Rare solo exhibition by this  seminal Irish maker based in the Netherlands.                                                     

"Deirdre McLoughlin's work has its origins in a fascinating  dialogue with classical ceramic forms and functions, but it is as if the dialogue has moved on to a concern with the body as a kind of container, and her instinct for the contained void, for the tensions inherent in shape, is fantastic."

Aidan Dunne, Wall & Plinth, exhibition catalogue, January 2008

Curated by visual artist Lucy Orta in partnership with the Crafts Council UK, Block Party will reveal the contemporary applications and creative possibilities of pattern cutting. The exhibition will feature work of 10-15 practitioners for whom pattern cutting forms the basis of their practice, yet whose output results not only in garments, but a variety of innovative forms. Works will be shown that poetically reveal the tradition, history, and skills of the pattern cutter and tailor, in various contemporary media.

Designed by architecture studio Carmody Groarke, the exhibition includes sculpture, interactives, moving image, collage and textiles created by the likes of established artists Shelley Fox, Charlotte Hodes, Dai Rees, Yinka Shonibare, Simon Thorogood and emerging artists such as Hormazd Narielwalla.

A British Crafts Council Touring Exhibition

 www.blockparty.org.uk

http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/collection-and-exhibitions/exhibitions/touring-exhibitions/view/block-party-exploring-contemporary-pattern-cutting

Three makers exploring the decline of traditional craft industries through their practice: Roisin de Buitlear (IRL), Neil Brownsword (UK), Emma McClintock (NI)

Curated by Gus Mabelson.

More info to follow.

An exhibition exploring the ways in which poetry and making can inspire and influence each other

More info to follow.

Artists who work with the manipulation of books and paper will respond to the work of authors participating in the Kilkenny Arts Festival literature strand.

Curated by Angela O'Kelly

Touring to:

Tallaght Library, 21st Oct 2011 - 24th Nov 2011

Galway City Museum, Dec 2011 - May 2012 (dates to be confirmed)

Rathfarnham Castle

The function of jewellery has always been to convey status. This was particularly true of the torc, whose ostentatious size and weight by itself could communicate the force and power of the wearer. The bronze and golden neckwear of the Celts is understood to have had a ritual significance, often being buried with the dead as their currency for the next life, to have functioned as a signifier of Royalty, and to have denoted the wearer as a Celt. It sometimes even had practical applications, such as closing a cloak.
 
In contemporary usage, the torc has become an object of kitsch, often geared towards the tourist. Contemporary examples abound on the web, never managing to really explore the significance of the object and the possibilities of re-interpretation. If we were to design neckpieces now that conveyed something about us - as Irish - to the world, what would they say? And what would they look like? Would they be gold? Recycled? Injection moulded? Would they be images of power and beauty? Shackles? Or blue collars?
 
This exhibition is an opportunity for makers to suggest some answers…

Modern Languages presents the work of five international artists and designers with varying relationships to Ireland. The exhibition focuses on the adoption and corruption of traditional craft practice and repositions the Irish vernacular to convey meanings that are dictated less by historic provenance and more by the personal objectives and narratives of the makers.

Curated by Katy West.

The show was opened by Eamonn Maxwell, Director of Lismore Castle Arts and Curator of the Irish Pavilion in Venice in 2011.

The gallery will be CLOSED the following days over the Christmas period:

Fri 23rd Dec Half day, full day 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th Dec. Full day 1st and 2nd Jan 2012. Open other days as usual for this time of year.

CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery, Cork

The Crafts Council of Ireland’s ‘Future Makers Awards and Grants’ provide support for the next generation of makers to learn, experience, investigate, develop, create and shape the future of Irish craft.  Future Makers Awards and Grants are designed to support students and recent graduates of full-time craft based studies to pursue a career in the craft industry.

