AN ART trail, in and around the city’s ‘Latin Quarter’, opens tomorrow [April 16] to coincide with this month’s Cúirt International Festival of Literature.
Artists have been asked to make art inspired by a favourite piece of literature, be it from a poem, a novel, or song lyrics. The works can be in the form of paint, print, sculptor, or video art. The event is curated by Margaret Nolan, and sponsored by Tigh Neacthain’s Jimmy McGuire.
Margaret and Jimmy first had talks about “how lovely it would be” to do an art trail around the Latin Quarter, similar to the art trail for the Cliffen Arts Festival, by putting pieces of art into windows around the town.
“We decided to approach Cúirt and see if we could do it during the festival,” Margaret says. “‘Yes’ was the answer, but only if it’s related to literature in some way. We put the word out to the artists to make art with a literature theme. It goes from Dr Seuss’s The Cat In The Hat to Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Some artists have written their own poems for the trail.”
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Fifty artists are taking part in the art trail which involves 50 locations around town. Among the participating artists are Joe Boske, Tom Mathews, Brian Bourke, and Piotr Bienazese. “I thought we would get only a few places and artists, around 15 maybe,” says Margaret, “but everybody we approached was very interested in it. All of the businesses in the area have been very supportive.”
The art trail runs until April 30. It starts at Easons, Shop Street, and winds its way around the Latin Quarter, ending at Tigh Neacthain. A map of the trail is available from various local outlets.
