‘The Vanity of Small Differences’ by Grayson Perry, on show at the RHA until 19 March
Hello readers, some interesting updates for today!
I’ve just added almost 40 new listings to the jobs/internship/opportunities page – with three separate Seamus Heaney-related posts (that must be a record!)
Have you visited the exhibition of Grayson Perry tapestries currently on at the Royal Hibernian Academy, ‘The Vanity of Small Differences’? I thought it wonderful, ambitious, and brilliantly executed — it’s a kind of contemporary Rake’s Progress chock-full of art historical references and wit, but rather dark too. Well worth popping in, as the RHA is playing a blinder with wonderful exhibitions on from the Ballinglen Arts Foundation (for lovers of the Mayo coastline), jaw-dropping intricate and layered paintings in the main gallery from Elizabeth Magill, origami on steroids from Alex Pentek, and rhythmic abstractions by Niall de Buitléar inspired by the musician David Byrne.
On Joyce’s birthday (3 February) the new Museum of Literature Ireland made its Twitter debut — this is a new cultural space currently under construction at Newman House, St Stephen’s Green, that’s a project of UCD in partnership with the National Library of Ireland. Its new director Simon O’Connor (late of the Little Museum of Dublin) was also profiled over the weekend in the Irish Independent. Lots of exciting plans in development! Watch this space…
Fancy heading to Malta and discussing arts management research? The Arts Management Studies Research Stream is introducing a new ‘Research Cafe’ coinciding with the Sociology of the Arts Conference in Malta, September 4-7, 2018, and co-organised by one of the Cultural Policy Observatory Ireland founders Kerry McCall. Find out more details here.
Dr. Niamh NicGhabhann is organizing an interesting seminar on Creative & Cultural Industries on 13 February at University of Limerick, focused on cities’ relationship to cultural planning.
Dublin’s Culture Connects is offering a free Introduction to Marketing seminar on 14 March that’s led by two powerhouses of Irish cultural marketing, Rowena Neville and Helen Carroll! Ideal especially for small cultural organizations looking to up their game in marketing and fundraising… places will go fast!
Looking for funding for study? If you’re interested in postgraduate / postdoctoral study in the arts/humanities, be sure to keep an eye on the upcoming NUI scholarship application deadlines in March and April. The Thomas Dammann annual awards for research in the visual arts are also open – a valuable and flexible scholarship fund for students and visual artists.
Don’t miss this wonderful blogpost by Peter Harbison on the life and legacy of Françoise Henry, the founder of my art history department at UCD, and a trailblazer in medieval art historical scholarship on the island. This coincides with a small exhibition of her work currently on show at the RIA (on until 31 May)
p.s. apologies for missing any job updates sent to me in January! I’m getting a helper for the jobs site to keep the updates more regular, as my work commitments have increased exponentially since this blog was started eight years ago, and with almost 5,000 subscribers I get a lot of email! Thanks for your patience 🙂
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