2016-2020

Practice based PhD: ‘Survival Tools of the Anthropocene’
Innovation School, Glasgow School of Art, funded through the Creative Futures Partnership between Glasgow School of Art and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE)

2004

Masters Media Arts and Sciences MSc MIT, Media Lab, Boston.

1995

Masters Interactive Multimedia MA IMM, Royal College of Art, London.

2022 -2023

https://lanthide.org/
Award - Làn Thìde, An Lanntair - the Outer Hebrides Climate Beacon, art commission.

2021-2022
’Embrace the Sea-Cùram Cuain’
In collaboration with the Hebridean Sea Swimmers and Bayble community on the island of Lewis; Seas of the Outer Hebrides (SEASOH), Nature Scotland, Creative Carbon Scotland, MarPAMM-Interreg European Regional Dev fund.

Cùram Cuain - Embrace the sea film commission and fathom MPA limited edition map, in collaboration with Creative Carbon Scotland, SEASOH, Nature Scotland, MarPAMM.
https://www.creativecarbonscotland.com/project-blog-curam-cuain-embrace-the-sea/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1JSsh_0So4

Awarded commission
S-ØY-S (save- our island-seas).
A collaboration between artist Jonathan Ford, Heriot Watt International Centre for Island Technology marine scientist – Prof. Joanne Porter, Papay creel fishermen, Papay marine science student and participating with the Papay island community.
Funded by British Science Association.

Awarded commission
SurvØY creative island survey made by artists inspired by almanacs. Recording the changing moving island environment in a year.
Funded by Creative Scotland. 2021 – 2022

Awarded film commission
Stravaig - Design Innovation & Land-Assets: Towards Reimagining Communities.
Funded by AHRC, Glasgow School of Art and University of Ulster.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBf_NylJv9o

Awarded joint commission with artist Cora Cummins
ON STEADY GROUND/ UNSTEADY GROUND

exploring loss/gain in the era of the Anthropocene
Exhibition DL Lexicon gallery, 13th December – 1st March 2022
Curated by Marysia Wieckiewicz-Carroll
Funded by Irish Arts Council and DLCC

https://www.dlrcoco.ie/en/municipal-gallery-dlr-lexicon/visual-art-commissions-2020-2021

Invited artist exhibition and presentation Creator Doctus,
Nieuw Dakota, Amsterdam, 29th October – 29th November 2021.
Curated by Astrid Korporaal
Funded by Erasmus EU and Gerrit Rietveld Academy.
http://creatordoctus.eu/

Awarded embedded artist
Scottish Government National Island Plan team - travelling to 40 Scottish islands culminating in a publication and exhibition at Pier Art Centre, Stromness, Orkney.
24th July – 28th August 2021
Curated by Mónica Laiseca and Sue Brind, Glasgow School of Art. Funded by Scottish Government in collaboration with Creative Scotland and Glasgow School of Art.

https://www.pierartscentre.com/current-upcoming-exhibition/24/7/2021/orkney-and-the-artist-saoirse-higgins

https://pure.uhi.ac.uk/en/publications/survival-tools-of-the-anthropocene-islandness-and-resilience-in-s

Awarded joint commission with artist Jonathan Ford
’Restore the Shore’
Funded by North Isles Landscape Partnership and Historic Environment Scotland,
part of the year of Coasts and Waters.

2020
Pickie Finders - Island community creative project focusing on ‘pickies’ or arctic tern migration between Orkney and South Orkney in Antarctica in relation to changing patterns due to climate change.
Funded by British Science Association and UK Antarctica Heritage Trust.

2019
Papay Ken Folk - Survival skills for island living, participatory year-long project
17th March-18th November
part of the pilot community leadership program BSA.
Funded by Papay Development Trust, British Science Association.

2018
Circle 7 ‘Practicing Communities: Transformative societal strategies of artistic research,
ReActivate and ReVisit , Project performance, Nordic Summer University Winter symposium
2nd-11th March, 2018
Zirgu Pasts, Latvian Academy of Culture, Riga.

