Brigid – Feltmakers Ireland

Of Interest: Guided Tour on History of Irish Clothing – Collins Barracks Museum – 1st of February

Published on Jan 29, 2025Jan 24, 2025 by Feltmakers Ireland

‘The Way We Wore: Representations of Social Change through Clothing Guided Tour’ – Join Museum Guides for a tour focusing on the history of clothing in Ireland and, in particular, how clothing can represent social change for women in Ireland.

This tour explores how clothing could be used to show status in communities and how their clothing could symbolise personal freedom and activism. This tour features such objects as mourning gowns, day dresses, and Celtic Revival clothing.

When: Saturday, the 1st of February, at 1 PM.
Free, No booking is required.

It is part of Brigit: Dublin City Celebrating Women, which returns from Friday, 31st January to Monday, 3rd February 2025, with its most extensive programme to date. Over 80 thematic events will take place across the city, offering an exciting and diverse celebration of women’s contributions to culture, society, and history.

Where: National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks.

For more information, please visit https://dublin.ie/brigit

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Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com.

Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Review: Brigid 1500 Art Trail in Kildare

Published on Feb 1, 2024Feb 3, 2024 by Feltmakers Ireland

Written by Guild Member Breda Fay

Unravelling an Icon

How could a BREDA not be excited by a Brigid ‘s festival, especially if it’s only 15 km over the road?

Former Feltmakers Ireland chair, Breda Fay, in Kildare town.

On Saturday, I attended the launch of Sult Arists‘ “Unravelling an Icon” in Kildare town, an exciting art exhibition that transformed a town square into an open-air art gallery. Twenty local businesses bought into the idea of exhibiting sixty works in a wide variety of mediums/media of national and international artists in their windows as part of Brigid 1500 celebrations.

A free map and catalogue were available, as well as hot chocolate, cake and savouries (donations to Medicins sans Frontieres). I’m attaching a map in case you are interested and they’re not available later.

How to Find the Artworks

The Opening

Niamh Wycherly of Maynooth University opened the exhibition with an impressive account of Brigid’s life and works. {There is a short video of her opening on the Sult Artists’ Instagram page – https://www.instagram.com/p/C2nDS0xM9Pp/ }

Despite the cold weather, it was great to meet many friends and/or exhibitors and chat about arty stuff: Liadain Butler, who introduced me to felt many moons ago, Tamzen Lundy and Aisling Hassett from Feltmakers Ireland, muinteoirí (teachers) from Newbridge, and the singers from Kill.

Artwork from Feltmakers Ireland’s Guild Members

The exhibition is on for a month…. well worth a visit. There are some lovely coffee shops and eateries in the town square. {It runs through Sunday, the 18th of February}.

Additionally, there is an online art gallery of each piece in the show, which includes the artists’ details, titles of each piece, medium, and social media/links - https://sultartists.com/brigid-1500

To see more of the Feltmakers Ireland members’ works, visit the following links:

Liadain Butler – http://www.knitwear.ie/
Tamzen Lundy – https://www.tamzenlundydesigns.ie/
Aisling Hassett – https://www.instagram.com/aislinghmixedmedia/
Theresa Carroll – https://www.etsy.com/shop/wispsandwands

Thank you ever so much, Breda, for visiting Kildare to see the Art Trail in Kildare town! We appreciate learning more about the exhibition. – the editors. To learn more about Breda, visit her blog – https://bredafay.com/

Exhibition: Unravelling an Icon, Celebrating and Remembering Brigid and her Legacy – an Open Air Art Trail- Kildare Town

Published on Jan 27, 2024Feb 3, 2024 by Feltmakers Ireland

By Tamzen Lundy

Kildare Town will be transformed into an open-air art gallery where more than 20 local businesses will exhibit 60 works of international and national art in their windows as part of the Brigid 1500 celebrations in the new year.

This uniquely accessible art exhibition, titled “Unravelling an Icon, Celebrating and Remembering Brigid and her Legacy,” was organized by Sult Artist-led Collective.

The trail is based in Kildare, reflecting the traditions, customs, and symbols associated with Brigid’s legacy. It marks the 1500th anniversary of Brigid’s death in February 2024.

I’m so happy to have a piece selected for the exhibition; following an international open call in May this year, 215 pieces of art were submitted by artists from all over the world. Sult Artists, a member of Co. Kildare Arts Service, as well as a curator from IMMA, had the difficult task of shortlisting down to the successful applicants.

The idea behind the exhibition is to make art as accessible as possible and create more opportunities for people to interact with art. We hope the local community and visitors coming to the town will really enjoy the artworks and learn more about Brigid.

The exhibition includes paintings, ceramics, photography, film, sculpture, animation, printmaking, stitching, felting, weaving, digital art, stained glass, drawing, embroidery, mosaic, mixed media, batik and textile work.

There will be a map of the free Brigid 1500 Art Trail.

When: The show opens at 4 PM on January 27th and runs through February 19th, 2024.

Where: the shop windows and streets of Kildare Town.

Feltmakers Ireland members Tamzen Lundy, Aisling Hassett, Liadain Butler, and Theresa Carroll have pieces in the show.