This group exhibition, previously shown at the Olivier Cornet Gallery, Dublin (April – May 2024), is a response to the increasingly dangerous geo-political situation in the world today. It features the work of four artists (clockwise from top left): Tom Molloy, Jill Gibbon, (me) Gail Ritchie and Eoin Mac Lochlainn. Conceptually, the exhibition blends history, memory, reality and imagination. Temporally, the work on show forms an arc that connects early 20th Century conflicts to the present day wherein war, through the faux respectability of the international arms trade, is exposed as a commodity. Ironically, we had to shift the preview time to earlier in the evening so that those coming to the opening could get home safely. Why? Because, the previous night the streets around the gallery were the sites of sporadic rioting and anti-social behaviour i.e. burning stuff and throwing stuff. This was part of wider violence directed at 'immigrants' over the preceeding nights and tied into shocking violence and rioting on the mainland by 'concerned citizens' many of whom are now being given jail sentences. What impact, I wonder, would an exhibition like this have on those who prefer violence to dialogue, hatred instead of compassion and understanding? Ireland has always been associated with hospitality. Is it hospitable only to those who are not overstaying or those whose skin colour is the same as our own? We assume we will be welcome wherever we chose to go but what about those who come here because they have no choice? Céad Míle Fáilte - is one hundred thousand the limit of our welcome?
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