In 2011 international judges Barnaby Barford (ceramics), and Anna Lorenz (silversmith), along with Louise Allen from the Crafts Council of Ireland, selected twenty-four craftspeople to receive funding in excess of €30,000 for research, training, residencies, materials, exhibitions and studio equipment.  This capsule exhibition, curated by Ann Mulrooney, Manager and Curator, National Craft Gallery, presents the innovative and skilled work of twenty-one of Ireland’s Future Makers.
www.futuremakers.ie

Events
29th October, 2 – 4 pm, live Jazz with Michael Buckley, (saxophone), Phil Ware (piano)
3rd November – Future Makers Seminar ‘Life in the Craft Lane’, 10am – 4pm, keynote speaker Daniel Charny.

This exhibition featuring exquisite pieces of handcrafted jewellery using gold, silver and precious stones, offers the public an opportunity to meet with emerging designers, invest in some of their work or simply admire their incredible craftsmanship up close. 

Opens to the public Friday 15th July at 5pm for gallery talk, followed by official opening at 6pm.

Farmleigh Gallery

Farmleigh, Castleknock, Dublin 15, Ireland

Irish Craft Portfolio is a programme established by the Crafts Council of Ireland in 2005, to promote and develop contemporary Irish craft of international exhibition standard. The programme is selected annually by an international jury of gallerists, curators and experts, and is promoted nationally and internationally through exhibitions and publications.

The Irish Craft Portfolio 2011 exhibition in the National Craft Gallery was curated by Yvonna Demczynska of Flow Gallery in London. Her selection emphasises the links to nature and landscape present within much of the work, focusing on colours and forms that create a tranquil and contemplative environment.

Each craftsperson profiled in Irish Craft Portfolio is a professional maker with a track record for creating innovative and unique objects - we encourage you to interact with these makers, learn more about their work and enjoy the richness and vibrancy of contemporary Irish craft.

Iconic US jeweller, curator and critic of contemporary craft - a rare opportunity to experience a solo show by this acclaimed and influential maker. In 2010 Metcalf co-authored the definitive 'Makers - A History of American Studio Craft' with Janet Koplos. 

Drawing Day at the National Craft Gallery:
 “I got involved in making through drawing” – Bruce Metcalf, internationally renowned jeweller
Many craft makers, artists and designers would agree with the statement by iconic American jeweler Bruce Metcalf.

To celebrate Metcalf’s work and drawing we will be hosting a week of drawing activities on the National Craft Gallery.

Gallery 1 will be open to the public as Kilkenny illustrator Mick Minogue will explore the work of Bruce Metcalf using the walls as a canvas in a series of public workshops from Monday 23rd – Friday 27th May.

On Saturday May 28th in celebration of National Drawing Day come and enjoy a host of drawing activities for children and families and create your own large-scale site-specific wall drawings in the style of Bruce Metcalf.

The Old Market House Arts Centre
Lower Main Street, Dungarvan

The Narrative Line is a two-person exhibition featuring work by UK-based Alice Kettle and Irish artist Bernie Leahy.
With remarkable fluidity and skill, both artists draw upon their daily lives as the raw material of their work. 
Kettle investigates the dynamics of everyday relationship through the vehicle of the mythic; Leahy explores the detail of the everyday - both share an interest in the quality of line and of drawing. Working through the medium of textiles, both employ thread and line as a narrative function, in the way that it describes the relationships between the characters and objects they depict.

Jerwood Contemporary Makers showcases work by the new generation of UK makers in a fresh and unexpected way. Selected by renowned practitioners Hans Stofer, Richard Slee and Freddie Robins, the exhibition investigates the notion of making by bringing together a broad range of work from across craft and the visual arts.

Jerwood Contemporary Makers is part of Jerwood Visual Arts; a contemporary gallery programme of awards, exhibitions and events. A major initiative of the Jerwood Charitable Foundation. www.jerwoodvisualarts.org and Jerwood Contemporary Makers.

Tours: Tuesday & Thursday, 11am (Booking Required)
Late Date – Friday, February 25th, 6.30pm – 8pm
Tomm Moore, director of Kilkenny based animation company Cartoon Saloon will mediate the Jerwood Contemporary Makers exhibition for the Late Date on the last Friday of the month.

Curated by Brian Kennedy More info to follow.