Early in September a judging panel made up of international design experts gathered in Dublin to select the finest examples of Irish Design for the 2002 IDI Design Awards, Steve Thomas Emberson reviews some of the winners
The (IDI) Design Awards sponsored by Intertrade Ireland, had a record of over 300 entries split across the nineteen categories that included Product, Furniture, Graphic, Packaging Textiles, Interiors and the fast developing Multi Media Sector. Stephen Moore, Chairman of the IDI Design Awards, commented that ‘The quality of this year’s entries is testimony to the increasing quality, appreciation and value of design in Ireland. It is tremendous to see so many designers from [both] the North and South entering the awards
The Lemon Street Gallery, in collaboration with RTÉ, are currently hosting an exhibition marking the fiftieth anniversary of the photography of Dublin by Nevill Johnson. For the first time a chronological account of Nevill Johnson’s artistic career is illustrated; mainly through photography, but also incorporating his painting and writing. The paintings range from the early 1940s to the ‘London’ paintings. The occasion also marks the launch of the Nevill Johnson Annual Award to assist emerging artists in the North and the South of Ireland, thereby acknowledging the influence of Belfast and Dublin on Nevill Johnson’s artistic development. At the height of his career as a painter Nevill Johnson turned to photography; Eoin O’Brien and Dickon Hall explain why