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Catalogue for Feltmakers Ireland’s exhibition, ‘Symbols of Ireland’.
On Sunday, the 2nd of March, First Lady Sabina Higgins launched Feltmakers Ireland’s exhibition, ‘Symbols of Ireland’. To accompany the show, we created an online catalogue to share with the Office of the President, the 47 artists involved, our members, and the public.
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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.
First Lady Sabina Higgins looking at Claire Merry’s ‘Hares in the Meadow’
Dublin, Ireland: Over 400 attendees gathered at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre for the opening of ‘Symbols of Ireland’, a stunning exhibition from Feltmakers Ireland.
First Lady Sabina Higgins, wife of President Michael D Higgins, officially opened the event with an inspiring address, marking a celebration of Irish craftsmanship and sustainability.
The exhibition featured the work of 47 guild members, showcasing many pieces crafted from Irish-raised wool fibre.
Mrs Higgins expressed her awe in her speech, saying, “I’m overwhelmed. I really haven’t seen a felt exhibition before… I have seen individual pieces in craft shops, but I haven’t ever seen anything like THIS! The innovation of the felt, how it is made from the start, is incredible.”
She went on to recommend transferring the exhibition to the National Gallery of Ireland, underscoring its cultural importance.
As Patron of the Wool in Schools Program, Mrs Higgins highlighted wool’s role as a sustainable material, noting its durability and self-cleaning properties. She also connected the exhibition’s themes to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, calling them “the 10 Commandments of our times.” To learn more about the Goals, visit here – https://sdgs.un.org/goals
‘Symbols of Ireland’ was open to the public at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre until the 30th of March, 2025. Visiting hours were 10 AM to 4 PM, Wednesday through Sunday, with free admission.
The Exhibition
Entering the Exhibition
Sabina Higgins and Loli Cox viewing Amanda Robinson Kelly’s artwork
Loli and our chairperson, Deirdre Carroll
The Committee. Left to right, Juliane Gorman, Deirdre Carroll, First Lady Sabina Higgins, Suzanne, Phelan, Lorna Cady (in front row), Annika Berglund in back row, Loli Cox, Adrienne Dempsey, and Elizabeth Redding. (Sam Fagan missing from photo)
Mrs Higgins talking with Lorna McCormack, head of Wool in Schools. Arwork by Heather Byrne
Mrs Higgins and Loli viewing Annika Berglund and Sandra Chase’s artwork
If you are unable to come to Dublin, we have an online version of the exhibition via our catalogue – Catalogue- Symbols of Ireland
The Poster
The exhibition ran from Wednesday, the 5th of March, to Sunday, the 30th of March 30th, 2025, at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre Gallery. Please note: the Centre is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
The artwork featured on the exhibition poster is ‘Brigid’s Legacy’ by Jane Fox.
Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog
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.
A short Saturday morning bit of inspiration for you – two more sneak peeks from the upcoming Feltmakers Ireland’s exhibition, ‘Symbols of Ireland’.
Claire Merry’s inspiration –
“The hare has been one of Ireland’s oldest symbols, dating back to the ancient Celts. It was seen as a symbol of fertility and prosperity, and was often depicted in Celtic art and mythology. The Irish Free State commemorated the hare on the first three penny piece coins.”
Irina Lampadova’s inspiration –
“I have decided to make a sheep adorned with shamrocks because these symbols of Ireland appeal to my emotions. They are my first memories of Ireland when I came here years ago. Beautiful and comforting green fields with sheep and cows made me feel welcome. It was a nice beginning of my new journey in life.”
Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog
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.
Siobhan Healy Ryan ‘Limestone footpath Mullaghmore-The Burren’
Sorry to post twice a day, but we wish to share many exciting events AND our upcoming exhibition!
The Open Call
Earlier in the year, our members were asked to share his or her inspiration to the theme ‘Symbols of Ireland’. We invited guild members to explore and interpret the rich cultural and historical imagery associated with Ireland. The theme was open to various representations, including traditional symbols, as well as more contemporary or personal expressions of Irish identity, landscape, folklore, and heritage. Artists were encouraged to present works that reflected their unique perspective on Ireland’s symbolic landscape through visual, conceptual, or abstract forms. Our open call welcomed all artistic styles and interpretations from our members.
Sneak Peek
One artist worked abstractly, while the other took a representational approach to capturing Ireland’s natural beauty. This evening, we are featuring Astrid Tomrop-Hofmann’s My View of Ireland and Siobhan Healy Ryan’s Limestone Footpath, Mullaghmore—The Burren. Both pieces explore elements of the Irish landscape, each through a unique lens.
Astrid Tomrop-Hofmann’s inspiration –
“I chose an abstract form to express my work, by using Galway Irish Wool and old Irish Linen pieces to show my impression of Ireland and its untouched nature!
The sky with its constant changes, light refraction from yellow to red-orange.
Moorland with its rich brown-black colours gradations interrupted by peat, rushes and flowers with “cotton blossom”,
Heather and broom brushes that blend into the landscape with their play of colours and stones that tell of their past, and touched my soul!
