Bernadette Hopkins is a visual performance and participatory artist and activist. She was born in Belfast, N.Ireland and grew up there during the troubles leading to her interest in human rights, feminism and politics alongside her art practice. Since 1982, she has lived and worked in Italy, Dublin and is currently based in Co.Donegal, Ireland. Her art work explores contested spaces and ecology within her lived landscapes, attempting to articulate lesser heard voices. The bodily human edge influences her art processes, viewing the skin as border and boundary which seeks respect of the other. Her work is an invitation to a conversation developed with art practice, methodology, and research through performance art, collaborative, interdisciplinary and participatory practices.

She has co-founded artist collaborations ‘Wild Swans’, ‘Cuislí , ‘Utopia Ducks’ and ‘Art of Resistance’. She curates Radical ReThink Conversations in Contemporary Art at the Regional Cultural Centre, Co. Donegal. Recent performances include 'Our Bodies Their Borders' and collaborative performances include ‘Forgotten Places’ and 'A Pound of Feathers' with Wild Swans Artists in collaboration with Artist Denys Blacker and Gresol Art Spain. Her activism and research include effects on the environment and communities due to climate change, extractivism and mining. She explores stress on resources, over consumption and unfair wealth distribution. Bernadette is presently working with Communities Against the Injustice of Mining Ireland and Rights of Nature Ireland. She holds a Masters in Social Practice Art and Creative Environments and BA in Fine Art and Painting.