Aisteach – a Potential Avantgarde

Peer-reviewed article, Submitted 7.05.2025, Accepted 20.05.2025

Antoni Michnik

antek_antek@poczta.onet.pl
Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2279-2374

Abstract

This essay constitutes an analysis of the Aisteach project – a fictional archive of Irish musical avantgarde, with the composer Jennifer Walshe at the forefront. The presented text places the Walshe project within the context of the history of artistic experiments involving fictional archives (particularly sound) and contemporary composition practices, with the “new discipline” postulated by the artist in the foreground. Subsequently, the analysis of the project aims to resolve the question of the history and culture of Ireland contained in Aisteach.



Keywords:

invented tradition, contemporary music, Ireland, ficticious archive, Jennifer Walshe

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Published
2025-09-10

Cited by

Michnik, A. (2025) “Aisteach – a Potential Avantgarde”, Konteksty, 349(2), pp. 75–86. doi: 10.36744/k.4419.

Authors

Antoni Michnik 
antek_antek@poczta.onet.pl
Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2279-2374

PhD at the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, culture historian, performer. Founding member of research-performative group Grupa ETC. From 2013 to 2024, editor of the Glissando magazine. He published i. a. in Dialog, Konteksty, Kultura Popularna, Kultura Współczesna, Kwartalnik Filmowy, Polish Theatre Journal, Rocznik Historii Sztuki, Ruch Muzyczny, Zeszyty Literackie.



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