2017
ØY festival, [Islandicus.e] The Kelp Store, Papa Westray, 18th- 20th November.
‘0 to 45metres’ 360 video projection, glass air pressure measuring tool.
Funded by Papay Development Trust and Orkney Island Council.

Naturgemelde
SIM, Reykjavik, Iceland. 28th-29th March.
Funded by SIM.

PapayProbe - Myrdalsjökull glacier expedition, 17th February, 11th March, 25th-27th March.
Funded by British Science Association and Papay Development Trust.

2016
Jasconius - ØY festival, The Kelp Store, Papa Westray. 18th- 20th November.
Video+audio exploring the annual expedition process between Icelandic glaciologists+geologists and volunteers measuring and monitoring the Solheimjókull glacier.
Funded by Orkney Creative Arts award and Papay Development Trust.

Papay Intrepid Explorers - exhibition of weeklong Papay School children research and collaboration with
Heriott Watt marine biologist Dr. Joanne Porter and creel fisherman Douglas Hourston.
Artist in resident Papa Westray School. 1st June-30thJuly
Funded by British Science Association and Papay Development Trust.

‘Papay shoreline research station’ event and exhibition, April 2016.
Funded by British Science Association.

Balance Unbalance exhibition, Manizales, Columbia. 9th May-13th May.
‘Survival tools of the Anthropocene’- video projection and audio.

De-coding - Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre, Manchester. 5th March-2nd April.
‘Survival tools of the Anthropocene’
Funded by MIRIAD, MMU.

2015
‘Networked Narratives’- yearlong text adventure interactive mobile mapping project
in collaboration with Re-Dock Art Collective working with Burnley, Hull, Wigan libraries.
Funded by Arts Council England, James Rickitt library trust, Artlink, Wigan council, AGMA, Hull City Council,
Burnley Crib, Lancashire County Council. FACT, Liverpool.
Workshops and exhibition leading to publication:
http://www.textadventuretime.co.uk/exhibition/

‘Mise en Scène’ - Transformative learning tools to enable creative story telling through
collaborative vertical studio teaching in design practices.
Presented at ’GLAD conference, MMU- ‘Exploring Territories: The Changing Landscape of Art & Design Higher Education’, ‘Mise en Scéne’
MMU + RNCM YouTube project presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXt1eqlY_rI

2014
Faces and Traces - exhibition, Swatch Peace Art Hotel, Shanghai. 1st November - 31st January 2015.

Overview - Listhus Art Space, Iceland. 24th - 26th April.
The Fire and the Rose, Asia Triennale, Manchester. 16th October - 28th November.

2013
Seamless - Museum of Architecture and Design, Ljubliana, Slovenia. 17th September - 7th November.

A Pail of Air - Bazaar Compatible Projects program. 8th September - 15th September.

International Science and Art exhibition, Shanghai Exhibition Centre, China. 28th August - 2nd September. In collaboration with Make+ project, Sponsored by Chinese Government and Swissnex.

Little Victories, Shanghai, China. 20th July. http://www.domusweb.it/en/art/2013/08/02/little_victories.html

Ways to escape, 2022NQ, Manchester. 14th March - 23rd March.
http://www.waystoescape.org

2011
‘Quantified Self’ The Lab, Dublin.
Curated by Lab director Sheena Barrett.
http://www.dublincityartsoffice.ie/the-lab/exhibitions/quantified-self. Exhibition catalogue, ISBN: 9780955428159
Funded by Dublin City Council, Innovation Dublin, Arts Council Ireland.

