TWENTY-ONE uniquely decorated currachs have journeyed from Inis Oírr to the NUI Galway campus - where they will be on display until next month - marking a new partnership between Áras Éanna and the university.
The exhibition, featuring currachs which have been turned into artworks by John Behan, Jennifer Cunningham, Ger Sweeney and Áine Phillips, among others - is on display in the Quadrangle, NUIG, and is open to the public, without the need for prior booking.
The exhibition also marks the beginning of a new partnership between the Áras Éanna arts centre on Inis Oírr - the currachs were on display across the island during August - and the university, which will seek to promote the Aran Islands, and the west of Ireland, more generally as places of culture, learning, and research.
.
NUIG President, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, with Áras Éanna artistic director, Dara MacAoidh, in the Quadrangle, NUIG, to mark a new partnership between the university and arts centre on Inis Oírr. Photo:- Aengus McMahon.
A new fund has also been established by NUIG to support staff and students who wish to travel to the island and use the facilities at Áras Éanna as part of their studies.
“I often use the metaphor of the ‘currach full of fish coming in to shore’ from Máirtín Ó Direáin’s poem ‘An tEarrach Thiar’ to describe the resourcefulness and potential of our university community and our region,” said NUIG president, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh. “We respect the unique language, culture, and environment that we share in the West of Ireland and we are open to collaborating with Áras Éanna and the Inis Oírr community to promote that distinctiveness as part of the life of our university.”
The exhibition runs until October 10.
