Artist Support - Alexandra Craciun & Alexandra Gogan

We were delighted to welcome multidisciplinary artist Alexandra Craciun & emerging writer Alexandra Gogan to Draíocht this week for 4 days of Artist Support in our Workshop Room.

Artists Biographies

Alexandra Craciun is a Romanian artist based in Dublin 15, classically trained in the performing arts. Several years ago she pivoted towards the wondrous terrains of writing and illustration. Armed with curiosity for different mediums of expression, she has taken on work in charcoal, pen, watercolors and recently digital illustration. She has created full seasonal collections for Carturesti libraries, collaborated on a series of UCD and IADT student projects, and is currently working on illustrating her first young audiences picture book. Loaded with a passion for respectful and wholesome experiences for young audiences she started her Cultural Entrepreneurship experience back when she co-founded Bibabo Independent Theater Company and continues with a recently completed postgraduate IADT diploma in Cultural Management. The journey might be long and perilous but her dream of creating multi-sensorial experiences where children can learn and discover themselves through play is heavily sustained by creative workshops and studies, hard work, wonderous TYAs festivals and long deep dives within the creative self with both fear and excitement.

Recent projects and awards include LEAP, a community-building project and artist development programme by Baboró International Arts Festival for Children and a 2023 mentorship with Baboró, ‘How to Begin, with Finegan’, a Baboró Graffiti Theatre collaboration, a design cover for Riverbank Arts Centre for their 2024 Spring Cover and the recent Agility Award by the Arts Council.

Alexandra Gogan is an emerging writer based in Dublin with a background in theater and the performing arts. Her work revolves around flawed characters, so lovable in their imperfections that they remind us to love our own human-ness a little bit more.

Recent Projects include: Super Paua Stories, where she worked as writer and performer, developing a multilingual audio story that delves into Romani and Romanian heritage, exploring grief, identity and tradition, while celebrating the cultural diversity of Dublin’s public transportation system and Translations, a multidisciplinary project that combined sessions of multilingual poetry writing, reciting, drama and dance, conducted in St. Canice’s School, in collaboration with Juliette Saumande and Laura Macken.

Awards and Participation: You, Fin and The Play Between by Baboro & Graffiti Theatre, Fingal Artist Support Scheme 2022, Arvon Residential Writing Week for Children and Young Adults, Inua Ellams Writers Workshop at Abbey Theatre, Baboro Mentorship Programme 2022, Facilitation Training Programme at Riverbank Arts Centre, Vital Sparks Relationship Programme, The Agility Award.

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Draíocht is recognised as a creative hub and laboratory space and invests significantly in the development of artist's practice by the provision of benefit in kind support such as space, technical support, admin/marketing support and specialist expertise. We offer a wide range of opportunities to artists i.e. commissions, residencies, artist studios/rehearsal space, co-productions, co-commissions, seed funding, mentoring.

Our Artist Support Series, launched during Covid-19, has helped 79 artists in 2020, 50 artists in 2021 and 74 artists in 2022, with the provision of free rehearsal and creative space. Space to rehearse, write, create, film, dance, think & plan ... whatever is needed!

With thanks to our funders Fingal County Council & The Arts Council.

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