Archive News
Exhibitions to showcase the best of new and established print makers
Date Published: {J}
Galway Arts Centre and Galway City Museum will present Impressions, Ireland’s longest running print exhibition, and an exhibition by Chris Orr titled ‘Chris Orr – Social Surrealist’, running from this Friday to Saturday, January 8.
Impressions promises to showcase emerging and established print makers from across the country, at the Galway Arts Centre.
On launch night, the winners of the competitions run in conjunction with the exhibition, will be revealed. The first prize is a €1,000 purchase prize while the second prize is €750 purchase prize. Also on the night, the Norman Ackroyd Etching Award will be presented, which is valued at €300. Also on the night, the Impressions Committee Mid Career Award along with the Lorg Printmakers Emerging Artist Award will be presented.
This year over 400 prints were submitted to the competition. This time round, the Galway Arts Centre will exhibit over 200 for the duration of the exhibition and all prints will be for sale.
This year’s adjudicator John Hewitt had the tough job of choosing the winners. He described the work as being of an exceptionally high standard this year. An artist based in the English South Pennines, who works primarily in the media of print and drawing, he is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art, where he taught printmaking for 18 years.
Renowned printmaker Chris Orr will officially launch the exhibition at 6pm and later in the evening, an exhibition of Chris’s own work will be launched by Galway City Arts Officer, James Harrold at the Galway City Museum at 8pm. This exhibition is being run alongside Impressions. “Chris Orr, Social Surrealist” is a hugely exciting exhibition, which will showcase some of the artist’s best work.
Chris Orr, until recently, ran the Royal College of Art postgraduate Printmaking Department in London and has been making prints for many years in a variety of mediums that have been shown all over the world.
He sees a close affinity between printmaking, drawing and writing. His work teems with allusions, narratives, sub plots and puns.
The influences Chris Orr claims are principally film, TV and the novel but there are serious concerns in what at first may be taken as comic. In the lithograph “Nagasaki mon amour”, he visits and responds to the contemporary view of the city that epitomises the horror of the nuclear age.
In this show in Galway, some of recent “greatest hits” can be seen the work he has produced from time spent in New York, Japan and China.
Chris Orr has been a frequent visitor to Ireland and has had shows in the Crawford Gallery Cork, Skibereen Arts Centre and the Temple Bar Gallery Dublin. He has published a number of books including recently The Multitude Diaries and Cities of Holy Dreams. He lives and works in London. He is a member of the Royal Academy.
People’s living conditions less than 100 years ago were frightening. We have come a long way. We talk about water charges today, but back then the local District Councils were erecting pumps for local communities and the lovely town of Mountbellew, according to Council minutes, had open sewers,” says Galway County Council archivist Patria McWalter.
Patria believes we “need to take pride in our history, and we should take the same pride in our historical records as we do in our built heritage”. When you see the wealth of material in her care, this belief makes sense.
She is in charge of caring for the rich collection of administrative records owned by Galway County Council and says “these records are as much part of our history as the Rock of Cashel is. They document our lives and our ancestors’ lives. And nobody can plan for the future unless you learn from the past, what worked and what didn’t”.
Archivists and librarians are often unfairly regarded as being dry, academic types, but that’s certainly not true of Patria. Her enthusiasm is infectious as she turns the pages of several minute books from Galway’s Rural District Councils, all of them at least 100 years old.
Part of her role involved cataloguing all the records of the Councils – Ballinasloe, Clifden, Galway, Gort, Loughrea, Mountbellew, Portumna and Tuam. These records mostly consisted of minutes of various meetings.
When she was cataloguing them she realised their worth to local historians and researchers, so she decided to compile a guide to their content. The result is For the Record: The Archives of Galway’s Rural District Councils, which will be a valuable asset to anybody with an interest in history.
Many representatives on these Councils were local personalities and several were arrested during the political upheaval of the era, she explains.
And, ushering in a new era in history, women were allowed to sit on these Rural District Councils – at the time they were not allowed to sit on County Councils.
All of this information is included in Patria’s introductory essay to the attractively produced A4 size guide, which gives a glimpse into how these Rural Councils operated and the way political thinking changed in Ireland during a short 26-year period. In the early 1900s, these Councils supported Home Rule, but by 1920, they were calling for full independence and refusing to recognise the British administration.
“I love the tone,” says Patria of the minutes from meetings. “The language was very emotive.”
That was certainly true of the Gort Rural District Council. At a meeting in 1907, following riots in Dublin at the premiere of JM Synge’s play, The Playboy of the Western World the councillors’ response was vehement. They recorded their decision to “protest most emphatically against the libellous comedy, The Playboy of the Western World, that was belched forth during the past week in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, under the fostering care of Lady Gregory and Mr Yeats. We congratulate the good people of Dublin in howling down the gross buffoonery and immoral suggestions that are scattered throughout this scandalous performance.
For more from the archives see this week’s Tribunes here
Date Published: 23-Jan-2013
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Date Published: 29-Jan-2013
Athenry FC 1
Kilbarrack United 2
(After extra time)
For the second year in succession Athenry were done in extra time in the FAI Junior Cup as last season’s beaten finalist’s came from behind to snatch an excellent game in Moanbawn on Sunday afternoon.
On a heavy pitch that was only playable following extensive groundwork by club officials all morning, the home side were by far the better side in the opening half, but failed to take advantage of a number of opportunities that came their way.
An Alan O’Donovan penalty gave them a merited advantage just after the restart, but thereafter were on the back foot as Kilbarrack took over, but for all their pressing, the home rearguard were dealing comfortably with their forays.
However they were struck a body blow just six minutes from time, as big striker Keith Kirwan was left all alone at the far post to head the equaliser and from that point on the Dubliners were the better side.
They started off the extra time in the ascendancy and enjoying all the momentum before striking for a good winning goal on 104 minutes. A strong bench allowed them to make some necessary changes and it was not a facility that was available to Athenry manager Gabriel Glavin.
With Gary Forde and Gary Delaney out through suspension following their sending off against OLBC in the previous round, and Seamie Crowe injured, it left their bench rather threadbare with just a number of young squad players available.
Playing with the aid of the slight incline and any wind advantage going, the home side had a Connor Cannon effort on target in the opening minute, while John Meleady was just over with a flick at the other end.
Meleady then tested Andrew Walsh who saved comfortably, before the goalkeeper pulled off a brilliant double save on 14 minutes.
Firstly he went full length to push away a Meleady shot and was then back on his feet to parry David Jackson’s close-range rebound.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.
Plans lodged for 28 homes at Letteragh Road
All corners of Galway hosting events for Cruinniú na nÓg
New Martin Junction to officially open next week
UHG first centre to introduce nerve blocking probe for major surgeries
An Bord Pleanala to reconsider appeal against refusal of 74 homes in Knocknacarra
East Galway farm sells for €1.3 million
Official opening of Galway’s new pedestrian and cycle bridge
Detached home in Knocknacarra has host of amenities nearby
OPW Minister to meet Council engineers on ‘flawed’ motorway design
Western Motors to host EV information day
