Garry O’Neill’s Where Were You archive is a love affair born of frustration with repetitive and narrow Irish history consumption.
Global Premiere: Akihiko Okamura 'The Memory of Others'
Artist Ben Malcolmson awarded the artist commission in 'Shared Histories - Diverse Views'
Thrilled to announce that Ben Malcolmson, a talented visual artist based between Belfast and Dublin, has been awarded the artist commission in the transformative cross-border initiative 'Shared Histories - Diverse Views'.
This cross-border Initiative supported by Creative Communities on a Shared Island Scheme is designed to engage communities on both sides of the border, encouraging them to explore their heritage and share experiences through the medium of photography. 'Shared Histories' aims to forge connections across borders through creative engagement, challenging stereotypes and sharing authentic representations of the borderlands through a public programme of co-curated public events.
As an artist, Ben works within the parameters of photography, video and sculpture exploring alternative photographic processes with relation to one’s land and identity. A current studio artist based at Flax Artist Studios in the Emerging Artist Programme, he has been awarded support from various quarters, including A-N Bursaries, and recognition from the Arts Council Northern Ireland Individuals Emergency Resilience Programme (2020). In 2019, Ben was awarded the opportunity to be part of 'Making Marks' by the Arab British Centre, funded by the British Council Kuwait, exploring the impact of international working on emerging artists. Over several months, Ben worked with Belfast Exposed Gallery on a body of work titled 'Murmur' which was exhibited in the gallery as a solo show during February 2020.
'Shared Histories - Diverse Views' is a collaboration with Donegal County Council, Photo Museum Ireland, Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny, the Nerve Centre, Derry~Londonderry, and the National Library of Ireland. This project is supported by Creative Communities on a Shared Island initiative.
2023: Year in Review
We’re delighted to have had the honour of sharing the outstanding work of so many established and emerging photographic artists with our visitors during this year’s diverse exhibition programme.
Announcing: Changing States: Ireland in the 21st Century
06 June 2024 – 11 August 2024
Haus am Kleistpark, Berlin, Germany
Changing States: Ireland in the 21st Century is a major new group exhibition that looks at the ways photography has made visible the changing nature of Irish life. It concentrates on the first decades of the twenty-first century, marking 100 years since the foundation of the state. Featuring works by over 40 contemporary artists, this large-scale exhibition surveys the development of contemporary photography in Ireland. It charts how leading artists working in Ireland have addressed major socio-political developments to reflect on changing demographics, cultural identities, contested territories and social reform. The exhibition brings together diverse points of view, critically reframing contemporary life across the island of Ireland.
Moving from traditional documentary practices towards more socially engaged and conceptual practices to the medium, Changing States considers how artists have responded to the profound shifts that have occurred in Irish society. This survey represents the depth and range of recent Irish photography, as well as the extent to which artists have engaged with the most pressing issues of contemporary life. It charts our transformation from an insular nation-state to a more liberal, globalised and multicultural society.
This exhibition is a partnership with German curator Ralph Goertz, Director of the Institute for Art Documentation (IKS), Düsseldorf, Barbara Esch Marowski, Director of Haus am Kleistpark, Berlin, and Trish Lambe and Darren Campion, Photo Museum Ireland. Curated for Haus am Kleistpark, one of Berlin’s most prestigious municipal art spaces, it is the largest international exhibition of contemporary Irish photography to date.
Zeitgeist Irland 24 is an initiative from Culture Ireland and the Embassy of Ireland in Germany to promote Contemporary Irish Arts and Culture in Germany in 2024.
About the partner organisations:
Photo Museum Ireland
Photo Museum Ireland is the national centre for contemporary photography. We aim to lead the way in showcasing the very best of photography for all audiences encouraging debate and new thinking about the role of the photographic image in society. Innovative exhibitions showcase work by established Irish and International artists to address important artistic, cultural or societal issues and reflect emerging photographic practices. An average of 5-6 exhibitions per year enlighten, challenge and are enjoyed by visitors to the museum. Our engagement programmes foster increased awareness and understanding of photography and visual culture by creating innovative and inclusive opportunities for people to engage with our programmes, creating opportunities for meaningful exchanges between artists and the public. Photo Museum Ireland believes photography is for everyone. Our exhibitions and events enlighten, challenge and build connections with people in real life and online. Photo Museum Ireland is supported by The Arts Council and Dublin City Council.
For more information visit: www.photomuseumireland.ie
IKS PHOTO
The IKS - Institute for Art Documentation was founded in 2009 by Ralph Goertz and today contains the largest private media archive of contemporary art in Europe with almost 500 documented artists and 92 documentary films. In 2022, the IKS was expanded to include its own photo institute, the non-profit recognized IKS PHOTO. The aim of the IKS PHOTO is to promote, preserve and convey the medium of photography through exhibitions and publications. In addition to retrospective exhibitions of the work of important photographers, thematic group exhibitions will be developed and presented as touring exhibitions by European partner institutions. In close cooperation with the exhibiting institutions, the exhibitions will be adapted and expanded to meet individual and local needs. The work of IKS PHOTO focuses on artistic and art historical significance as well as social and societal relevance.
For more information visit: www.iks-medienarchiv.de
Haus am Kleistpark
Haus am Kleistpark is one of the largest and longest-running municipal art galleries in Berlin and is affiliated with two further sites: the Haus am Kleistpark | Projektraum and the Galerie im Tempelhof Museum. As non-commercial contemporary art spaces, municipal galleries stand for cosmopolitanism, experimentation, and artistic discoveries at a high level. Here, local reference and intercultural exchange coalesce with the inclusion of global contexts. As municipal galleries they are tasked with the cultural development of their respective districts, the promotion of artists, grassroots work within the art sector, and continuing support for the exploration of current issues of importance. Special emphasis is on the promotion of artistic photography. Since 2011 the director of the Haus am Kleistpark has been Barbara Esch Marowski.
For more information visit: www.hausamkleistpark.de/en
OPEN CALL: Shared Histories - Diverse Views Artist Commission
Are you a photographic artist experienced in working with community groups?
Shared Histories – Diverse Views project is commissioning a photographic artist to work in a socially engaged process with communities and organisations in Donegal/Derry~Londonderry and Armagh/Louth to work with local communities to explore representations of the borderlands through photography. The project aims to forge connections across borders through creative engagement, challenge stereotypes and share authentic representations of the borderlands through a public programme of co-curated public events.
This exciting cross-border initiative is brought to you by Donegal County Council, Photo Museum Ireland, Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny, the Nerve Centre in Derry~Londonderry, and the National Library of Ireland. This project is supported by Creative Communities on a Shared Island initiative.
The project will have three key elements:
Photo Museum Ireland will work with the Regional Cultural Centre, Nerve Centre and the National Library of Ireland to deliver phases 1 & 2 of the project: the archival research and digital archiving of historical perspectives.
The commissioned artist will lead phase 3 exploring and recording contemporary perspectives on the borderlands. The partner organisations will provide technical, organisational, curatorial, marketing and PR support for the project.
Archival Perspectives: the partner organisations will work with local communities to explore representations of the borderlands held in the National Library of Ireland's expansive photographic archive.
Local Perspectives: Photo Museum Ireland’s Photo Album archive team will work with participants to research and digitise local histories reflected in family photo albums.
Contemporary Perspectives Artist-led phase: The commissioned artist will work with participants to explore contemporary representations of the borderlands and inspire participants to record their own experiences of life in the area through photography.
Artist Fee: €7,000 + additional allowance for travel
Timescale for artist-led phase: Feb – May 2024
Deadline: 12 December 2023
How to apply: Artists are asked to apply by email to info@photomuseumireland.ie attaching a CV outlining their experience to date.
Proposals should include the following:
Details of work to date including experience of working with communities on photography projects and experienced working on issues of cultural identity.
Artist Biography
Successful Candidates will also have to submit the following on acceptance of the offer: signed contract and bank details.
Selection process: A selection panel will invite a shortlist of candidates to online interviews which will take place on 15 December 2023.
Criteria: The commission will be based on the artist’s experience of working in community contexts and on education initiatives such as artists’ workshops or talks.
Applicants must be Irish citizens or normally resident on the island of Ireland, with professional involvement in creative practice.
Artists must be available to work in the borderlands.
Project Schedule: Artist’s project element February to May 2024
Photo Museum Ireland pays tribute to Irish artist Ross McDonnell
The Board and staff of Photo Museum Ireland have been deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our friend, multi-talented artist Ross McDonnell.
