2016 Press Releases
The Glucksman and Broad MSU imagine Ireland’s future
The Lewis Glucksman Gallery at UCC and the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University (Broad MSU) have joined forces to present a new exhibition featuring contemporary Irish artists’ visions of Ireland’s changing society and imagined future.
2116: A Forecast of the Next Century will feature new and existing works by 16 Irish artists at Broad MSU between November 5, 2016 and April 2, 2017.
The exhibition explores our predictions and projections of an increasingly globalised and technology-driven world, and asks how Ireland will look from both within the country and from outside.
“This exhibition provides a platform to consider Ireland’s history, culture, politics, and evolving social identity. The spirit of experimentation inherent in the work of these artists challenged to envision a distant future, in turn asks visitors to examine the present through a variety of social and cultural lenses,” said Marc-Olivier Wahler, Director of the Broad MSU.
MSU’s Broad Museum predicts the ‘Next Century’ of Irish art via @KARCurrentState https://t.co/B9CjgbtsQs
— Broad MSU (@BroadMSU) November 1, 2016
Artists featured in 2116 confront the question of the island nation’s future drawing upon many different inspirations — from literature and architecture to technology, the food economy, the natural environment, and individual and collective identity. Site-specific works by Amanda Coogan and Lee Welch will incorporate elements of the Museum’s Zaha Hadid-designed building, and performances will activate the galleries throughout the exhibition’s run. The artists are Amanda Coogan, Maud Cotter, Gary Coyle, Eleanor Duffin, Damien Flood, Siobhán Hapaska, Ramon Kassam, Sam Keogh, Ruth Lyons, Eoin McHugh, Ailbhe Ní Bhriain, Mairead O’hEocha, Niamh O’Malley, Darn Thorn, Lee Welch, and the Centre for Genomic Gastronomy.
Here are two of Ramon Kassam's paintings currently on display in gallery 1 as part of 2116. @RamonKassam pic.twitter.com/Igb1SGOL7I
— The Glucksman (@glucksman) July 2, 2016
And Mairead O'hEocha's brilliant Sheep Standing and Interior. The future is painted uncannily well @glucksman #2116 pic.twitter.com/LdrsZMywut
— Gemma Tipton (@GemmaTipton) June 8, 2016
Spent the afternoon at the 2116 exhibition @glucksman,swooning over Ailbhe Ní Bhriain's video installation 'Reports to an Academy'. Wow.
— Doireann Ní Ghríofa (@DoireannNiG) May 15, 2016
"In our fast-paced and networked world, it can be challenging to imagine the next decade, never mind the next century. The exhibition 2116 invites us to take a longer view - through the thoughtful artworks of sixteen Irish artists,” said Fiona Kearney, Director, The Glucksman, UCC.
“We are honoured to partner with another university art museum, the distinguished Broad MSU to present the US premiere of this exhibition following its successful run at the Glucksman in UCC as part of the 1916/2016 Irish Centenary Programme. With the support of the Arts Council and Culture Ireland, we are proud to have created a platform for Irish artists to present their visionary work in the Broad MSU.”
2116 closely considers one evolving culture, though many of the themes addressed in the exhibition will resonate well beyond Ireland as countries around the globe contend with shifting identities in an increasingly interdependent world.
“As Ireland marks a milestone in its history, one hundred years on from the Easter Rising that would lead to its independence, we have challenged the country’s artists to take this moment to reflect on what may be to come in the next hundred years,” said Caitlín Doherty, exhibition co-curator and Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Broad MSU.
Highlighted works in the exhibition include Darn Thorn’s Aggiornamento #1 and Aggiornamento #2 (2016), a presentation of digitally altered images of 1960’s modernist architecture that proposes a utopic future where unfulfilled promises by celebrated philosophers of the past come to fruition; and The Centre for Genomic Gastronomy’s Future Food Cults (2016), a mixed-media installation by the artist-led think tank dedicated to examining biotechnologies and biodiversity of human food systems. The installation features digital prints, short stories, and packaged food items and addresses impending threats to global food security.
Amanda Coogan’s Rock, what’s the matter with you, Rock (2016), is a performance piece realised in collaboration with MSU theatre students, which features several participants walking backwards through the galleries while holding mirrors of varying sizes, simultaneously reflecting themselves, the audience, and the Museum’s stark architecture. The re-contextualization of this simple gesture reflects upon how individuals negotiate built environments and how we view others and the self.