Rita Duffy was born in Belfast. She is one of Ireland's groundbreaking visual artists; initiating major collaborative art projects and visiting lecturer at international universities. In 2024 she held the Charlotte Maxeke/ Mary Robinson Chair of Research at the University of the Western Cape SA. and the WB Yeats Chair Irish visiting professor to Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, with an exhibition of her work Entanglement at Mariantonia USP, São Paulo. Her work covers numerous publications and media broadcasts. In 2004, Thaw project began, a post-conflict project exploring Belfasts relationship with the Iceberg aiming to connect local experiences of colonialism/ sectarianism with universal climate crisis. In 2011 she was awarded a Leverhulme Fellowship with Fionnuala Ní Aoláin at the TJI, in 2012 the Chinese government awarded her the Cultural Olympic Gold medal for Ireland. In 2018 she was recognised for her contribution to visual arts in Ireland and elected to Aosdána.