A filmmaker and photographer originally from Dublin, Ross worked on long-term documentary projects around themes of sustainability, migration and conflict. As well as award-winning films, Ross made stand-out photographic works.
His extraordinary photo series ‘Limbs’ was shortlisted for the Prix Pictet in 2019. This compelling exploration of human fragility and tenacity was made in Jalalabad’s orthopaedic hospital in Afghanistan. Closer to home, ‘Joyrider’, his long term book project in Ballymun that he started in 2005 was launched at Photo Museum Ireland in 2021. With characteristic consideration, Ross noted that “I think perhaps that ‘Joyrider’, created a moment of recognition for a community long excluded from representation. Most importantly, the work has been adopted by the community as a slice of its own cultural heritage and vernacular. The result is that a space for dialogue and discourse is open and a need to sustain that visibility through strong visual narratives persists. This is a space I feel an imperative to explore.”
A solo show at Photo Museum Ireland developing Ross’ work with the community in Ballymun and spanning photography, film and performance was in planning for 2025. Ross was also planning a series of workshops/masterclasses here - a testament to his commitment to progressing photography practices in Ireland. We hope very much to honour Ross' work and share it with Irish audiences in the coming years.
Our heartfelt condolences go to Ross’ family and loved ones at this time.
See Ross McDonnell’s contribution to the Thinking Photography series:
Mark Fielding joins the Board of Directors/Trustees of Photo Museum Ireland
Mark Fielding has spent his working life in the private business sector as owner, manager, mentor, advisor and advocate. He has worked in the printing, food processing, biotech, recruitment, accountancy and property sectors, in the UK, France and Ireland. He has assisted in the start-up and management of more than 500 enterprises. He was a senior partner in a chartered accountancy and management consultancy firm specializing in SMEs for 20 years (1980s/90s). From 2000 to 2018 he was CEO of ISME, the Irish Small and Medium Enterprise Association.
Mark was educated at the Christian Brothers Schools, UCD, Chartered Accountants Ireland and the Irish Tax Institute. Mark has served on numerous European and Irish governmental advisory bodies, including the Company Law Review Group, the high-level group on Business Regulation, the Retail Consultation Forum, SME Procurement advisory body and the Advisory Group on Small Business.
He also sat on the administrative council of SME United (UEAPME), the European body for SMEs, representing over 12 million enterprises with more than 55 million employees. Mark currently is an advisor on strategy, finance and corporate governance and joined the board in April 2023.
Mark’s nomination to the Board of Directors/Trustees of Photo Museum Ireland was ratified by the Board on 20th April 2023. “Mark has skills and experience which will contribute greatly to the development of Photo Museum Ireland and we very much look forward to working with him” said William Fagan, Chairperson of the Board of Photo Museum Ireland.
Click here to find out more about Photo Museum Ireland and our Board of Directors/Trustees.
Photo Museum Ireland is thrilled to have been awarded a Community Grant from the Heritage Council
Her Own Artist Talk with Dragana Jurišić
In Our Own Image will examine the legacy of the Decade of Centenaries, reflecting on issues of equality, diversity and inclusion
Register
Register
Save the date, April 27th, 10.30am - 4.00pm
Wed, 27 April 2022
10:30 – 16:00 IST
Location
Dublin Castle
In Our Own Image will examine the legacy of the Decade of Centenaries, reflecting on issues of equality, diversity and inclusion
About this event
This event will address the role of photography in recording our unfolding histories to consider what histories are remembered, and what histories have been omitted.
Organised by the Photo Museum Ireland formerly Gallery of Photography Ireland and the Nerve Centre's Creative Centenaries project, the event will consider the role of photography in recording our unfolding histories to consider what has been remembered and what has been omitted.
As we move towards the final years of the Decade of Centenaries commemorations, this conference brings together leading historians, academics, artists, curators and cultural figures from across Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain to reflect on issues of equality, diversity and inclusion and how we might better reflect diverse histories and perspectives.
Across three panels, contributors will address the politics of representation. Contributors include:
Feargal Fitzpatrick, photo historian, NCAD
Joy Carey, Digitisation Manager, PRONI
Mark Sealy, curator, cultural historian and Director of Autograph (Association of Black Photographers)
William Blair, Director of Collections, National Museums NI
Orla Fitzpatrick, photo historian
Sinead McCoole, historian
Erika Hanna, academic, University of Bristol
Pauline Vermare, independent curator
Brian Newman, artist
Panel discussions will be chaired by Tommy Graham (History Ireland), Mark Duncan (Century Ireland) and Paul Mullan (National Lottery Heritage Fund).
Timetable
1000 - 1040: Registration opens, tea & coffee served
1040 - 1110: Welcome and opening remarks
1110 - 1210: Panel 1 - Photography & Identity, Re-interrogating the Archives, Politics of Identity and the Colonial Gaze, 1839-1920.
1210 - 1300: Lunch
1300 - 1400: Panel 2 - Revolutionary Island: Representing Conflict, 1912-1923.
1410 - 1510: Panel 3 - Photographic Representations and Cultural Identities
1510 - 1530: Concluding remarks
Please note that this is an in-person event and catering will be served on arrival and at lunch. When confirming your ticket, please indicate any dietary requirements.
This conference is organised by Photo Museum Ireland formerly Gallery of Photography Ireland as part of our ‘In Our Own Image’ project and the Nerve Centre’s Creative Centenaries project.
The event is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs Reconciliation Fund, by the National Lottery Heritage Fund through the Shared History Fund and by the OPW/Dublin Castle.
Photo Museum Ireland formerly Gallery of Photography is funded by the Arts Council and Dublin City Council.
Light, Direction and Self Awareness for Portraiture with Seán Jackson
A good portrait does not limit reality to its visible and material aspects, but on the contrary, it gives predominant significance to the invisible, to the sacred. Sean Jackson.
Alexander by Seán Jackson 2022
This one day, practical, hands-on work-shop will explore the merger of lighting, direction and self-awareness for portraiture and fashion photography.
It will facilitate you with a basic understanding of light sources, light qualities & light textures as well as foundational technical skills for using studio lighting, to progress you into developing your own light language. The core focus is on cultivating quality of presence and connection with your subject in your process.
Juula by Seán Jackson 2022
Every portrait whether personal or commercial, is as much a picture of the photographer and viewer as it is the sitter and more so the energetic connection between the three. It’s important that the photographer can create a safe space for the model, and can subtly jump between leading and following so that felt resonance can emerge. So in this workshop each student takes a practical delve of heightened awareness, into their own shooting environment with a model to explore the elements of being, feeling, knowing, shared time and space through light and direction.
John by Seán Jackson 2021
Students should already have some practice of manual use of a DSLR.
Pete by Seán Jackson 2021
We will work with studio set ups in the gallery as well as out and about under the sky and finish the day with a presentation of the work. This will be a valuable addition to your portfolio.
Kati by Seán Jackson 2021
What will I learn?
Experience how to connect with your model or sitter in ease and awareness
Learn how to direct under different light sources.
Get a feel for studio lights.
Discover how to work with the sun and sky from different perspectives to create effects and moods.
Get a feel for reflectors, scrims and blocks.
Consolidate understanding of shutter speed, aperture and ISO in relation to varied lighting.
Receive personalised feedback from Seán on your images.
Skyers by Seán Jackson 2021
Fela by Seán Jackson 2018
Sean Jackson is a Dublin based Photographer and Creative Director. He regularly collaborates with other artists, brands and agencies in Ireland and internationally. His work has featured in The New York Times, I-d-Vice, and The Gallery of Photography Ireland among others. He is a lecturer of Fashion Photography at IED in Milan, Italy and also works one to one with Creatives and Artists who feel synergy and wish to deepen their awareness.
Seán Jackson photographer by Ben Morrison
When?
1 Day workshop, Saturday May 14th 2022
Where?
Gallery of Photography Ireland
Who is the teacher?
Seán Jackson
How many participants?
10
How much?
€160 Individual rate
€145 Gallery of Photography Members, Students, Unwaged, Artists & OAPs
Please email before booking to redeem discount code at checkout.
What do I need to bring?
Your DSLR camera.
Do I need previous experience?
Yes, this is not a basics workshop, knowledge of your DSLR camera is essential.
Talk: Photography, femininity and leisure: Augusta Crofton Dillon's photographic practice, 1865 to 1895.
Photography, femininity and leisure:
Augusta Crofton Dillon's photographic practice, 1865 to 1895.
