Your Guide to Dublin Gallery Weekend 2016

This November, a number of galleries across Dublin will host an array of events over the weekend 25-27th. The weekend will consist of a number of openings, talks, walking tours and workshops. In just three days, 36 galleries will open their doors to present the public with 55 events. Galleries such as IMMA, Douglas Hyde, RHA, Project Arts Centre, Hugh Lane, NCAD and more will be participating, featuring a variety of Irish and International artists.

Following on from the success of last year’s Gallery Weekend, the organisers hope to see similar numbers flocking into galleries across Dublin City and taking part in the events. The weekend hopes to build on the success of Culture Night. Most events are free, and more information about the Gallery Weekend can be found at www.dublingallerymap.ie. This is a weekend not to be missed!

 

IMMA Symposium

Saturday | All day event

How do artists reflect upon and relate to contemporary society and the state? This is the primary question posed by the 2016 IMMA symposium which will take place on the 26th of November in the cavernous halls of IMMA’s chapel. As yet another attempt by an art institution to commemorate the 1916 rising, and also as a reflection upon how Irish society has changed in the past 100 years, IMMA presents ‘The Artist and The State’ for the 2016 Dublin Gallery Weekend. Presented by a number of leading international artists, curators and scholars, the symposium will consist of a number of discussions and performances, all of which will address the ways in which art collides with global social phenomena.

Globalization, and its countless consequences – mass migration, digital communication and global trade to name a few- have concerned artists since the 1980s, and in recent years has become an almost unavoidable topic for creators across the globe. Therefore, it is no surprise that this theme was selected for this year’s symposium- perhaps it is even long overdue for formal discussion in the grand scheme of contemporary art scholarship. If even just for how relevant the 2016 symposium is, I would certainly recommend making the journey to the beautiful settings of IMMA, and perhaps make a detour into the Lucian Freud exhibition while you’re there. SM

 

Hostile Architecture Scavenger Hunt

Science Gallery Dublin | Saturday | 2-5pm

As part of the Science Gallery’s current exhibition, DESIGN AND VIOLENCE, they are hosting a scavenger hunt. Meet at the Science Gallery and view the exhibition before exploring the city in search of acts of hostile architecture, both unintended and intentional. The exhibition aims to look at the intersection of design and violence through a number of interdisciplinary exhibits. Here design refers not only to the products of professional and intentional work, but also to the ubiquitous and “ordinary” objects we are surrounded by, things we often take for granted. Violence is understood not only in the context of intentional harmful actions, but also as the byproduct or unseen consequences of our behaviour.

In the contemporary context, a major example of this intersection may be seen in the effects of climate change, of which the already devastating effects in some parts of the world were arguably precipitated by public policy and industrial programmes pursued in the last two centuries. Hostile architecture refers to the ways in which the design of public spaces impedes people from using them for functions they weren’t intended for, and can consist in the addition of structures or the omission of them. For example, metal spikes to discourage homeless people from sleeping in the doorways of office buildings, or a lack of seating on a city plaza to prevent people from eating there. This scavenger hunt should offer participants an interesting, and potentially unnerving, lens through which to learn more about their city and the overlooked aspects of its architecture. This is a free event but booking is required, at dublin.sciencegallery.com/events. RG

 

 

 

Live performance with artist Suzanne Walsh

The Lab Gallery | Saturday 3-5pm

On Saturday, venture into The Lab Gallery in the city centre to experience a performance by artist Suzanne Walsh. The Lab Gallery supports emerging art practices and also delivers a year round programme of free events for all ages. Suzanne Walsh is an artist, writer and musician currently based in Dublin. Her work is multidisciplinary, and sees her combine a number of different practices such as writing, spoken-word performances, music/sound, drawing and occasionally installation. Her current work explores language, the outer limits of what is the ‘self’ and notions of poetic/fictional truth.

One of her recent performances took place in IMMA, along with Hissen sound group, as a response to the work of Carol Rama. Walsh also created a spoken word/written piece as a response to The Diviner, a drawing by Alice Maher. Her work is exciting and the combination of many different practices adds another dimension to her work. Definitely a performance worth seeing over the weekend. LC

 

Trinity Area Tour

Sunday | 1-3pm

It’s very easy to miss the wealth of visual art on display at Dublin’s many small galleries, even for people who spend a lot of their time in the city. The Gallery Weekend tours aim to reveal the spaces hidden in all of the city’s neighbourhoods, from the Coombe to Parnell Square. For the Trinity Area tour, meet at the Douglas Hyde Gallery (downstairs in Trinity College’s Arts Building). From The Douglas Hyde Gallery, the tour will move on to SO Fine Art Editions (Anne St South), the Kerlin Gallery (Anne’s Lane), Solomon Fine Art (Balfe St) and Gallery X (William St South).

Two recently installed shows will be on display at the Douglas Hyde on the day of the tour. Czech photographer Josef Sudek (1896-1976) is in Gallery 1. This year marks the 120th anniversary of Sudek’s death, and in the summer a large exhibition of his work was displayed at Jeu de Paume, Paris. Originally a bookbinder by trade, he worked mostly in Prague, during times when the city saw major political unrest and upheaval. Kathy Prendergast’s “Black Maps” will occupy the smaller space of Gallery 2. For those captivated by Prendergast’s maps, the tour will offer another opportunity to experience her work. Her solo exhibition “Atlas”, an installation comprising 100 road atlases of Europe which have been altered by the artist with black ink, is currently on display at the Kerlin. Solomon Fine Art specialise in contemporary sculpture. SO Fine Art will be launching their group show “Collector” on the Friday of this weekend so the tour will offer an early opportunity to catch the show. Gallery X is a relatively new gallery that focuses on surrealist art. “El Corazon y la Muerta”, an exhibition with a focus on Mexican “dark surrealist” artists will be on display at the time. This tour is one to catch if you are interested to see the immense variety of art this busy, historic area has to offer.

For those particularly interested in Kathy Prendergast’s exhibitions there will also be a separate tour of her work on Saturday at 12pm, beginning at the Kerlin and continuing to the Douglas Hyde. RG

 

Guided Tour of the Sacred Traditions & Arts of the Book Exhibitions

Sunday 3-4pm | Chester Beatty Library

As a winner of the ‘European Museum of the year’ award, this event is one to watch. The library, which finds its home in the beautiful grounds of Dublin Castle, is renowned for its rare manuscripts and biblical papyri, as well as its large collection of rare printed books, prints and drawings. The library contains some amazing pieces of the great cultures and religions of the world. Manuscripts, paintings and calligraphies make up the Islamic Collections. The East Asian Collections consist of a number of scrolls, jade books and an extensive collection of decorative objects and textiles. The library also has a number of works from the Middle East, Africa and Europe, ranging in date from the third millennium BC to the twentieth century. The role of the library is to protect, preserve and make available these pieces to the public through exhibitions, publications, lectures and other events, such as this one in conjunction with Dublin Gallery Weekend.

If you haven’t been to the library before, now is your chance to venture into the beautiful grounds of Dublin Castle and into the historically renowned Chester Beatty Library, a tour not to be missed. LC

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