Clifden Arts Festival connects some of the world’s most fascinatng artists and showcases a diverse range of their innovative works within the stunning surroundings and breath-taking beauty of the west of Ireland, and this year is no different as world renowned artists converge in Connemara for a Visual Arts spectacle.
The 2022 theme of Optismisim is a major feature across many of the 11 day festival’s exciting visual arts spectacles, with a stellar line up of internationally acclaimed artists paying homage to their craft through a series of events.
Among Ireland’s leading international artists set to feature as part of this eclectic event is Connemara designer and creative director Alison Conneely, who will present a project commissioned by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA ), whose activties promote global standards for social justice, human rights and climate justice.
This is a cross-cultural, multidisciplinary project which aims to highlight global campaigns for reproductive rights, justice and equality for women in their bodies; in the home; in the workplace; in the arts; saluting their place in myth and history and their role as agents of resolution in global crisis.
This launch will showcase the commissioned works in this project: Colours and symbols in delicate silk invoke ancient myths, poetic imaginings, Native American wisdom and the migrant’s crossing in a series of silk scarves created with international artists – Maria Azambuja, Alannah Davey, Rosa Fara- hani, Rachel Fallon, Jahnavi Inniss, Alice Maher, Paula McGloin, Isabel Nolan, Jesse Jones, and Hina Khan. In Alison Conneely’s tapestry, set in the ancient bog of Derrigimlagh, a female figure rises from the lily bed pond, calling us to action.
Local photographers respond to a line taken from the poet and Clifden Arts Fes0val favourite Paul Durcan’s last anthology of the same name published in 2012 - ‘Praise in which I live, and move and have my being.’
This exhibition is a prism of contemporary Connemara experience and vision to convey their inspiration here through the lens of six different viewpoints. Kevin Griffin, Brian Kelly, Cliodhna Prendergast, Mark Furniss, Aoife Herriob and Mark Joyce.
There is also a rare opportunity to visit the artist Hanneke Frenkel in her unusual and fertile workshop, Turbot Island. Hanneke Frenkel has been living with her partner Stefan on the island of Turbot off the coast of Clifden for months at a time for many years. The sea gives up the materials of her work to the island shore and she collects these thousands of meters of fishing rope lost to the ocean to create breathtaking sea carpets.
Launching on September 15 2022 the eclectic mix of fascinating visual arts spectacles will take you on an exciting journey and help you escape from your own reality as you relax and enjoy the raw beauty of Connemara.
For more information about the Clifden Arts Festival and ticket sales, please visit www.clifdenartsfestival.ie
