Putting Irish arts in context has been a principal aim of our collecting mission at the John J Burns Library, Boston, writes Christian Dupont
Among the insights gained from the collaborative challenge posed by the Royal Irish Academy and The Irish Times to represent ‘Modern Ireland in 100 Artworks’ is that for some years during the century that followed 1916 there was an abundance of art and literature from which the judges were at pains to choose their representative selections, while for others they were hard-pressed to find suitable candidates from either discipline. The goal, according to the editors of the resulting catalogue, had been to ‘assemble a cumulative sense of an evolving creative culture, which in turn mirrored the modernisation of the State.’ Instead, the project brought to light gaps and discontinuities. As Fintan O’Toole explained in his editorial note: ‘rather than a supportive relationship between artists and the state, this work reveals a case of artists challenging and upsetting the community and the community, in turn, looking warily at artists.’
Eddie Rafferty’s love affair with Africa is manifest at his first major survey exhibition on view this summer at the FE McWilliam Gallery, Banbridge, writes Riann Coulter.