Illustrated Talk by Dr Orla Fitzpatrick
Monday 31st January at 1.15pm in the Poddle Room, Printworks, Dublin Castle
Augusta Crofton Dillon seated outside the photograph house, Mote Park, Co.Roscommon, 1865, CLON21, Clonbrock Collection, National Library of Ireland
This informal illustrated talk will explore the photographic practice of Augusta Crofton Dillon (1839 - 1928) of Mote Park House, Roscommon and Clonbrock House, Ahascragh, Galway. Crofton was a talented amateur photographer. Her work is included in one of Ireland's finest photographic collections - the Clonbrock Collection at the National Library of Ireland - and is highly sought-after by private collectors worldwide.
Orla Fitzpatrick has an extensive knowledge of historical photographic practices in Ireland. In her research into Augusta Crofton's work she has examined a wide range of previously neglected source materials. In this talk, Fitzpatrick will draw on her close examination of Crofton's diaries and personal account books. They span a thirty-year period from 1865 to 1895 and reveal new insights into Crofton's experiments with the wet plate collodion process in the 1860s through to her adoption of later technologies and hand-held instant cameras.
Dr Orla Fitzpatrick is one of Ireland's leading photographic historians. She studied History of Design and Material Culture at the National College of Art & Design (NCAD) Dublin and has a PhD in photographic history from Belfast School of Art, Ulster University. She was born and lives in Dublin and has worked as a librarian in various cultural institutions including the National Library of Ireland's Photographic Archive. She teaches the history of photography and visual culture at NCAD and is the Librarian for the National Museum of Ireland.
Lost Ireland - Fitzpatrick's richly illustrated exploration of lost treasures of Irish architectural heritage - was published by Pavilion Books in 2021. She is the recipient of the Peter E. Palmquist Memorial Fund Grant from the Humboldt Area Foundation.
This talk is presented as part of In Our Own Image: Photography in Ireland 1839 to the Present - the first comprehensive historical and critical survey of photography in Ireland.
The launch exhibition in this year-long programme is on display at the Printworks, Dublin Castle until February 5th.
Photography: History & Memory
The Office of Public Works in association with Holocaust Awareness Ireland presents
Photography: History & Memory
Sean Rainbird & Amelia Stein RHA in conversation.
The event will be moderated by Trish Lambe curator at the Gallery of Photography Ireland & introduced by Oliver Sears gallerist & founder of Holocaust Awareness Ireland whose exhibition The Objects of Love is currently on view at Dublin Castle.
Tuesday 25th January, 6pm The Bedford Hall, Dublin Castle
Guests are encouraged to visit the exhibition before the talk.
Seats are very limited RSVP :angela.cassidy@opw.ie
You can also attend livestream here:
https://livestream.com/accounts/285324/events/10097684
Gold Powder Compact, Amelia Stein RHA
The Objects of Love tells the story of one Jewish family before during and after the Second World War through a collection of precious family photographs, objects and documents. Amelia Stein‘s photographs of some of the objects feature in the exhibition and the conversation will include the process of recording such historically significant artefacts as well as a broad a reflection of the role institutions play in documenting the photographic records of the history of the state.
"It was felt that Łódź was simply too dangerous for Jews after the war so in 1947 Kryszia took the decision that the family should leave. She sold her apartment for a fraction of its value, bought gold and had it made into a powder compact. Gold is the perfect currency for the refugee, and a powder compact the perfect object to conceal value in plain sight. When I first picked it up, it was so heavy it fell through my heart. My grandmother’s whole world had been distilled into one golden square of hope." (extract from The Objects of Love by Oliver Sears)
"In Our Own Image: Gallery Unveils National Photography Collection"
Our upcoming National Photography Collection Inaugural Exhibition at Gallery of Photography Ireland was featured in today's edition of The Irish Times.
The National Photography Collection launches tomorrow at 4pm in the Printworks, Dublin Castle.
To mark the launch of the National Photography Collection Gallery of Photography Ireland invites you to join us for Building Artists’ Legacies for the Future Discussion Event followed by the premiere of HAVING REGARD a new commissioned work by Kate Nolan and Irene Buckley at 4pm on Wednesday 19th January 2022 at the Conference Space at the Printworks, Dublin Castle.
This event explores ways to support artists to preserve and archive their work. Our aim is to ensure that the current flourishing of contemporary photography is preserved for future generations. It concludes with the live performance and premiere of HAVING REGARD by Kate Nolan and Irene Buckley, a new Gallery of Photography Artists Commission supported by the Arts Council.
Admission is free, booking is essential. Attendees to the live event at Printworks are required to present their COVID Vaccination Cert and I.D.
DISCUSSION EVENT 19TH JANUARY 2022 - BUILDING ARTISTS LEGACIES FOR THE FUTURE
4.00 - 4.10pm
Introduction to the new National Photography Collection
The National Photography Collection has been established as a key element in GPI’s strategic plan to develop into a museum of contemporary photography. It builds on the Gallery’s sustained commitment to supporting artists in the development and promotion of their work. Through collaboration, we hope to grow the collection as an archive repository offering an overview of photographic practice in Ireland.
4.10 - 4.25pm
How artists manage the legacy of their work
Artists panel discussion on safeguarding their archives.
4.25- 4.45pm
Artist case study and research findings:
Digitising artists’ archives: Artist case study
Results from Gallery of Photography artists survey
4.55 - 5.25pm
NFT’s: creation, curation, and collection: Nascent Technology and its impact on the arts.
Paul Geraghty, curator, will outline findings from the Galleries Without Walls Artists NFT programme - followed by a Q&A
5.30 - 5.50pm
Premiere of HAVING REGARD Artists Collaborative Commission
Introduction by artist Kate Nolan followed by a presentation of new works with a live performance by Irene Buckley.
Performance Duration: 10 min
Medium: Single-channel video with sound
Composer: Irene Buckley
Voiceover Artist: Annabelle Leddy - Warrenpoint, Co. Down.
HAVING REGARD
'Looking out towards the sea border at this time of unrest in the wake of Brexit, visual artist Kate Nolan and composer Irene Buckley collaborated on video works. Filmed in the contested space of Carlingford Lough, which is nestled between the Cooley and Mourne Mountains, it features local children from this undefined, invisible border space. There is the consistent hum of the ferry, crossing from North to South and back again, within the blue of sea and sky. Spoken by the voice of one of the children is a list of contextualising statements and commitments of the Preamble to the 2020 Northern Ireland Protocol.'
HAVING REGARD was commissioned by the Gallery of Photography Ireland to mark the Centenary of Partition in 2021. It is funded by the Arts Council Commission Award and Gallery of Photography Ireland. It marks the culmination of support for Kate Nolan's LACUNA project which included touring exhibitions, talks and events, curated as part of our 5-year Reframing the Border project.
It is presented as part of Gallery of Photography, Ireland’s year-long programme, ‘In Our Own Image – Photography & Ireland 1839 to the Present’. This premiere is curated to mark the inauguration of the National Photography Collection at Gallery of Photography Ireland which includes the first edition of HAVING REGARD.
National Photography Collection Inaugural Exhibition at Gallery of Photography Ireland
Gallery of Photography Ireland is delighted to present this exhibition introducing the National Photography Collection. Featuring a selection of specially commissioned prints by established and emerging Irish artists, it provides a context for an open discussion on the development of the Collection over the coming years.
We want to work with artists to support them in archiving their artistic practice across the span of their careers, preserving their creative legacies for the future. Our vision for the Collection is to define the scope of modern and contemporary Irish photography, honouring past generations and recognising the achievements of contemporary Irish photographic artists.
The artists featured in this exhibition are:
Ciarán Óg Arnold; Noel Bowler; Ala Buisir; Simon Burch; Dorje de Burgh; Krass Clement; Shia Conlon; Martin Cregg; Mark Curran; Ciaran Dunbar; John Duncan; Tessy Ehiguese; David Farrell; Paul Gaffney; Clare Gallagher; Emer Gillespie; Karl Grimes; Anthony Haughey; Seán Hillen; Patrick Hogan; Tobi Isaac-Irein; Dragana Jurišić; Jamin Keogh; Jialin Long; Markéta Luskačová; Shane Lynam; Alen MacWeeney; Dara McGrath; Moira McIver; Yvette Monahan; Tony Murray; Brian Newman; Kate Nolan; Miriam O'Connor; Kenneth O'Halloran; Mandy O'Neill; Tony O'Shea; Pete Smyth; Harry Thuillier Jr; George Voronov and Róisín White.
