Galway Arts Centre is delighted to announce ‘Beautiful Apocalypse,’ a captivating solo exhibition by the critically acclaimed artist Miriam de Búrca opening on July 15th as part of Galway International Arts Festival. Find out more...
Curated by Megs Morley as part of Galway International Arts Festival, 'Beautiful Apocalypse' will feature a thought-provoking collection that skillfully intertwines a range of media to examine and critique the enduring legacies of colonialism and patriarchy.
Through drawings, wall paintings, collage and the ancient technique of verre églomisé, de Búrca toys with the vocabulary of colonial aesthetics, using strategies of mimicry and irony as political tools to critique the superiority of ‘high art’.
Included in this exhibition is a new film installation ‘Suspended Scream’. Within this de Búrca collaborates with French Syrian artist Taïm Haimet (Winner of the RDS Visual Arts Awards 2023) to respond to an old tape de Búrca shot in 2005 while in Palestine, to interrogate conflicting issues around inheritance, privilege and negation. By looking through the lens of Western art, de Búrca points to the role that art has played in the legitimisation of colonial projects – and the power it also has to dismantle and decolonise these structures.
"We are honoured to be presenting this beautiful solo exhibition by internationally acclaimed artist Miriam deBúrca, her first solo exhibition in her home city of Galway. Miriam’s work is an exquisite, expanded drawing and painting practice that draws our attention to the material and aesthetic legacies of colonisation. The intensive scrutiny and detailed study that the artists explores her subject matter through asks us to do the same - to look, to scrutinise, and criticise - not as passive observers but as active witnesses in the unfolding legacies of colonialism, both past and present," said Megs Morley, Director & Curator of Galway Arts Centre.
Miriam de Búrca studied Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art and the Ulster University, Belfast where she received an Award of Excellence for her practice-based PhD in 2010. Her drawings and film and video works have been exhibited nationally and internationally. She is represented by the Cristea Roberts Gallery, London and has works in the collection of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland; Arts Council of Ireland; the British Museum; Mead Gallery at University of Warwick, Coventry; National University of Ireland Galway; Glucksman Gallery at University College Cork, as well as in several private collections.
Established in 1982, Galway Arts Centre is dedicated to providing year-round access to the arts in an inclusive, welcoming hub in the heart of Galway City. Programmes feature visual art exhibitions, events, films, music, literature, workshops, residencies, festivals, theatre and performance. We work with artists to create, challenge and connect audiences to exceptional local, national and international art that inspires new ideas and ways of thinking about our world. We operate two venues; the gallery at 47 Dominick Street and Nun’s Island Theatre.
Learn more about Galway Arts Centre at galwayartscentre.ie or via their social media platforms @galwayartscentr on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, LinkedIn and Threads.
Galway International Arts Festival is one of Europe’s leading international arts festivals. GIAF develops and produces new work, and presents a successful discussion platform known as First Thought Talks. The Festival takes place each July in Galway, Ireland with attendances in excess of 400,000 The Festival’s CEO is John Crumlish and its Artistic Director is Paul Fahy. For full details of Galway International Arts Festival’s 2024 programme see giaf.ie
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