ARTiculation in Carlow

On Friday 28th February, the first-ever Carlow Regional Heat for ARTiculation Ireland was organised by Carlow County Museum.

Calligraphy Workshops and Cruinniú na nÓg in Carlow County Museum

On Saturday the 15th June we celebrated Cruinniú na nÓg with two incredible Calligraphy Workshops, presented by Tim O’ Neill.

Tim O’Neill is widely acknowledged to be the finest contemporary calligrapher in Ireland. He is a leading scholarly authority on the subject, and has produced many books including ‘The Irish Hand’, a study of the manuscript tradition in Ireland and ‘Merchants and Mariners in Medieval Ireland’. He is a member of Peannairí, the Association of Irish Calligraphers and the Royal Society of Antiquaries Ireland (RSAI).

‘Sojourn’ a visual art exhibition among Museum displays

Saidhbhín Gibson outlines her project ‘Sojourn’; a solo exhibition that took place in Carlow County Museum in June 2013. It was launched during Éigse Carlow Arts Festival and supported by Carlow Arts Office.

Saidhbhín Gibson: ‘Comfort and Joy’, 2013 located in the Museum’s first floor gallery

 

The exhibition ‘Sojourn’ was the outcome of a longstanding interest to exhibit a body of work in a museum context. This project was installed among the displays at Carlow County Museum creating a trail through the building offering carefully planned juxtapositions between the artworks and the museum’s historical artefacts.

One such piece in the exhibition was ‘Merit’. It was placed amid the Museum’s ‘Mike – the man of the Rás’73’ display. It contained a lively, rotund lichen (Usneas subfloridana) atop one end of a speckled tree bark. At the other end there was a brightly coloured insignia, similar to that which features on certificates. This circular shape mirrored the form of the organic matter while also linking in with the brightly coloured cycling jerseys featured in the museum’s exhibition. The artwork suggested a celebratory status of the organic matter.

Saidhbhín Gibson: ‘Merit’, 2013 located in the Museum’s temporary exhibition gallery.

 

‘Lichen gilt’ was another piece in the exhibition that contained similar collected material but of a different species and format. The edge of a decoratively printed saucer was adorned with a Candelaria concolor lichen. The small organic matter contained a number of colours and gave the impression it had been hand painted onto the pottery. The piece was fittingly displayed on a dresser in the museum’s kitchen installation. Many of the pieces in the exhibition brought the outdoors inside to inhabit our surrounds and indeed, be viewed along side the preserved and protected.

Saidhbhín Gibson: ‘Lichen gilt’, 2013 located in the Museum’s ground floor gallery.

 

Saidhbhín Gibson: ‘Chuck’, 2013 located in the Museum’s ground floor gallery.