The National Photography Collection builds on the Gallery’s sustained commitment to supporting artists in the development and promotion of their work. Through collaboration, we hope to grow the collection as an archive repository offering an overview of photographic practice in Ireland.
This introductory exhibition for the Collection is part of our year-long In Our Own Image programme charting the history of Irish photography. It cuts across photographic styles and periods to foster a dialogue between the wide range of approaches that make up Irish photography. We want to create a space where the work of different artists can form a dialogue across time and connect with new audiences. This is particularly significant as we approach the centenary of the state, providing an opportunity to reflect on how photographers have grappled with our shared histories and how diverse Irish cultural identities have been represented.
As an essential critical and historical resource, the National Photography Collection is an exciting initiative for the Gallery and for the future of Irish photography. We are deeply honoured that the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins has agreed to be Patron of the Collection.
On show at Gallery of Photography Ireland
Meeting House Square, Temple Bar
19th January - 31st March 2022
Gallery information
OPENING HOURS
Monday by appointment
Tuesday - Saturday 11am - 5:45pm
Closed for bank holidays and public holidays
ADMISSION IS FREE
FIND US
Gallery of Photography Ireland
Meeting House Square,
Temple Bar,
Dublin D02 X406, Ireland
Supported by Dublin City Council Commemorative Committee, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Heritage Council of Ireland, the Office of Public Works, Dublin Castle, RTÉ Supporting the Arts and Nerve Centre/Creative Centenaries NI. Presented by Gallery of Photography Ireland and the Office of Public Works, Dublin Castle, in partnership with the National Library of Ireland, the National Museum of Ireland, National Museums NI, the National Archives, PRONI, RTÉ Archives, UCD Archives, Irish Folklore Commission, University College Cork, Creative Ireland and the Arts Council of Ireland.
In Our Own Image: Photography in Ireland, 1839 to the Present has been made possible by contributions from: the Estate of Fergus Bourke; Irish Jesuit Archive/Fr. Francis Browne SJ Collection; Clare County Library; Davison and Associates; the estate of Dennis Dineen; the estate of Bill Doyle; ESB Archives; Arthur Fields: Man on Bridge; J. Paul Getty Museum; the Estate of Helen Hooker O’Malley; John Hinde Collection; Alen MacWeeney; Magnum Photos; New York Public Library; Parsons Family, Birr Castle; Photo Album of the Irish; Queen’s University, Belfast; Royal Collection Trust, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland; Sean Sexton Collection; the Estate of Jane W. Shackleton; Tipperary Museum of Hidden History; Trinity College, Dublin; Waterford City and County Archives.
Curated by Gallery of Photography Ireland with the Office of Public Works, Dublin Castle.
Gallery of Photography Ireland would like to thank Dr Myles Campbell, Research and Interpretation Officer (Curator) for the Office of Public Works at Dublin Castle and Mary Heffernan, General Manager at the Office of Public Works, National Historic Properties.
National Photography Collection Launch Event
Building Artists’ Legacies for the Future - Discussion Event
WEDNESDAY 19TH JANUARY 4PM
Selection of images from the National Photography Collection, featuring work by Ciarán Óg Arnold, Anthony Haughey, Moira McIver, Markéta Luskačová, Yvette Monahan, Kenneth O'Halloran, Kate Nolan, George Voronov, Patrick Hogan, Shia Conlon and Mark Curran. Images copyright the artists.
To mark the launch of the National Photography Collection Gallery of Photography Ireland invites you to join us for Building Artists’ Legacies for the Future Discussion Event followed by the premiere of HAVING REGARD a new commissioned work by Kate Nolan and Irene Buckley at 4pm on Wednesday 19th January 2022 at the Conference Space at the Printworks, Dublin Castle.
This event explores ways to support artists to preserve and archive their work. Our aim is to ensure that the current flourishing of contemporary photography is preserved for future generations. It concludes with the live performance and premiere of HAVING REGARD by Kate Nolan and Irene Buckley, a new Gallery of Photography Artists Commission supported by the Arts Council.
Admission is free, booking is essential. Attendees to the live event at Printworks are required to present their COVID Vaccination Cert and I.D.
Discussion event 19th january 2022 - building artists legacies for the future
4.00 - 4.10pm
Introduction to the new National Photography Collection
The National Photography Collection has been established as a key element in GPI’s strategic plan to develop into a museum of contemporary photography. It builds on the Gallery’s sustained commitment to supporting artists in the development and promotion of their work. Through collaboration, we hope to grow the collection as an archive repository offering an overview of photographic practice in Ireland.
4.10 - 4.25pm
How artists manage the legacy of their work
Artists panel discussion on safeguarding their archives.
4.25- 4.45pm
Artist case study and research findings:
Digitising artists’ archives: Artist case study
Results from Gallery of Photography artists survey
4.55 - 5.25pm
NFT’s: creation, curation, and collection: Nascent Technology and its impact on the arts.
Paul Geraghty, curator, will outline findings from the Galleries Without Walls Artists NFT programme - followed by a Q&A
5.30 - 5.50pm
Premiere of HAVING REGARD Artists Collaborative Commission
Introduction by artist Kate Nolan followed by a presentation of new works with a live performance by Irene Buckley.
Performance Duration: 10 min
Medium: Single-channel video with sound
Composer: Irene Buckley
Voiceover Artist: Annabelle Leddy - Warrenpoint, Co. Down.
HAVING REGARD
'Looking out towards the sea border at this time of unrest in the wake of Brexit, visual artist Kate Nolan and composer Irene Buckley collaborated on video works. Filmed in the contested space of Carlingford Lough, which is nestled between the Cooley and Mourne Mountains, it features local children from this undefined, invisible border space. There is the consistent hum of the ferry, crossing from North to South and back again, within the blue of sea and sky. Spoken by the voice of one of the children is a list of contextualising statements and commitments of the Preamble to the 2020 Northern Ireland Protocol.'
HAVING REGARD was commissioned by the Gallery of Photography Ireland to mark the Centenary of Partition in 2021. It is funded by the Arts Council Commission Award and Gallery of Photography Ireland. It marks the culmination of support for Kate Nolan's LACUNA project which included touring exhibitions, talks and events, curated as part of our 5-year Reframing the Border project.
It is presented as part of Gallery of Photography, Ireland’s year-long programme, ‘In Our Own Image – Photography & Ireland 1839 to the Present’. This premiere is curated to mark the inauguration of the National Photography Collection at Gallery of Photography Ireland which includes the first edition of HAVING REGARD.
National Photography Collection Inaugural Exhibition at Gallery of Photography Ireland
Gallery of Photography Ireland is delighted to present this exhibition introducing the National Photography Collection. Featuring a selection of specially commissioned prints by established and emerging Irish artists, it provides a context for an open discussion on the development of the Collection over the coming years.
We want to work with artists to support them in archiving their artistic practice across the span of their careers, preserving their creative legacies for the future. Our vision for the Collection is to define the scope of modern and contemporary Irish photography, honouring past generations and recognising the achievements of contemporary Irish photographic artists.
The artists featured in this exhibition are:
Ciarán Óg Arnold; Enda Bowe; Noel Bowler; Ala Buisir; Simon Burch; Dorje de Burgh; Krass Clement; Shia Conlon; Martin Cregg; Mark Curran; Ciaran Dunbar; John Duncan; Tessy Ehiguese; David Farrell; Paul Gaffney; Clare Gallagher; Emer Gillespie; Karl Grimes; Anthony Haughey; Kim Haughton; Seán Hillen; Patrick Hogan; Tobi Isaac-Irein; Dragana Jurišić; Jamin Keogh; Jialin Long; Markéta Luskačová; Shane Lynam; Alen MacWeeney; Dara McGrath; Moira McIver; Yvette Monahan; Tony Murray; Brian Newman; Kate Nolan; Miriam O'Connor; Kenneth O'Halloran; Mandy O'Neill; Tony O'Shea; Pete Smyth; Harry Thuillier Jr; George Voronov and Róisín White.
The National Photography Collection builds on the Gallery’s sustained commitment to supporting artists in the development and promotion of their work. Through collaboration, we hope to grow the collection as an archive repository offering an overview of photographic practice in Ireland.
This introductory exhibition for the Collection is part of our year-long In Our Own Image programme charting the history of Irish photography. It cuts across photographic styles and periods to foster a dialogue between the wide range of approaches that make up Irish photography. We want to create a space where the work of different artists can form a dialogue across time and connect with new audiences. This is particularly significant as we approach the centenary of the state, providing an opportunity to reflect on how photographers have grappled with our shared histories and how diverse Irish cultural identities have been represented.
