes has invited a collaboration with Writer & Independent Curator Diana Bamimeke who will curate and lead a special event designed to engage audiences with the themes and resonances of Lake Burst…

‘Responding to Maïa Nunes’ site-specific performance film Lake Burst, curator and writer Diana Bamimeke invites audiences to consider the implications of extraction and alienation on our planet, and on our psyches. Using strategies of speculative fiction and archaeological practice, THE BUREAU OF SPECULATIVE ARCHAEOLOGY, a fictional cultural heritage department, will facilitate a post-screening talk with invited guests and festival artists, followed by a participatory outdoor workshop at Clontarf seafront on Friday 26th April.’