A new exhibition of  painted sea buoys, the result of a fresh approach to presenting art and musical events during Covid restrictions, will be launched this Friday, July 14, at 2pm at the lighthouse on Inis Oírr.

It’s being presented by the island’s arts centre,  Áras Éanna and its director Dara McGee explains how this unusual show evolved.

“During Covid, we looked at ways of promoting artists through exhibitions and concerts in the open air in the spectacular scenic surroundings of Inis Oírr.

That included 2021’s ‘Curracha’, a celebration of the island’s traditional boats for which a diverse group of artists painted on specially commissioned canvas currachs. These were exhibited throughout the island and later travelled to the Quadrangle of the then NUIG. They received a great response at both locations.

As a result of the success of Curracha, the Áras Éanna team has decided to present a bi-annual outdoor exhibition which will allow viewers to experience the beauty of Inis Oírr while discovering great art, Dara says. This work was inspired by a clean-up carried out by local fishermen along the island’s shorelines, when they gathered “washed-up fishing nets, broken fish crates and an abundance of sea buoys”.

The sea buoys have now  become the canvas for this exhibition which includes work from established artists, island artists, emerging artists and artists from diverse backgrounds.

It will be on show at the long wall leading to the gates of the lighthouse from next Friday.

Journalist Lorna Siggins will open the exhibition while Ellen Glynn will be the special guest. Ellen and her cousin Sara Feeney survived 15 hours in the water in 2020, after they were carried out to sea while paddleboarding in Galway Bay. They clung to a buoy attached to lobster pots off the coast of Inis Oírr from where they were rescued.

Lorna Siggins captured their ordeal on the award-winning RTÉ Documentary on One, Miracle on Galway Bay.

All welcome to the launch.