As an essential critical and historical resource, the National Photography Collection is an exciting initiative for the Gallery and for the future of Irish photography. We are deeply honoured that the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins has agreed to be Patron of the Collection.
On show at Gallery of Photography Ireland
Meeting House Square, Temple Bar
19th January - 31st March 2022
Gallery information
Opening Hours
Monday by appointment
Tuesday - Saturday 11am - 5:45pm
Closed for bank holidays and public holidays
Admission is free
Find us
Gallery of Photography Ireland
Meeting House Square,
Temple Bar,
Dublin D02 X406, Ireland
Supported by Dublin City Council Commemorative Committee, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Heritage Council of Ireland, the Office of Public Works, Dublin Castle, RTÉ Supporting the Arts and Nerve Centre/Creative Centenaries NI. Presented by Gallery of Photography Ireland and the Office of Public Works, Dublin Castle, in partnership with the National Library of Ireland, the National Museum of Ireland, National Museums NI, the National Archives, PRONI, RTÉ Archives, UCD Archives, Irish Folklore Commission, University College Cork, Creative Ireland and the Arts Council of Ireland.
In Our Own Image: Photography in Ireland, 1839 to the Present has been made possible by contributions from: the Estate of Fergus Bourke; Irish Jesuit Archive/Fr. Francis Browne SJ Collection; Clare County Library; Davison and Associates; the estate of Dennis Dineen; the estate of Bill Doyle; ESB Archives; Arthur Fields: Man on Bridge; J. Paul Getty Museum; the Estate of Helen Hooker O’Malley; John Hinde Collection; Alen MacWeeney; Magnum Photos; New York Public Library; Parsons Family, Birr Castle; Photo Album of the Irish; Queen’s University, Belfast; Royal Collection Trust, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland; Sean Sexton Collection; the Estate of Jane W. Shackleton; Tipperary Museum of Hidden History; Trinity College, Dublin; Waterford City and County Archives.
Curated by Gallery of Photography Ireland with the Office of Public Works, Dublin Castle.
Gallery of Photography Ireland would like to thank Dr Myles Campbell, Research and Interpretation Officer (Curator) for the Office of Public Works at Dublin Castle and Mary Heffernan, General Manager at the Office of Public Works, National Historic Properties.
In Our Own Image: Photography in Ireland 1839 to the Present
The first comprehensive historical and critical survey of photography in Ireland.
Launch exhibition at Printworks, Dublin Castle
AH Poole Studio, Group photograph commissioned by Rev. Fr. Laurence Coghlan, 9 May 1915,Courtesy National Library of Ireland
In Our Own Image: Photography in Ireland 1839 to the Present
The first comprehensive historical and critical survey of photography in Ireland.
Launch exhibition at Printworks, Dublin Castle
Curated by Gallery of Photography Ireland and the Office of Public Works, Dublin Castle, this launch exhibition charts how the medium has both reflected and shaped Irish cultural identity, from the work of the earliest photographic pioneers up to the emergence of a recognisably modern state. Presented in partnerships with leading archives, cultural institutions, museums, and private collections, it reveals the depth of our rich photographic heritage, viewed through important works by key photographers.
Delighted to welcome An Taoiseach at Printworks in Dublin Castle for “In Our Own Image” the first survey exhibition of the history of photography in Ireland - 9th December 2021, press images by Kenneth O'Halloran.
In Our Own Image: Photography in Ireland, 1839 to the Present is the first in a series of exhibitions that will serve to establish the canon of photography in Ireland, from the earliest pioneering works through to a survey of contemporary photography by Ireland’s many acclaimed photographic artists. Unfolding across 2022 it features exhibitions, online programmes, installations, events and education programmes.
J.J. Clarke, Woman with birdcage at the junction of Grafton Street and South King Street, c.1900, Clarke Photographic Collection, Courtesy National Library of Ireland.
Throughout the period of intense change that characterised Ireland in the late 19th and into the mid-20th century, we see how photography served as a mirror for shifting experiences of what it meant to be Irish. More than that, it also defined the way we saw ourselves, creating an image of life on the island of Ireland that still forms part of our identity today.
In Our Own Image launch exhibition at Printworks Dublin Castle, click image for directions.
- The exhibition surveys the contribution of early photographic pioneers such as Augusta Dillon, Mary Rosse, and the Tenisons. Photography’s role as an eyewitness to history is explored through the work of Robert French, William Lawrence, A.R. Hogg and others.
- Photographs of life in the west of Ireland by J.M. Synge and surveys of heritage sites by Robert Welch and Jane Shackleton highlight the contribution of photography to the Celtic Revival movement.
- Photography’s role in constructing popular representations of Irishness is outlined through the production of romantic images to feed the new tourist market.
- The use of photography as reportage during the War of Independence and the Irish Civil War contrasts official viewpoints with the more nuanced perspectives of commercial and citizen photographers.
- The concluding section presents an overview of the key social and infrastructural developments that defined the emergence of the modern Irish state framed through the vision of creative Irish photographers up to the 1970s.
This historical survey exhibition reveals the depth of our shared photographic heritage, viewed through important works by key photographers held in leading archives, cultural institutions, museums, and private collections.
In Our Own Image featured in The Irish Times and Irish Independent, press photography by Kenneth O'Halloran
In Our Own Image: Photography in Ireland 1839 to the Present
Now open in The Printworks, Dublin Castle until 6 February 2022
11am - 5.45pm, Monday - Saturday,
1pm - 5.45pm Sunday, admission is free
A look at the Irish: photography in Ireland from 1839 to now – in pictures - Guardian feature, click image for image Gallery.
In Our Own Image launch exhibition at Printworks is curated by
Gallery of Photography Ireland and the Office of Public Works, Dublin Castle.
This programme is presented in partnership with:
The National Library of Ireland
The National Museum of Ireland
National Museums NI
The National Archives
PRONI
RTÉ Archives
UCD Archives
Irish Folklore Commission
University College Cork
Book a free tour, click button below
In Our Image programme supported by:
Dublin City Council Commemorative Committee
The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
The Department of Foreign Affairs
The Heritage Council of Ireland
Office of Public Works, Dublin Castle
Creative Centenaries NI
RTÉ Supporting the Arts
Joseph Cashman (1881-1969), British Army soldiers on the roof of the Four Courts, Dublin 1922, RTÉ Cashman Collection, © RTÉ Archives.
Launch of our new History of Photography Timeline.
Press image to enter.
Photography in Ireland Timeline.
Explore the richness of Ireland's photographic heritage.Discover amazing photos by the earliest pioneers right up to today's photographic artists.
This interactive digital timeline brings together for the first time a dazzling array of photos spanning more than 180 years. The goal is to situate the development of photography in Ireland within broader technical, historical and artistic movements.
Unknown Photographer
A group of sailors and Irish Free State Army officers on board ship looking towards the distance, c. 1922
Desmond Fitzgerald Photographs, Reproduced by kind permission of UCD Archives.
Visit our pop up Christmas shop at the In Our Own Image exhibition, image by Albha Hodgett
Continuing the story...
National Photography Collection launch exhibition at Gallery of Photography Ireland
The exhibition of the new National Photography Collection initiative at Gallery of Photography Ireland marks the commencement of a process of working with artists to build archive collections.
Gallery of Photography Ireland is proudly supported by:
Alen MacWeeney - Virtual Book Launch
Gallery of Photography Ireland is delighted to present this special online In Conversation event to celebrate the launch of this beautiful new photography book by internationally renowned photographer Alen MacWeeney.
Alen MacWeeney 'My Dublin 1963//My Dubliners 2020'
Launch event details:
Thursday 9th December, 7pm online.
Curator, writer and art historian Dr Margarita Cappock from Dublin City Arts Office will chair an In Conversation with photographer Alen MacWeeney and artist/collaborator Pesya Altman.
Broadcast live from our YouTube channel, GPI TV
Fish & Chips in Del Rio's Cafe
Gallery of Photography Ireland is delighted to be hosting an exclusive online event with photographer Alen MacWeeney to launch his book 'My Dublin 1963, My Dubliners 2020'.
“60 years after a photographer took these photographs in Dublin, the community replied”
In September 1962 Irish photographer Alen MacWeeney returned to Dublin from a year in New York, working for the acclaimed photographer Richard Avedon. Equipped with a 35mm Leica camera, he went onto the streets of the city to engage with life directly as he saw it. Almost 60 years later, during the pandemic lockdowns and isolation of 2020, that we all experienced, MacWeeney’s photographs of Dublin 1963 were shared by his partner, Pesya, with a group of online Dubliners.
