INTERFACE IS A STUDIO AND RESIDENCY PROGRAMME FOR VISUAL ARTISTS, DANCERS, WRITERS AND MUSICIANS, SITUATED IN THE INAGH VALLEY, IN THE HEART OF CONNEMARA. OUR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE CATALYSING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE TO ENGAGE WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS AND LOCAL PEOPLE THROUGH A UNIQUE PLATFORM WITHIN OUTSTANDING NATURAL BEAUTY THAT EXPLORES THE INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND ART.
The facility was built as a salmon hatchery in the late 1980s. Scott Tallon Walker architects were commissioned by Carrolls cigarette company to design the biggest, most advanced salmon hatchery in the world. The company ran a fully automated, computer-controlled hatchery and supplied offshore salmon farmers with smolt via helicopter. The business ultimately failed because the factory was built too high above the adjacent lake, and the cost of recirculating the water was too heavy. The facility was bought by the current owners in 2007 with a view to developing a centre of scientific research and development.