To mark this most unusual of years, Galway International Arts Festival has commissioned award-winning visual artist, Jennifer Cunningham, to create a commemorative artwork for their once-off Autumn Edition programme.
The artwork, aptly titled "We are all Navigators" is now available for purchase in poster form at the Festival Gallery on William Street (open Wednesday – Sunday until 26 September), and through the festival's online store at GIAF.ie. A limited edition first run of 100 posters has now been released.
Jennifer Cunningham’s hopeful piece is both a celebration of the recent past and a look to a more optimistic future. The iconic blue of the Heineken Big Top glitters above Olivier Grossetête’s 'The People Build', the collaborative cardboard construction Festival-goers will remember from recent years. The 2018 People Build project, depicted in Cunningham’s artwork, was a testimony to Galway’s River Corrib Viaduct, and the bridge that was once part of the famous Galway to Clifden Railway.
Commenting on the commission artist Jennifer Cunningham said in her artists’ statement: “Galway International Arts Festival had a huge impact on me growing up, with the colour and joy it brought to the city each year. For example, one of the first events that sticks out in my memory was when Gulliver washed up at Grattan Beach. It is a huge honour to be considered to design a poster for this year’s Festival, and hugely uplifting to have someone put their faith in you in these incredibly uncertain times. Art seeks to make sense of everything; it helps us to process and come to terms with the things in life that we can’t really control and can’t really explain.”
Jennifer Cunningham’s 2018 GIAF exhibition, After the Future, was a sell-out when it premiered at the Festival Gallery. This limited edition poster promises to be hugely popular amongst collectors of GIAF posters and art lovers alike, and is the perfect souvenir for those who cannot be in Galway for the Festival this year.
Commenting on the commission, GIAF’s Artistic Director, Paul Fahy said: “We are delighted to work once again with Jennifer Cunningham, one of Galway’s most unique and original artists. 2020 has been such a challenging year for everyone and we were heartbroken to cancel the July Festival. Jennifer has captured a beautiful sense of the Festival which we wanted to celebrate in this commemorative poster.”
The poster print is available framed (€80) and unframed (€40). It is sizes at 540mm (W) x 850 mm(H), printed on high quality gloss paper and can be shipped worldwide. It is available to purchase online HERE or in-person at the Festival Gallery on William Street from Wednesday – Sunday. The opening hours of the gallery are 12pm–6pm Wed–Sun and until 8pm Friday. It is closed Monday and Tuesday.
Galway International Arts Festival’s Autumn Edition is now on with events taking place in the city until 26 September, including Mirror Pavilion by John Gerrard, which moves from Galway to Derrigimlagh Bog, Connemara from 11-31 October. Galway International Arts Festival would like to acknowledge the support of its principal funding agencies the Arts Council and Fáilte Ireland, Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture, Education Partner NUI Galway, Festival Energy partner Flogas and Drinks Partner Heineken®.