The Night - Walkers
The result was a virtual explosion. An instantaneous torrent of observations, comments and opinions filled the screen. As more photographs were posted, the online community scrutinised every incidental detail. Responses bristled with Dublin humour. The people and locations that MacWeeney had captured were recognised and disputed. Discussions and recollections drew in multiple participants, the online exchanges eliciting wonder, incredulity, nostalgia, warmth – and sometimes anger. This previously unseen series of photographs had come to life again in the unexpected confinement of a pandemic to grace a multitude of new lives through a bond of shared interest and humanity.
Children Playing Around Shrine to Virgin Mary
Now all photographs in the series have been published with a selection of these online comments by the community in a book by Alen MacWeeney entitled, My Dublin 1963, My Dubliners 2020. The book is about the power of photography in creating a conversation that unites the community, and transports the viewer back to another life. It is local history. It is about life in a Dublin of the past being brought back into the present in 2020 by today’s Dubliners, “straight from the horse’s mouth”.
Youth next to a Peugeot
For MacWeeney, “Reading the reaction of Dubliners in lockdown to seeing the people or places they knew as children, – mothers and fathers, relations and friends, coming or going to work, playing in the streets, or on a date, waiting for the bus, or just being there as I was at the time, was electrifying; a pure joy to read their responses.”
Children by the Canal
Alen MacWeeney My Dublin 1963//My Dubliners 2020, published by The Lilliput Press €40
Book Details:
Printed by Verona Libri, Italy
89 B&W photographs printed in tritone
212 pages on GardaPat Kiara 135 gs
Signed Special Edition with 'Children by the Canal' print €120, is available exclusively at Gallery of Photography Ireland.
About the speakers:
Alen MacWeeney, is one of the world’s leading photographers. Born in Dublin in 1939, at sixteen years of age he worked as a press photographer for The Irish Times. A London editor from Vogue saw his work a few years later and said, if you photograph someone famous, I’ll get you a job at Vogue. Orson Wells, then performing in Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre agreed to his request to be photographed. This chance opportunity led him onto other theatre, portrait, and fashion assignments in Dublin for several years.
On moving to New York, he continued his professional career as an assistant to the American fashion photographer and portraitist Richard Avedon. This experience began his extensive career in commercial and editorial photography for such newspapers and magazines as Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Magazine. His photographs of Irish Travellers are internationally renowned. MacWeeney’s photographic archive was acquired by University College Cork.
https://www.alenmacweeney.com/bio and https://libguides.ucc.ie/alen_macweeney
Dr. Margarita Cappock is an art historian, curator and writer based in Dublin City Arts Office. She was formerly Head of Collections at the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin which she joined in 1999 as Project Manager of the Francis Bacon Studio and Archive, where she coordinated the documentation and reconstruction of Bacon's Reece Mews studio and its contents. She is the author of the book, Francis Bacon's Studio (Merrell Publishers, London and New York, 2005) and has written several articles on Francis Bacon and other Irish, British and American Artists for The Burlington Magazine, Irish Arts Review and several other academic journals and exhibition catalogues, nationally and internationally. She has lectured worldwide on Francis Bacon’s studio and acted as Curatorial advisor for exhibitions on Francis Bacon at the Hermitage, St. Petersburg; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Kunsthistorisches, Vienna; BOZAR, Brussels.
Alen's partner Artist Pesya Altman first started sharing his Dublin photographs during a covid lockdown which was the books germination, as Alen says of 'My Dublin//MyDubliners' it is 'the book my partner Pesya really created, though I get the credit',
https://www.pesyaaltmanart.com
Are NFTs next frontier for artists?
In March 2021, three letters were suddenly everywhere. NFT became the talking points of evening news segments, rabid Twitter threads, disparaging long-reads and of course, memes. Seemingly from nowhere, NFTs had captured the attention, imagination and discourse of the entire internet as millions scrambled to understand the impact the abbreviation would have on their industry.
The truth is NFTs have been around for a while – having first appeared in 2012, they rose to prominence alongside the first crypto boom when the duo behind CryptoPunks created 10,000 completely unique pixelated characters and gave them away for free in 2017. In May 2021, a CryptoPunk NFT sold for $16.9m at the auction house Christie’s. How did we get here? What actually are NFTs? How do they work? Why did they suddenly explode in 2021? Are they really the solution for artists to take back control of their work online? Let’s explore the answers.
NFT stands for non-fungible token, where a fungible item is replaceable like for like – all one Euro coins have the same value, for example – a non-fungible item doesn’t have the same value as another, like a trading card or a one-off painting. The word token is key to understanding the technology. While an NFT can be linked to any media file – an image, an animation, a movie file or an MP3 for example, it doesn’t store that file, nor are you buying the rights to that file when you buy an NFT. The token stores ownership information, as well as other metadata like previous owners or trade or purchase information. NFTs can also contain smart contracts, which can automatically assign a royalty split, meaning artists and musicians can be paid instantly, and automatically, when a clause is met, such as a sale or a stream.
The fact that it’s sorted on the blockchain is important, as it makes the token secure – it’s much harder to manipulate or change said metadata. The blockchain works by linking ‘blocks’ of information together like a ledger – every change is cross-referenced to ensure consistency so if a change isn’t authorised, it won’t happen. The blockchain is also decentralised, meaning there’s no one server that holds all the information, making it less susceptible to hacking. Fundamentally, NFTs are essentially ultra-secure tokens that can verify ownership information of a digital file. They allow everyone to view and experience a digital asset, but they also allow someone to truly own it.
Why does that matter?
The answer goes beyond the art auction hype of recent months and arrives at a more fundamental concept – the internet, in its current form, has failed artists. When you upload a photo to Instagram, not only does Instagram and its parent company Facebook own your image, if their servers go down or the platform is discontinued, your images are gone. Despite your followers following you because they enjoy your posts, you don’t own them either – you can’t migrate to another platform and take them with you. The same is true for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok and the vast majority of tech companies that monetise free content provided by their users. While none of this benefits the user, it has huge benefits to the platforms that use your free content to train their AI, build data sets and track interactions between users to add value for their investors or IPOs. Where there is a royalty payment made from music streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music and TiDAL, the income made by artists from the dominant listening platforms is so low, a recent enquiry by the UK government concluded the economics of streaming required a “total reset”.
NFTs allow artists to recapture the value that has migrated to big tech over the past 20 years by both allowing everyone to experience digital media but also allowing someone to truly own that media. As NFT platform Foundation’s CEO Kayvon Tehranian said in a recent TED Talk: “With NFTs, owning something doesn't preclude others from enjoying it. In fact, it’s the opposite. The more an NFT is seen, appreciated and understood, the more possibility it has to increase in value.”
But with NFTs having been around for nearly a decade, and the dominance of big tech nearly two, why are NFTs finally having their mainstream moment now?
Hindsight is 2020
“I was working across management and major/indie record label systems, and also doing consulting and bookings.” Charles Damga is the Director of Creator Relations at Foundation. Having previously worked as A&R for Warp Records, and been responsible for bringing streaming platform Boiler Room to the US – as well as running his own label UNO NYC – he’s been deep in the trenches of the music industry for over a decade and is finely tuned to musicians’ needs and concerns. “All of that was leaning towards streaming and digital technologies. At that point we were all really struggling with ‘How do you make money in this brave new system?’”
The answer came from the blockchain.
“Around 2015, a manager and old friend of mine named Jesse Walden was trying to figure out this new revolution of blockchain linking with media. We were sitting in an office together, running a management company in one corner and Jesse [Walden] and Dennis [Nazarov, now head of content platform Mirror.xyz] were burning the midnight oil in another, trying to speak to Getty Images, and museums in New York City, to try and convince them that instead of using barcodes and other antiquated cataloguing systems, they could use this royalty system that would go all the way down to Google Images and could trace where all this stuff came from.”
The ideas predated art auctions and were focussed more on problem-solving for the artists and industry they represented. “We didn’t really have the word ‘NFT’ on the tip of our tongue, but I always knew it was going to be fantastic, it was just a question of when the world would catch up.”
Colborn Bell, founder of the Museum of Crypto Art – a digital gallery that’s a ”testament to those who dared to believe in a better future that prioritized sovereignty, market access, and freedom of expression in the arts” – has been experimenting with NFTs since an early blockchain game called MoonCatRescue in 2017. “I didn’t particularly know what I was doing, it was probably just a project I came across on some Reddit board, but that turned out to be my first NFT. It wasn’t until February 2020 until I started to really focus on the art.”
