Hugh Lane Gallery “Missing Titles”
Paul Kearns and Motti Ruimy were invited to participate in the Phoenix Rising Exhibition in the Hugh Lane Gallery. As part of this exhibition we were invited to ‘imagine’ the title of a book yet unpublished. We chose “2 in 5 how the 40% foreign born transformed Urban Dublin”.
This reflects the reality of recent immigration into Dublin. Some 39% 0f Dubliners living inside the Dublin Canal Ring (population 110,000) are foreign born. This rises to 50% in the “inner city” (population 48,000). Immigrants to Ireland tend to favour towns and cities, most notably Dublin.They also tend to choose living in distinctly ‘urban’ as opposed to ‘suburban’ environments.
Phoenix Rising Exhibition (Hugh Lane Gallery)
This exhibition and related events explore the current place of civic ideals in urban life and contemporary art practice. It references Dublin’s 1914 Civic Exhibition which was inspired by the work of Scottish biologist, sociologist and planner Patrick Geddes and which attempted to re-imagine Dublin as “the phoenix of cities” during a period of economic, social and political strife. The exhibition showcases contemporary artists’ responses to the urban environment using different strategies to understand and represent the city. It includes work by Stephen Brandes, Mark Clare, Cliona Harmey, Vagabond Reviews, Stéphanie Nava and Mary-Ruth Walsh.
Redrawing Project 