Acclaimed famine-art exhibition to visit Derry

Mayor of Derry and Strabane Councillor John Boyle has announced that acclaimed international Famine-art exhibition will visit Derry in January 2019
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Mayor is pictured on the steps of An tSeaneaglais at Culturlann U Chanain in Derry which will play host to Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger, with Eibhlin Ni Dhochartaigh, Art Director at An Culturlann and Pauline Gardiner, Project Development Officer, An tSeaneaglais. .
Photo by Lorcan Doherty — Mayor of Derry and Strabane Councillor John Boyle has announced that acclaimed international Famine-art exhibition will visit Derry in January 2019 . The Mayor is pictured on the steps of An tSeaneaglais at Culturlann U Chanain in Derry which will play host to Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger, with Eibhlin Ni Dhochartaigh, Art Director at An Culturlann and Pauline Gardiner, Project Development Officer, An tSeaneaglais. . Photo by Lorcan Doherty

This esteemed collection, sent by Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum at Quinnipiac University–its permanent home in Connecticut, features selected artworks from 50 of Ireland’s most eminent artists, including Jack B. Yeats, Micheal Farrell, Alanna O’Kelly, Robert Ballagh, Dorothy Cross and William Crozier.

Director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum Ryan D. Mahoney said: “At the height of the Famine in 1847, over 12,000 emigrants left the port from Derry. As such a significant point of departure, it is fitting that the art be shown in Derry before it returns to the US in March 2019.”

He went on to say: “Ireland’s Great Hunger Museum and Quinnipiac University are delighted that the art will be shown at the vibrant centre of culture and community, Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin’. We’re overwhelmed by the reaction to the art in Dublin and West Cork, with over 90,000 visitors to date, we anticipate huge interest from people in Derry and visitors alike.”

Art Director of Cultúrlann Uí Chaináin, Eibhlín Ní Dhochartaigh, said: “This exhibition is a very important gift for Derry. It ties into An Cultúrlann’s remit to place the city on the international stage as a place that celebrates culture and community. We’re encouraging everyone to visit us in 2019, and to see this exhibition as a homecoming, because the famine story is our story and the art will provide a deeper connection to and understanding of this story.”

‘Coming Home: Art and the Great Hunger’ has been shown at Dublin Castle and at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre to date. The exhibition will finish its tour at the tSeaneaglais at Culturlann Uí Chanáin, Derry’s new Creative Quarter. It will be on show from January 18 until March 16 2019.