The Subversive Stitch
Wed 30 Oct 2024 — Sat 25 Jan 2025
Ground Floor Gallery
Curated by Sharon Murphy
On the occasion of NEST, Draíocht’s Multidisciplinary Festival of New Work in Performance and Visual Art, two distinct and interconnected Portraiture Exhibitions were commissioned and curated in the galleries for the Spring season. NEST maps the ‘here and now’ through the eyes of children and young people, aged 8 weeks to twenty-two years in Dublin 15.
Rooted in portraiture, the exhibitions are multiple in their perspectives and consistent in the depth of feeling that a generation of children and young people living in Dublin 15 attach to the idea of ‘Nest’. The vibrancy and diversity of the works presented on paper, canvas and vinyl mirror those same characteristics in the young people at its core. Dublin 15 has the fastest-growing population of young people under 30 in Ireland. 26% of its people are aged under 15 years and nearly 25% of them are described as the ‘new Irish’: twice the national average.
NEST | The Portrait Project in the Ground Floor Gallery presents a new series of specially commissioned artworks in paintings and drawings from four of Ireland's leading artists, Zsolt Basti, Sahoko Blake (ARHA), Dorothy Smith (ARHA), Una Sealy (RHA). The exhibition featured works of portraiture and companion pieces inspired by the 23 children and young people participating in NEST.
NEST | You, Me, Us in the First Floor Gallery features a photographic and collage installation of portraiture, drawing and testimonials made by 153 young people from Dublin 15 schools participating in NEST and investigated identify and self-representation. Led by Photographer-in-Residence, Liadh Connolly, the young people were invited to compose, stage, costume and style portraits of each other.
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On 13th April 2024, Draíocht formally gifted a consignment of 48 art works in charcoal, pencil and oil by four artists: Zsolt Basti, Sahoko Blake (ARHA), Una Sealy (RHA), Dorothy Smith (ARHA) to Fingal County Council’s Municipal Art Collection. These works were commissioned by Draíocht as part of its recent NEST Project, funded by the Arts Council’s Open Call stream of funding entitled: ART: 2023, a Decade of Centenaries, a collaboration between the Arts Council and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
The Mayor of Fingal, Councillor Adrian Henchy, and Fingal County Council Children and Youth Arts Officer, Julie Clarke, formally accepted the gift from Draíocht, at the closing NEST Gallery Exhibition event on 13th April 2024. Each child who took part in NEST, received a digital print of their portrait as a memento of their participation in the project.
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“These 48 works capture a moment in time and are representative of both the young and brilliantly diverse population that make Fingal a great place to live. The gifting of same into the Fingal Collection enables them to remain as a body of work and facilitates the possibility of them being seen by many more young people and communities all across Fingal and indeed, beyond. NEST, in both the performative and visual arts aspects of the project, was a huge undertaking. But Draíocht has a track record of delivering projects of scale to the highest standards. The organisation's ongoing commitment to the support of artists and the engagement of the public and facilitating the relationship between those two communities is steadfast. The impact of NEST will be felt for many years to come. I know that each 'host' is receiving a digital print of their portrait today and I'm sure they will be hung proudly on walls all over Dublin 15 as a memento of their participation in the project.”
- Cllr Adrian Henchy, Mayor of Fingal, 13 April 2024
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NEST is based on HOME THEATRE, an original idea by Marcus Vinicius Faustini (Brazil) and Kerry Kyriacos Michael (UK). Draíocht’s iteration, HOME THEATRE (Ireland), took place in 2018.
NEST is funded by ART: 2023, a Decade of Centenaries Collaboration between The Arts Council and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
#DecadeOfCentenaries #Art2023 #NEST #SpreachaSoarFestival
Dorothy Smith, Una Sealy, Zsolt Basti, Curator Sharon Murphy, infront artist Sahoko Blake.
"Nest has given me the unique insight of seeing the world of growing up or studying in Dublin 15, through the eyes of the next generation. The project has brought us into their worlds, their schools, homes, interests, and families; and the live portrait sittings in Draíocht studio provided an opportunity for collaborative engagement, chats and fun with the young people and their Ambassadors. The resulting artworks will form a visual record of a particular time and place, and of a two-way exchange between Artist and Host" - Una Sealy, Artist