‘De-coding’ exhibition, Bury Art Museum and Sculpture Centre, Manchester. Funded by MIRIAD, MMU

2009
‘e-mobile art lab’-European Mobile Lab for Interactive media artists. Awarded one-year art-science research residency - investigating art-science collaboration. University of Athens; University of Applied Arts, Vienna; University of Lapland. Funded by EACEA, EU Cultural fund, Culture Ireland, State Museum of Contemporary Art.

e-mobile art lab research output exhibitions and publication:
The Grafting Parlour-digital art science research group: Kelly Andrés, artist-Concordia University, Montreal, Nurit Bar Shai-Genspace Biohacking lab, NY; Antti Tenetz, nature documentary maker-University of Lapland, Dr. Lucy HG-The League of Imaginary Scientists, L.A, Saoirse Higgins.

2nd Art Biennale, ‘PRAXIS: Art in Times of Uncertainty ‘
State Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece
‘The Grafting Parlour’ Curated by Leonardo ISAST-Prof Roger Malina, Nina Czecledy, Annick Bureaud, Christiana Galanopoulou

‘The Grafting Parlour’- Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts, Katowice, Poland.

Growing Light and Other Conversations’ Lightwave exhibition, Science Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin.
‘The Grafting Parlour’ group in collaboration with
Dr. Natalie Kuldell, MIT bio engineering lab, Boston.
Curated by Science Gallery director-Dr. Michael John Gorman. Funded by Science Gallery.
[online] available at: < Leonardo Volume 43, Number 5, October 2010>

2003-2006
‘SpaceShuttle’ PAR-Participatory Action Research collaborative art and design project,
Donegall Pass, Belfast. [online] available at: < http://www.spaceshuttle.org.uk/mission1.htm >
Space Shuttle: Six Projects of Urban Creativity and Social Interaction, Belfast. ISBN:97809555358
In collaboration with external partners - PS2 gallery, Belfast City Council, Arts Council NI, Cultural Development-University of Ulster, Lottery funded- Awards for All.

MIT Media Lab interactive art exhibition outputs: ‘Doom Machine’ and ‘Mechanism no.1’

Boston Cyberarts Festival, Compton Gallery, MIT, Boston.

Solo exhibition, Location1 Gallery, Greene Street, New York. Funded by MIT Arts Committee.

‘Limits of the World’ Solo show, Pratt Digital Art Gallery, New York. Funded by Pratt Institute of Art and Design, New York.

Montreal New Media Festival, SAT: The Doom machine.
Funded by MIT Arts Committee.

Out of Conflict, LeRoy Neiman gallery, Columbia University, New York.

Mechanism no.1: war. Interactive toy with projected video.
Funded by New York artist performance foundation.

Terrorvision, Exit Art, New York. Funded by Exit Art.

2002
Sentient Cogs, Guinness Storehouse 5th Gallery.

3rd Aug - 15th Sept
Curated by Paul Murnaghan. [online] available at:
http://www.paulmurnaghan.com/5th%20website/archive/sentient/sentient.htm
Funded by Guinness Storehouse

2000
Transmediale, (Trans Media Art and Technology) Berlin.

11th Feb - 20th Feb
Curated by Axel Bohse. [online] available at:
https://pastwebsites.transmediale.de/00/e_frame.html
Funded by Irish Arts Council Award. €800

1998
‘Streaming’ Physical sensor based interface with 360 VRML world. Jan 1997- Aug
Examining the flow of information from the real to virtual and back again, using the sea and the sand as a metaphor. Shown at Transmediale festival, Berlin, and Cannes film festival
Funded by Arts Council of Ireland and Windmill Lane Studios Ireland.

‘Touchware’, SIGGRAPH ACM conference on graphic design and interactive techniques, art gallery exhibition. Orange County Convention Centre Orlando, Florida.
Curated by Joan Truckenbrod, The Art Institute of Chicago.
[online] available at: https://www.siggraph.org/s98/conference/art/index.html
Funded by Irish Arts Council Award + Siggraph

June - Aug 1997

SAGA Contemporary Art Exhibition, Paris. First digital interactive installation piece to be shown at SAGA.

