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Taking place from the 4th to 19th July in numerous venues throughout County Donegal, this vibrant arts festival includes a lively mix of music, theatre, exhibitions, film, children's entertainment and family shows. Featuring established local, national and international performers, there really is something on offer for everyone with past performances ranging from deeply moving dramas to children's comedy sketches. Over 25,000 people attend events ranging from art exhibitions to live music concerts during the two-week run of the festival.

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Different Things

A Flavour of International Contemporary Art from the Irish Museum of Modern Art’s Collection

 Artlink, Buncrana, in association with the Irish Museum of Modern Art’s National Programme is delighted to show a selection of art from the IMMA Collection. The exhibition entitled Different Things: A Flavour of International Contemporary Art from the Irish Museum of Modern Art’s Collection will be officially opened by Buncrana Mayor Lee Tedstone, at 7pm on Friday 3^rd July in Artlink Gallery, Fort Dunree. The exhibition will continue throughout July. 

 The Irish Museum of Modern Art’s Collection is comprised of some 4500 works, the emphasis of this collection is on work from 1940 onwards. Artlink Director, Elaine Forde is delighted to be given the opportunity to exhibit artworks from the IMMA Collection at Artlink Gallery Fort Dunree. This exhibition will mark the first time artworks from this prestigious collection will have been shown in Inishowen.

 The exhibition in its totality will offer a disparate view of International contemporary art produced during the first decade of the 21st Century. We will see contemporary art at its best, different in its meaning, execution and media, giving the viewer a glimpse of art trends from individual countries. In short giving to local community Different Things.

 The unity of this exhibition is in the diversity. Different Things brings together artworks from seven artists - two Irish and five International. Although it is tenuous to link the artists together, one may notice the power of drawing and its translation in each artist’s work. If one takes this as a starting point then it is fair to say that Mexican artist Carlos Amorales Dark Mirror is the catalyst for the show. This work began from his bank of drawings, which he calls the “liquid archive”, when he invited an animator and pianist to select and respond to his drawings. Dark Mirror, a double-sided projection shows the response of the animation and pianist. It is a powerful piece, which not only challenges the idea of collaboration but also of drawing.

 The Irish artists translation of drawing is as one expects but none the less Garrett Phelan and Tom Molloy’s work illustrate the diversity of contemporary Irish art practice. Phelan’s quick and immediate drawings explore ‘the formation of opinion’ and ‘the absolute present’. Paradoxically Molloy’s piece entitled Oak presents detailed and considered drawings of individual leaves from one oak tree. Oak is a systematic response to the similarities and differences inherent in each individual leaf, each drawing is detailed and beautiful, the artist studied 96 leaves in total. Artlink will show 12 of the 96 drawings.

The five remaining international artists include Michael Craig-Martin, the father of the Young British Artist scene. His work employs a stylised drawing technique often depicting household objects in bright colours outlined with strong black lines. Mark Quinn a British artist who has been prolific since the 80’s and best known for his work entitled Self, a frozen sculpture of the artist’s head made from ten pints of his own blood. Quinn carried on this theme as he created a frozen garden for Miuccia Prada, Artlink will exhibit a print from this period. Franz Ackermann famous for his graphic installations will showcase a print as will Fred Tomaselli.

Artlink Education & Outreach Department in association with IMMA’s National Programme has delivered an educational project to the children of St Mura’s and St Egneys National Schools in Buncrana to introduce the children to contemporary art and the IMMA collection. Their completed piece will be exhibited alongside the Different Things Exhibition. The Department of Education and Science has supported the Education Programme.

The exhibition opens at 7PM on Friday 3^rd July. All are welcome to attend. The exhibition continues from Saturday 4th July – Sunday 2nd August 2009 in Artlink Gallery, Fort Dunree, Buncrana, Co. Donegal.

The gallery is open from Tuesday – Saturday, 10.30AM – 5.00PM and Sunday 1PM – 6PM.

For details call Artlink on T. 00353 (0) 74 936 3469 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it