On Wednesday 14th of March, twenty Art and English students from First and Second Year in Donabate CC were invited to ‘Coming Home Exhibition’ in Dublin Castle by Fighting Words.
The art, inspired by the Great Famine of the 1840s, was on exhibition from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut in the United States. It was a great opportunity to learn more about a particularly difficult period of Irish history and how it has inspired the work of so many artists.
There, we were met by our tour guide, Claire, and escorted around the exhibit. We learned a large array of facts about the Famine, the coffin ships, and the difficult decisions our ancestors made to leave their homeland and travel across the Atlantic to start a new life in the United States.
We also learned how artistic interpretation has changed in the last 160 years towards the Famine, how artists were careful in how they depicted the Irish people in the immediate aftermath of the Famine to ensure they could sell their art. However, modern interpretations of the Famine are more reflective.
After the tour, we settled in a small room in Dublin Castle where we came up with some responses inspired by the artwork we had just seen. We came up with fantastic pieces of artwork, short-stories, and beautiful pieces of poetry which we hope to continue to work on back at school.
We reluctantly left Dublin Castle at 1pm and returned to school, but not before a well deserved trip to McDonalds! We would like to thank Jean and Fighting Words for inviting us to the exhibition and helping to inspire us. Also many thanks to Jenny and Dublin Castle for making us so welcome. A special thanks to Claire for escorting us around the exhibition and answering our many questions about the art on display. Thanks also to Ms. Chaloner and Ms. Lowry for arranging the trip!
We would absolutely recommend a visit to this exhibition which is in Dublin Castle until the end of June! For more information, click here – https://www.artandthegreathunger.org/
Report by Natalie Gray, 2nd Year