PhotoIreland is living up to its name this year, its hungry limbs reaching across the length of the country to put on group shows in Cork and Limerick as well as good ol’ Dub. Each of the three key cities will have a Main Exhibition (Dublin’s taking place at Moxie Studios, also home to this years’ Book and Magazine Fair), while us capital lads get a couple of bonus solo shows to boot. To get you in the mood, here are some highlights of the PhotoIreland exhibitions that will be on show in the coming weeks.
Cristina De Middel – *The Afronauts*
For something different, catch Cristina De Middel, exhibiting alongside last year’s portfolio review winner David Galjaard, at The Copper House Gallery from July 13. De Middel’s The Afronauts is an exploration of Zambian pseudo-scientist Edward Makuka Nkoloso’s forgotten scheme to send the first African men into space following Zambian independence in 1964. Treating its subject with a little inventiveness, The Afronauts presents “a fictional portrait of a national dream” that never was.
David Galjaard – *Concresco*
Following World War II, and under the illusion that the communist country was in constant danger of being invaded, Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha based his defences on a staggering 750,000 above ground bunker network. Perhaps disappointingly for Hoxha it was never needed, but they are now the subject of David Galjaard’s award winning photo-documentary at The Copper House Gallery on July 13. In keeping with the fascination provided by visitors to the country and the Albanian disinterest at looking to the past, Galjaard uses the bunkers as a metaphor to tell a wider social narrative about what was the last European country to renounce communism.
Jeanette Lowe – *Pearse House: Village in the City*
Jeanette Lowe displays a series of images that convey a largely seen but unnoticed part of Dublin. Between the National Photographic Archive gallery in Temple Bar and the Pearse House flats, Lowe will exhibit the vibrancy and history of the Pearse House community through photography and other media. There is also the unique chance to travel back in time, of sorts, to a Pearse House flat converted back to the 1930s. The exhibition is an expansion of the Dublin photographer’s previous work inspired by the area, which won the People’s Choice Award at last year’s PhotoIreland Festival. The exhibition starts on the 8th August.
New Irish Works
New Irish Works brings together an amalgamation of photographers, both Irish-born and based, to highlight the talent and diversities of Ireland’s contemporary photography culture. Set up as a multi-city exhibition, with 25 photographers in total, the showing at the National Photographic Archive in Temple bar on the 4th July will feature selected works by seven photographers: Barry W. Hughes, Dorje de Burgh, Dragana Jurisic, Kevin Griffin, Linda Brownlee, Robert Ellis and Shannon Guerrico.
As a sample, Kevin Griffin explores the little known Omey Island and its sole inhabitant, while Dragana Jurisic recalls and questions her memories of her birth place, Yugoslavia, in the process retracing and examining the country that has since disintegrated.
See a full gallery of the featured photographers in our online gallery over here.
Summer Campus
Located in the multi-dimensional Moxie art studio on Lad Lane between July 11th – 14th, the Summer Campus is a chance to converse, create and explore. Under one roof, the event combines The Book & Magazine Fair which offers the latest artists’ photobooks with the Portfolio 13, a review of international portfolios in Dublin and an opportunity to meet the artists. The German photographer Jörg Colberg will also provide some discussion with a talk on the promises and challenges of online photography.
The PhotoIreland Festival runs from July 1 – 31, see here for more information.