May 1997

Milia, New Talent Pavilion, Cannes, France.
‘The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner’ interactive sensor-based installation.
using embedded sensors in physical objects video projection and surround sound relating to the Samuel Coleridge poem: ‘The Rhyme Of The Ancient Mariner.
Awarded the National Adobe Innovative Interface.
Funded by the Arts Council of Ireland Award.

Lecturer Art and Design, School of Design, NCAD, 100 Thomas Street, Dublin.

Community engagement leader pilot program, British Science Association. Funded by British Science Association and Papay Development Trust.

Jan 2020-June 2021 Community engagement advisor, SPF Landscape Decisions:
Towards a new framework for using land assets. Funded by AHRC and GSA

Joint creative director - ØY festival of Island Culture + ‘Holm Sound’ online series of talks and events. Funded by Orkney Creative Arts and Papay Development Trust.

Employment History

Sept 2010- March 2016

Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader Interactive Media,
BA Creative Multimedia, Manchester School of Art,
Manchester Metropolitan University.

June 2014 - June 2017

External Examiner - BSc Digital Media Design, University of Limerick.

June - July 2014

Visiting professor - BA Fine Art, Xiamen University Art College, Xiamen, China. Funded by Xiamen University


June 2008 - June 2010

Lecturer in Art and Design, School of Creative Arts,
Institute for Art, Design and Technology (IADT), Dun Laoghaire, Dublin.

Jan 2005 - June 2008

Senior Lecturer at Interface Research Centre in Art, Design and Technology, School of Art and Design, University of Ulster, Belfast.

Jan - June 2007

Acting MA Director, MA Art in the Digital World,
National College of Art and Design, Dublin.

Sept 2004 - Jan 2005 Academic Program Developer
NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) Digital Design Studio, Glasgow School of Art, Funded by NESTA

Aug 2002 - Sept 2004 Research Assistant, Media Lab, MIT, Boston.
Computing Culture group, Principle Supervisor: Prof Chris Csikszentmihalyi
Thesis second supervisor: Professor John Maeda.
Masters Research Topic: Failsafe: Designing for disaster.
Higgins, S. "Failsafe: living with man-made disaster and accident"
online available at: <https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/failsafe-living-with-man-made-disaster-and-accident/>

Jan 2001 - June 2002

Joint course director -BSc Digital Media Design with Dr Cat Macaulay, Duncan of Jordanstone, College of Art and Design, University of Dundee.

Sept 1998 - Sept 2000

Lecturer Art and Design,
University of Waikato-Wanganui School of Design, Wanganui, New Zealand.

June 2023

ArtIceland Ísafjörður

April-May 2023

Ayureyri Art Museum, Iceland

Nov 2022

Icelandic Glaciological Society at The Iceland Met Office, Reykjavík.

May - Sept 2022

An Lanntair Climate Beacon

June-Sept 2019

Scottish Government embedded artist National Island Plan Consultations

March 2017

SIM residency, Reykavik, Iceland.

June 2016

Papa Westray School, Papay.

May 2015

Icelandic Glaciological Society Mýrdalsjökull glacier expedition.

April 2014

Listhus Art Residency, Iceland.

Jan-Sept 2014

New Art Spaces, Federation House, in association with Castlefield Gallery, Manchester.

June-Sept 2013

Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai, China.

August 2010

Kuenstlerdorf Schoppingen Foundation Schoppingen, Germany. The Grafting Parlour.

June 2010

Medialab Prado, Madrid. Collaborative media project ‘Garage Science’

2008-2009

e-mobilart lab - University of Athens; University of Applied Arts, Vienna; University of Lapland, 1-year international collaborative art-science project.

2006-2007

Disonancias 6-month residency (Sept 06-March 07), Basque country, Spain. Juried residency-10 artists with 10 research and development companies. In association with Museum of Fine Art, Bilbao and Xabide group.

2003-2004

Artist in residence, Location1 gallery, New York.

2000

Artist in Residence, Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada ‘Discovery’ residency.