A few months later, the world would shut down.
“When the money started flying it was the peak of the pandemic,” says Bell. “People were indoors, people were online. It was also the introduction of [social audio app] Clubhouse. It was the perfect storm of people talking, sharing, onboarding, looking for ways to be social.” Among the many industries that suffered during the pandemic, creatives were among the hardest hit. “Musicians weren’t touring, artists weren’t doing their shows, so they were looking for a new medium to express themselves online.”
As the lack of physical events shone a light on the raw deal many artists face in the current internet economy, NFTs emerged as a potential solution to generating revenue while still allowing their art to be experienced by all. But the shift didn’t come from big tech. “[Industries] don’t lead by innovation or completely adopt tech unless they have to, because change costs money,” explains Damga.
“The artists really had to pull this through, because they were the ones hurting. Of course, museums weren’t having foot traffic or weren’t able to open because of limitations, but it was the artists who said: ‘Let’s push ahead on this’. And once money is being made, the industry has no choice but to follow.”
Web3, NFT and me
For people like Bell and Damga, deeply entrenched in the NFT space, much of the potential and excitement has been years in the making. But for the casual internet user who encountered NFTs for the first time via an absurdly priced jpeg, the experience could be slightly less enlightening. To understand the potential impact of NFTs, it’s important to look beyond the current art auction hype and at the bigger picture that the protocol aims to embrace: Web3.
In theory, there are three iterations of the internet. Web1, roughly 1991 to 2004, saw users visit websites and consume largely text and image content, but rarely generate their own. Web2, from 2004 until now, largely focuses on user-generated content, be it the emergence of social media, YouTube, Tumblr, etc. The internet became more participatory as internet speeds increased and smartphones, cameras and mics became more capable and more affordable. But, as discussed, platforms controlled the narrative, and most of the revenues. Web3 focuses on decentralisation, stripping power from a core group of big tech companies and automating secure transactions, contracts and ownership on a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. The theory is that artists won’t be tied to any one platform, and can control their art at the source, dictating everything from royalty splits to secondary sale percentages, which we’ll come on to later. For creators, Web3 means truly owning both their audience and their content. Web3 has community at its heart – while P2P is literally behind the tech, it’s also a metaphor for the values surrounding the movement.
For Damga, Web3 and NFTs go hand in hand.
“I think in terms of community, [Web3 and NFTs] can be synonymous. We really like shedding ‘blockchain’ and ‘crypto’ and these terms that feel very reminiscent of financial structures and have really head-y energies. Creative communities and art can align with [Web3 principles] way more [than financial ones].” Dagma also believes that not understanding the technical complexities of Web3 shouldn’t be a barrier to entry. “You might be able to understand how this really precise tech enables certain things, but we can probably all agree that dependence on the structures of previous industries are broken and are not working for everyone. So alignment on Web3 is a very unifying force and NFTs are a great part of that.”
Artist First
With the widespread adoption of Web3 concepts still a few years away, what are some of the ways NFTs benefit artists now? One of the most exciting is secondary royalties. Secondary royalties allow the original artist to apply a percentage rate of return from every sale. For example, if an NFT with a rate of 10% was later sold for €5,000, the artist would get €500 – they’d receive 10% every single time the NFT is sold no matter what the amount, no matter how many times it is sold. Artists can set their own percentage rate when the NFT is minted. It’s a radical solution that could solve everything from royalty splits for musicians, to ensuring an artist can still benefit from an early work that sold before their profile grew. Due to the nature of the blockchain and smart contracts, payment is instant, and doesn’t rely on antiquated royalty systems that pay out once a quarter or twice a year.
Another is copyright.
No matter what price you sell your NFT for, you still retain 100% copyright on that image, gif, video or sound. As TechCrunch put it: “The NFT purchaser owns nothing more than a unique hash on the blockchain with a transactional record and a hyperlink to the file of the artwork.” The purchaser is buying into the concept that Web3 and NFTs will be a big part of the internet of the future. But they’re also investing in you as an artist and the NFT itself, as a potentially appreciating asset, either as your profile grows or as the price of Ethereum – or equivalent coin – continues to rise.
Thirdly, transparency.
Transparency is at the very core of blockchain technology. Every time a user bids on or purchases an NFT, their crypto wallet address is made public for all to see. Every address is unique and tied to an individual, and every transaction is publicly visible on the blockchain. It’s also possible to see any NFTs that are owned by that wallet. In a world of opaque art and financial institutions, it’s a welcome shift.
NFT Evolution
While NFTs promise a better future for artists, they’re not immune to criticism. Concerns lie around the energy usage of the blockchain and crypto in general, which uses ‘miners’ to verify transactions on the chain using high-powered computers. The Ethereum blockchain is in the process of moving to ETH 2.0, which includes a much more efficient system in an effort to address some of the energy issues. This move is currently scheduled for December 2021.
Another issue, as you might expect with the amount of money involved, is fraud. As it stands, there’s nothing stopping you from taking any image, whether you own it or not, and minting it as an NFT. There are many examples, including the work of a deceased artist Qing Han being minted, and a fake Banksy selling for £244,000. Other fraudulent stories include NFT collectors accidentally revealing the QR code that identifies their crypto wallet, resulting in the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Ethereum. Finally, it’s important to point out that NFTs have no legal groundwork. You don’t legally own them outside of the blockchain. There are currently no legal protections in place and NFTs do not authenticate intellectual property rights in court, for reasons we mentioned above.
As we’ve explained, to really buy into NFTs – apart from also investing in Ethereum – you are buying into Web3. The lack of a legal framework IRL isn’t irrelevant, but when you find value in a decentralised digital future where NFTs have a fundamental role, it’s easier to make the mental leap required to appreciate them. For Damga, the vibrant debate around NFTs only serves to prove their impact.
“Generally speaking, when you see people have so much debate it’s usually around something that’s really powerful,” he proclaims. “There’s gonna be a rumour mill, there’s gonna be people forming opinions if they have to, and they should because those strong pursuits lead people to create things that are hopefully better.”
“I feel like that noise is really powerful and important,” he explains, “because it’s going to push us, especially at Foundation, where we’re so indebted to the community. Community is our entire basis. We have to listen all the time and try to uphold what they’re looking for.”
Are NFTs for me?
Ultimately, NFTs aren’t perfect. But in many ways, the plane is being built mid-air. To truly understand NFTs’ potential, it’s best to look at the long game. Web3 promises a better digital existence for artists, but many of its protocols are still in development – NFTs included. Focussing on what they can’t do now, is missing what they could do in the future. Regardless of your take on NFTs, it’s likely you agree current models of artist remuneration are broken. Web3’s potential offers artists a new paradigm that gives them control while still allowing their work to be distributed to the masses.
If you find yourself intrigued, Damga had this advice. “Don’t spend anything you don’t have to lose on a night out on a weekend, get a Twitter or get into some community like a Discord or Decentraland. Gig into some new universe that’s going to bury you. Communalise your experience, don’t expect one person to guide you or be your north star. It’s gonna be embraced across experiences.”
Bell added:
“Do your research. Mint something on an open platform, begin to figure out the technology, begin to build connections, begin to talk with other people; artists you know who are in the space. Come in with an open, positive, and inquisitive mind. People here are incredibly friendly and collaborative. Find your niche – be open minded.”
Galleries Without Walls
Regional Cultural Centre
Exhibition runs from 13th November – 18th December.
Curated by Regional Cultural Centre and Gallery of Photography
Exhibition text by Declan McGlynn
Project Partners: Foundation for Art and Blockchain, Museum of Crypto Art, Foundation & Nerve Centre, Derry~Londonderry.
Galleries Without Walls is a collaborative programme by the Gallery of Photography Ireland, Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny and Nerve Centre, Derry~Londonderry. It aims to facilitate connections across multiple creative fields, allowing artists to experiment with innovative new formats for presenting work.
Volume 1 – NFTs: The next frontier for artists?
In March 2021, three letters were suddenly everywhere. NFT became the talking points of evening news segments, rabid Twitter threads, disparaging long-reads and of course, memes. Seemingly from nowhere, NFTs had captured the attention, imagination and discourse of the entire internet as millions scrambled to understand the impact the abbreviation would have on their industry. Is this a case of the emperor’s new clothes, or are NFTs the next frontier for artists? We’ve asked the artists to decide.
