I AM ERROR by artist Bassam Issa Al-Sabah. Photo: Louis Haugh.

Luan Gallery hosts curator's tour and dreamcrafting event

Luan Gallery is delighted to announce upcoming outreach events taking place on Saturday, June 10 including ‘PORTALS Curator’s Tour’ and ‘Dreamcrafting: Children’s Visual Arts Workshop’ themed around the current exhibition PORTALS.

The exhibition showcases the work of six artists Ann Maria Healy, Bassam Issa Al-Sabah, Daire O’Shea, Jennifer Mehigan, Eleanor McCaughey, and Lucy Sheridan and is curated by Aoife Banks. The Curator’s Tour will take place at 3pm on Saturday, June 10 in Luan Gallery with Luan Gallery’s Curator, Aoife Banks. All are welcome to attend.

Luan Gallery will also host Dreamcrafting: Children’s Visual Art Workshop, with arts facilitator Varvara Vorobei as part of the national Cruinniú na nÓg celebrations from 11am to 2pm on Saturday, June 10. This free workshop is suitable for children aged 6+ to 12 years old. Booking in advance is essential as places are limited.

PORTALS group exhibition delves into playful dreamscapes and journeys across fictional realms. Through sculpture, installation, film, mixed media and paint, the artists featured in this exhibition offer pathways into speculative fictions and alternate worlds. PORTALS embraces the potentiality of technology, fantasy, and the unconscious mind in providing us with portals of escape from the ominous realities of our inner and outer worlds.

The exhibition incorporates newly commissioned and existing works including a site-specific outdoor sculptural installation by artist Daire O’Shea in direct response to the construction of the Athlone greenway pedestrian bridge due to open this summer. PORTALS is the first exhibition to be curated by recently appointed curator Aoife Banks for Luan Gallery.

Taking the newly constructed greenway pedestrian bridge as a starting point, PORTALS considers the many ways in which we transport ourselves on a daily basis; from the physical movements we make from one place to the next, to the cognitive journey into dissociation we experience as we become immersed in digital media. The most frequent, or the most important journeys we undertake are not often recognised as such by ourselves or others.

PORTALS invites you on a path of discovery through directional deviation; offering alternative routes to the usual pathways set out before us. Each work presents as a portal; as a place of transformation, transforming systems of meaning and perceptions of reality.

The exhibition is supported by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon and the Dreamcrafting: Children’s Visual Arts Workshop’ is supported by Westmeath Arts Office and Creative Ireland.

For bookings and information please email: info@luangallery.ie or tel: 090 6442154. Further information on the exhibition and upcoming events can be found on Luan Gallery’s social channels; Instagram: @luangalleryathlone - Facebook: @luangallery. Admission to the gallery is free for groups and individuals. Tours for schools and groups can be arranged by contacting the gallery in advance by email at info@luangallery or on 090 6442154. Luan Gallery is open to the public Tuesday to Saturday from 11am – 5pm and Sundays from 12 – 5pm.