Frank McDonald recalls the Irish Architectural Archive’s mission ‘to collect and preserve’ an ambition admirably demonstrated in their 40th anniversary exhibition ‘House and Home’
Maurice Craig used to say that it didn’t really matter whether or not a historic building existed, so long as it was accurately recorded. This reflected his rather purist academic approach to architectural conservation, although most people would prefer to see, and even feel, the actual bricks and mortar. Historic buildings of all periods do need to be recorded, however, not least to ensure that they can be faithfully reinstated after devastating fires such as the conflagration that engulfed Vernon Mount in Cork earlier this year (see Irish Arts Review, Winter 2007, p130). If drawings and photographs don’t exist, restoration becomes guesswork.
Mark Ewart visits the studio of Allihies-based artist Rachel Parry who transforms natural matter into mesmerizing art.
Kim Haughton’s portraits, on view now at the National Museum Collins Barracks, reflect on Ireland’s multi-layered society at the end of the first century of this nation state, writes Stephanie McBride
