Slow Time with a Butterfly
Contemporary Tapestry Artists Touring Exhibition.
Pearse Museum, St.Enda’s Park, Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin.
Colour in Craft
“Stephen O’Connell has chosen the theme of colour for his gallery’s inaugural exhibition, and has invited makers who employ a strong sense of it in their work including glass artist Scott Benefield, wood-turned bowls by Roger Bennett and wall hangings by Muriel Beckett. Working on Finnish floor looms, Beckett designs and weaves her pieces using natural materials, particularly wool and linen. Her process involves building up line upon line of thread with the shuttle, merging colours which move from dark to light.” From Design Portfolio, Irish Arts Review. Summer 2023.
Irish Crafts #1
“The artists showcase the best of Ireland's craft sector. The exhibition presents work by over 20 craftspeople, each creating beautiful unique pieces for the exhibition. Gallery proprietor Siobhan Caplice has managed to bring together some of Ireland’s best craft makers whose skills have been validated by numerous exhibitions at home and abroad over many years.
The makers on show have created works of a very high quality in various materials, wood, willow, glass, ceramics, textile, tapestry & silver, some are functional items and there are many unique display pieces of exceptional beauty.
Participants in the current exhibition are Jerpoint Glass, Aoife Soden, Suzy O’Sullivan, Mide Reddin Quinlan, Sinead Fagan, Cora Cummins, Eileen Singleton, Jane Jermyn, Kildog Pottery, Kathleen Walsh, Gintaras Malinauskas, CK53 Design, Joe Hogan, Kathleen Hayden, Terry the Weaver, Muriel Beckett, Frances Crowe, Felix Falkner, Jane Seymour and The Clay house ceramics. “ Tipperary Live.
Irish Craft Heroes - 50 makers x 50 years
Venues:
Kilkenny Castle.
Dublin Castle.
GMIT Campus, Galway.
Fota House & Gardens, Cork.
Botanic Gardens, Belfast.
Outdoor Touring Exhibition.
President Michael D. Higgins and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar paid tribute to the country’s makers as Design & Crafts Council Ireland celebrates “50 Makers 50 Years” in a new exhibition charting the country’s evolution of crafts and design.
Irish Craft Heroes, a major exhibition celebrating 50 years of Irish craft, coincides with Design & Crafts Council Ireland’s (DCCI) 50th Anniversary since its establishment in 1971. To mark this landmark occasion, DCCI National Design & Craft Gallery has produced an outdoor, touring exhibition and publication (December 2021) charting the evolution of the craft and design sector in Ireland over the last 50 years, paying homage to the many makers whose work has contributed to the rich tapestry of craft and design practice in Ireland.
Following the World Crafts Council General Assembly in Dublin in 1970, and arising from the needs of a lively, developing craft sector, Crafts Council was established in 1971 as a voluntary body under the chairmanship of Frank Sutton and a committee of honorary officials. Throughout the past fifty years Crafts Council (Design & Crafts Council Ireland since 2014) has championed Ireland’s designer makers, fostering its growth and commercial strength, raising awareness of the unique identity of Irish craft and design, and stimulating quality design and innovation. In 2021, Ireland is recognised for its exceptional craft and design, which is celebrated throughout the world.
Slow Time with a Butterfly
Also as “Fire and Fibre” at Market House Craftworks, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford.
Contemporary Tapestry Artists Ireland (CTA) is a group of professional tapestry weavers working in studios all over the country who come together to collaborate and exhibit their work to raise the profile of this textile medium.
Without a long tradition of tapestry weaving in Ireland, CTA works at every opportunity to show the amazing diversity of work that is possible. In this exhibition each member is show-casing the development of their work in recent years.
Slow time with a Butterfly emerged as a travelling exhibition in 2022.
CTA members, Muriel Beckett, Frances Crowe, Mary Cuthbert, Lorna Donlon, Terry Dunne, Angela Forte, Anne Harte, Theresa McKenna and Lisbeth Mulcahy, (1945-2023) all established artists in their own right first came together in 1990 to give a platform to handwoven fine art tapestry. By its nature a solitary occupation this group gives its members an opportunity to connect, network and collaborate. These artists come together because of woven tapestry and the influence of this textile medium informs their body of work be it in fibre, paper or collage.
Made in Ireland - Touring Exhibition
The National Design & Craft Gallery, Kilkenny.
Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin.
F.E. McWilliam Gallery, Co. Down.
“The Made in Ireland exhibition has gathered together the largest visual and sensory feast of fresh ideas and craftsmanship that has been seen in Design & Crafts Council Ireland’s National Design & Craft Gallery in Kilkenny and offers an insight into current activity in skilled making on a national scale. It is a true and enriching representation of the fabric of the Irish craft and design sector, incorporating the work of over 100 makers from all regions of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The open callout attracted over 420 applicants to the juried process.
The project team of Made in Ireland, Mary Gallagher, Hilary Morley and Stephen O’Connell said: “It is our hope that Made in Ireland will engage with diverse audiences and build an understanding of craft, design and material culture. In a desert of digital and mass manufacture, we find this oasis of making – a tangible link to the materials and traditions of this island, to its colour, its landscape and its people.”