Galway Arts Centre will present the prestigious 2021 Turner Prize winning work in Galway this August and September — the first time the work will be seen in Ireland.
The works, installations and performance events are presented by Belfast’s Array Collective, who were awarded the Turner Prize in December 2021. The work is on loan from National Museums NI, who acquired the work for their permanent collection at the Ulster Museum.
The installation will run in Galway Arts Centre’s performance space, Nun’s Island Theatre, from 13 August – 30 September while a wider exhibition of works will be on display in Galway Arts Centre’s gallery space just a short walk away.
The Turner Prize was first awarded in 1984 to encourage wider interest in contemporary art, and to assist Tate Britain in acquiring new works. It is one of the best-known prizes for visual arts and is a highlight of the contemporary art calendar. It is awarded to artist/s from, or based in, Britain for an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work.
The 2021 winners, the Array Collective, is a group of 11 Belfast-based artists from the north and south of Ireland, England and Italy. They all live and work in Belfast creating collaborative projects in response to issues affecting Northern Ireland and issues around access to abortion, gay rights, mental health, gentrification and social welfare.
They are the first artists from Northern Ireland to win the Prize and their work encompasses performances, protests, exhibitions and events. While each has their own artistic practice, the prize was won as a collective.
Commenting the Array Collective said, “We are all delighted to be able to show the work in Galway and open up a fresh dialogue with audiences in Ireland following on from the conversations it generated in England. The Galway outing naturally lends itself to explorations of the myths, music and politics inherent in the work.”
Newly appointed Galway Arts Centre Director/Curator Megs Morley said. “We are absolutely thrilled to be presenting the Array Collective’s Turner Prize winning work in our spaces in Nun’s Island Theatre and Galway Arts Centre. This event marks a significant milestone for Galway Arts Centre and we’re excited to invite audiences from near and far to Galway this August/September to be the first to see this work in Ireland.”
Part of this major installation is The Druthaib’s Ball, centred on an imagined síbín - an illegal bar – with a floating roof made from banners created for protests and demonstrations. The Druthaib’s Ball is a built installation that invites audiences into an immersive experience reflecting the lively community hub of the Irish síbin, a long-established tradition of an illegal bar and space of contradiction, dark humour, and craic. Audiences will gather in this síbin – populated by semi-mythological drúthaib, along with the Ball’s esteemed guests. To accompany the installation there will be a programme of events with local social justice groups, artists and musicians to animate the sibín with traditional music sessions, dance, storytelling and song.
The Array Collective’s Turner Prize winning installation opens on 13 August in Nun’s Island Theatre in Galway and runs until 30 September. A wider exhibition of artworks by the Array Collective will be on view in the Galway Arts Centre’s gallery spaces providing a unique opportunity for audiences in Galway and beyond to experience the prolific and vibrant work of this incredible artist collective.
