Eileen Singleton
Opening on Thursday, 31 October 2024
Irish Wings Athens!
A Celebration of Irish & Greek Ceramics
Museum of Traditional Greek Pottery, Athens
Following their presentation at St Carthage Cathedral in Lismore, Ireland in May-June 2024, at the Old School in Loggos, Paxos, Greece in July 2024 and at the at the Courthouse Arts Centre in Tinahely, Ireland in August 2024, eight prominent Irish ceramicists – Isobel Egan, Sinead Fagan, Jane Jermyn, Ann McBride, Marcus O’Mahony, Eileen Singleton, Kathleen Standen & Bernadette Tuite – will be exhibiting in the company of their Greek colleagues – Ilias Christopoulos, Mirka Drapaniotou, Manos Kalamenios, Haroula Koropouli, Iosifina Kosma, Ifigenia Tsirou, Giorgos Vavatsis – at the Museum of Traditional Greek Pottery in Athens from 31 October to 16 November 2024.
The project for these four exhibitions – bringing together contemporary Greek and Irish ceramicists in a dynamic creative dialogue – was initiated last summer in an exhibition held in Paxos for the fifth edition of the annual Irish festival of Paxos – Irish Wings, 2023: “Irish and Greek Ceramic Art in Paxos” (Old Schoolhouse, Loggos, 14 July – 8 August 2023). Since 2017 the Irish Wings festival, under the direction of Kathryn Baird, has brought important Irish contemporary musicians, poets, writers and artists to Paxos, Greece in events and exhibitions attended every year by an enthusiastic international audience and by the Irish Ambassador to Greece.
This is the first exhibition of contemporary Irish ceramics in Athens. It is a unique opportunity for a Greek audience and the Athens Irish community to discover the variety in form, texture, colour, technique and expressivity of contemporary Irish ceramics in a creative dialogue with well-known Greek ceramic artists.
The Athens Museum of Traditional Greek Pottery also houses the Centre for the Study of Modern Ceramics of the G. Psaropoulou Institute, an educational and research centre for ceramics. It has the most extensive collection of traditional Greek ceramics in Greece and is located in one of the most beautiful parts of old Athens, next to the ancient cemetery of Kerameikos, one of the richest archeological sites for ancient ceramics. It is the ideal venue for an exhibition of this kind. The recent works of the fifteen artists partaking in the exhibition will be shown in the context of the museum’s displays of traditional Greek rural pottery. Contrasts, but also unexpected links will thus be revealed in this display in which modernity and tradition will coexist in a hopefully, vibrant and exciting dialogue between different island nations and eras.
A slide presentation on the history of contemporary Irish ceramics will be held in English and in Greek by Irish ceramicist Jane Jermyn at the museum on Monday 4 November at 8pm.
Exhibition curated by Nikos Liaros, Chris Boïcos & Jane Jermyn.
Place: Athens Museum of Traditional Greek Pottery, 4-6 Melidoni St., 105 53 Athens
Metro: Thissio
Opening reception in the presence of the artists: Thursday 31 October from 8pm.
Slide lecture on Irish ceramic art: Monday 4 November, 8pm.
Entry: Free
Exhibition dates: 31 October to 16 November 2024. Open daily 3 to 8pm
Information & images:
potterymuseum.gr@gmail.com / + 30 2103318491
contact@boicosfinearts.com / + 33 686 58 98 09
janejermyn@gmail.com / + 353 87 218 7962
Iosifina Kosma
