As part of the Picturing the Border: 1921 – 2026 exhibition which opened on 22 August this autumn seminar which will mark the opening of Highlanes Gallery, 20 years ago, in October, and reflect key themes in the exhibition as well as exploring ideas of the border within an EU context.
Co-curated by Dr Orla Fitzpatrick and Aoife Ruane the exhibition features a number of invited artists as well as work from public and private collections from Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Focusing on representations of the Irish border in painting, print, photography, film and popular culture, this exhibition and seminar will concentrate on how artists have reacted to the border since 1922, moving away from stereotypical and clichéd depictions of the region.
It will show communities on both sides of the border and how the division of the country has impacted on each county and region in a different manner. The gallery’s proximity to the border enables it to draw on local contacts and artistic networks and institutions thus revealing the full cultural response to the over one-hundred year old boundary.
Much of the original research has been supported by Trinity College Dublin.