So, here I`m telling my story with sixteen tiles.”
Astrid’s work can be found in the following locations online:
“The Burren’s iconic limestone footpath is symbolic of Irish generations past and the weathering endured during the Ice Age. The majestic mountain at Mullaghmore stands proud over this rugged limestone landscape that continues to endure yet shift and evolve.” – Siobhan Healy Ryan
We will continue sharing our members’ inspiring contributions to our exhibition, ‘Symbols of Ireland’. Stay tuned!
Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog
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.
A sneak peek of Breda Fay’s ‘Anois Teacht an Earraigh / It’s springtime‘
Feltmakers Ireland’s group exhibition will open in less than a week, and we are so excited. There are almost 50 pieces of artwork (47, to be precise) from our members.
The theme of this year’s show is ‘Symbols of Ireland’. Guild member Breda Fay has created her piece inspired by Brigid’s Crosses, which are traditionally made from rush materials.
Here is her inspiration:
“The feast of Brigid is an important date in my calendar, not just because she’s my namesake but because February 1st, her Feast Day, heralds the beginning of Springtime with lengthening brighter days. For as long as I can remember, I have made Brigid’s Crosses from rushes gathered the day before, and one has hung in a prominent place in my home”. – Breda Fay
The exhibition opens on Sunday, the 2nd of March at 3 PM. Sabina Higgins will officially launch* the show. {For those living outside of Ireland, Mrs Higgins is the spouse of the President of Ireland, Michael Higgins}.
The exhibition runs from Wednesday, the 5th of March, to Sunday, the 30th of March 30th, 2025, at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre Gallery. Currently, the Visitor Centre – and hence the Gallery – is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. If Centre staff become available, we may be able to open the exhibition on these days. Stay tuned to our blog and social media for further updates.
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.
The ‘Cinematic Thread: from Screen to Craft’ exhibition highlights the talents of 17 practitioners from the Made in Wicklow platform. Working in collaboration with the Irish Costume Archive Project (ICAP), each maker has created an original piece inspired by a costume from iconic films and television series. Their creations—jewellery, ceramics, textiles, and metalwork—are displayed alongside the costumes.
Feltmakers Ireland guild member Sharon Wells has a piece in the exhibition.
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.
Sometimes, one wishes there was a form of magical travel so that one could instantly zip over to visit all the interesting exhibitions happening in places other than where one lives. Here are six that look interesting!
‘Costures Invisibles: Una Perspectiva Del Tèxtil Contemporani’
What: ‘Invisible Stitches: A Perspective on Contemporary Textiles’ – Weaving narratives with invisible threads, this exhibition explores the emotional connections, aesthetic textures and curious phenomena between the physical and the intangible in our modern world.
Where: Centre Cívic Barceloneta, Barcelona, Spain.
What: “Discover the rich and complex lives of women in the Middle Ages, with over 140 extraordinary items that reveal their artistry, resourcefulness, courage and struggles.”
What: “The exhibition presents the work of Stephen Jones, a British designer who, since his first collections in the 1980s to the most recent, is recognized by celebrities and fashion designers alike as one of the greatest contemporary milliners.”
What: “Enter the breathtaking world of SHAPE! In this fashion exhibition, you will wander past surreal, futuristic, seductive looks inspired by the human body and question beauty ideals. Through these designs, explore the body’s malleability and the creation of identity through textiles and fashion.”
What: “Flowers have, throughout history, inspired artists, writers and creatives. FLOWERS – FLORA IN CONTEMPORARY ART & CULTURE seeks to reveal the myriad ways that flowers continue to be depicted by artists and their omnipresence within our contemporary culture. Occupying two floors and over nine major gallery spaces, this exhibition features large-scale installations, original art, photography, fashion, archival objects and graphic design exploring the ongoing influence of flowers on creativity and human expression.”
‘Textile Manifestos—From Bauhaus to Soft Sculpture’
What: From geometrically ordered weavings in two dimensions to free forms in space: the exhibition shows anonymous pieces side by side with well-known positions, resulting in some surprising adjacencies of comparable perspectives from different periods.
Where: Museum für Gestaltung,in Zürich, Switzerland.
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.
Poster of ‘Botanica’ the current members’ exhibition of the Cork Textiles Network.
The Cork Textiles Network (CTN) has launched its annual member exhibition, ‘Botanica’. Each year, members come together to start their year with an exhibition of works that showcase the vast array of textile mediums used to create extraordinary works of inspiring art.
The Design Crafts Council of Ireland and Cork City Libraries kindly supported the exhibition, which will run in the Bishopstown Library, Wilson, Cork City.
When: The show runs until February 28th, 2025, and can be viewed for free during library opening times (10 AM—5:30 PM, Monday through Saturday).
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.
The subject of two textile exhibitions is scheduled to be the topic of an upcoming ARENA program. The collaborative exhibition ‘ROOTS’ by the artists’ group Element15 & poet Jane Clarke, and The Textile Journey Collective’s ‘Beyond Chaos‘ exhibition are scheduled to be on RTE1’s radio program, ARENA, this coming Wednesday, December 4th.
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.