In this first Galleries Without Walls iteration, five lens-based artists and five audio composers explored the world of NFTs, reimagined current bodies of work for online dissemination, and collaboratively developed new digital artworks that will be exhibited both online and in-person at the Regional Cultural Centre.
Artists: Michael Boran, Ciaran Dunbar, Mark Duffy, Jeremy Fitz Howard, Úna Keane, Nina Maalej, Keith Mannion, Orri McBrearty, Steve McCollum and Ruth Gonsalves Moore.
Collaboration 1
Ruth Gonsalves Moore and Úna Keane
Ordinances and Angels is about the observance of dress codes and the practice of head covering within traditional Christian faith denominations and groupings (predominantly in Northern Ireland). The photographer’s creative approach engages with the beliefs and plays with ‘visually concealing to reveal’ within an authentic engagement with female decorum and worship practice, informed by inner belief.
The body of work was made in 2014 and includes Untitled#02 (2014) which was awarded the RDS Taylor Art Award. Up to 5 individual images have been shown in group shows in Portugal, China, Ireland and Northern Ireland. ‘Ordinances I, II, III’ and ‘and Angels’ are a re-working and further development of the original body of work.
Ruth Gonsalves Moore was born 1969 in Enniskillen, where she returned to live in 2017. Ruth has worked as a community development and community arts management practitioner in Northern Ireland and the border counties, since first graduating with a Social work/Community Development degree and Masters (Equality Studies) in 1993 from University College Dublin. Returning to study in 2011, Ruth gained a first-class honours degree at University of Ulster in Photography (2014) and she regards her subject matter as that pertaining to cultural questions of identity, belonging, otherness and place.
Úna Keane is a composer & producer from Dublin. Since the release of piano solo LP ‘As I Wake, Still I Dream’ in 2017, she’s been steadily building a following on the ambient, neoclassical scene. A classically trained pianist with a background in tech, she blends piano, electronics, movement & film. Her use of cyclical patterns and looped motifs produces music that mines deep whilst conjuring cinematic landscape. Recurring themes in her work link nature, music & science. The sophomore instrumental album ‘In the Deep’ was released in 2019, with reviewers drawing comparisons to the work of Ólafur Arnalds and Max Richter. At the end of 2020 she put out critically-acclaimed Live Album ‘Collaborations’ on her UKM label.
Collaboration 2
Ciaran Dunbar and Steve McCollum
‘Diesel’ investigates the socioeconomic, political and environmental impact of diesel laundering along the Irish border. The series traces the illegal dumping of toxic waste material by diesel launderers at sites along the border between Counties Louth, Armagh and Down.
The economic downturn, combined with the impact of the ‘Troubles’, has helped this illegal industry to thrive. The issue of diesel laundering is one that nobody wants to talk about – it is seen as a necessary evil. Diesel laundering provides cheap fuel and creates employment and opportunities in the area. Plant closures, illegal dump-sites and contaminated waterways are reported, but then soon forgotten.
Ciaran Dunbar was born in 1982 in Dundalk, Ireland, where he currently lives and works. He gained a BA in Photography from the University of Ulster, Belfast, in 2013. Having escaped The Troubles in the 1980s, Ciaran’s parents, originally from the north of Ireland, settled in Dundalk. It is here, against the backdrop of this border town, that issues of identity, displacement and marginalisation have become the focus of Ciaran’s work to date.
Steve McCollum is an award-winning animator and musician. He currently writes, records and tours with the celtic-punk band The Pox Men and has previously released music with Stoisis, The Narty Shams and Action Force Music of Mass Destruction. His film work has won awards at Edinburgh Film Festival and was nominated for an Irish Film and Television Award in 2003.
Collaboration 3
Michael Boran and Keith Mannion
Departures is a series of photographs of people looking at the Departures information signs in airports. Studies of people at that moment, where they project themselves into a future somewhere else, preparing to leave the ground. Departures is also a gate, a portal to another realm. There is an anxiety, a focus on identity and security with all its paraphernalia. Passports, tickets, boarding cards. Survival rations of water and carry on items, baggage.
On one level, they are a record of a possible past age of mass travel, a social study of body language and ritual. On another level, the images are transitory on our screen. Photography freezes moments, separating the frozen gesture from its infinitely postponed future.
Michael Boran is a lens-based artist, working primarily with still photographic images while also making short films and slide shows. His work tracks the fleeting traces of interactions between time, place and activity. Tracing and mapping different movements and directions across the surface, they open up a bird’s eye view of underlying patterns and shifting coordinates. Often using aerial viewpoints from a height, at which the camera seems to be about to float away from the world, Boran’s photographs offer the viewer unfamiliar visions of the familiar. Notions of scale and transference between micro and macro-cosmos are explored in a manner of map-making.
Born in 1964, Michael Boran lives and works in Dublin. He graduated with a BA in Fine Art from NCAD in 1988 and regularly exhibits nationally and internationally.
Keith Mannion is a producer and musician that uses the moniker ‘Slow Place Like Home.’ Based in the forests of South-West Donegal, he has released a series of EPs and three critically acclaimed albums – debut ‘There go the Lights Again’ (2012), ‘Romola’ (2015) and ‘When I See You… Ice Cream!’ (2017). He is currently writing new material as ‘Slow Place Like Home’ and has just finished a forthcoming album as a member of the heralded Scottish-based band ‘Gaze is Ghost’.
His music has been play-listed on illustrious radio stations such as KEXP, KCRW, WFMU, BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6 music and his videos featured on MTV. Teaming with Google, he penned the soundtrack for their Marriage Equality campaign adverts in 2015.
Collaboration 4
Mark Duffy and Orri McBrearty
On Pugin closely surveys the ephemera and dirt of the carpets of the Houses of Parliament, inviting a closer, more detailed scrutiny of a nuanced mess. The series is named after Augustus Pugin, the architect driven mad by his design of the Houses of Commons, whose patterns are still replicated in furnishings today. Linking Pugin with contemporary politics suggests Parliament’s emphatic commitment to preserving ‘fraying’ political heritage is impeding democratic progress in the institution.
Mark Duffy is an Irish artist based in the UK. Duffy’s artworks explore issues of politics, power and media in the public sphere. His recent ongoing work documents the aftermath of the UK’s fractious Brexit referendum, framing these themes with absurdity and humour. Duffy formerly worked as a photographer for the Houses of Parliament (2015-2019) during which his photojournalism characterised many memorable front pages.
Orri McBrearty is a creative multi-instrumentalist composer and producer living on the west coast of Donegal. He is equally at home soundtracking experimental films as he is facilitating the creation of other people’s records as a studio engineer and producer (quite often at the award-winning studio Attica Audio in Donegal). Recently, Orri has released a highly regarded audio collaboration with Little John Nee and was awarded an Arts Council bursary to begin work on his debut neo-classical ambient album.
Collaboration 5
Nina Maalej and Jeremy Fitz Howard
Nowadays, it is often said that we must be aware that the environment is in real danger, as human beings, we are slowly destroying it. Most of the time, this issue appears in an intellectual form. Yet, there is an emotional aspect, which is not really taken into account: what if we let the emotions speak for themselves, would the action of others against nature be more committed?
The photographer Nina Maalej goes to the heart of the Amazonian rainforest, Brazil, in order to create a series of pictures related to the forest fires caused in ample amounts for many years now. The project « amazônia », shows us an evolution, from the seventies (the beginning of the deforestation) until 2050, trying to imagine what the Amazonian forest might look like if humans keep destroying it.
Nina Maalej is a photographer and a designer born in France. After completing her MA in graphic design in Lyon, Maalej travelled to India, where she was inspired by the aesthetic changes in local vegetation. Since that moment, her work has focused on this subject: plants. Through photography, she emphasises the graphical qualities of plants to show their beauty to the viewer.
In addition to photography, she is a graphic designer in a French video game studio. There, she works around the universe of gemstones. She photographs real gems, then works on their colour calibration, which sharpens her eye. Therefore, it allows her to work on the macro and colourimetric universe in her photographic practice too.
Jeremy Fitz Howard studied electroacoustic composition at Keele University and completed a MA in Soundtrack Production in Bournemouth University. He has composed scored for feature films, short films and animations in Europe, Africa and Asia, and regularly performs with groups such as Little John Nee & the Caledonia Highly Strung Orchestra , The Tea Dance Triode and Aul Boy.
Galleries Without Walls is supported by Arts Council of Ireland, Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media – Cooperation with Northern Ireland Funding Scheme, Donegal County Council and Foundation or Art and Blockchain.
