Preview: 4th February, 6-8pm,
Opening event will be launched by Fintan O’Toole
Gallery open to the public 5 February until 6 March

Updates and info on events at http://www.facebook.com/l/29058;www.gradcam.ie/re_public.php and http://www.facebook.com/l/29058;www.templebargallery.com

Temple Bar Gallery & Studios is pleased to present re : public, an exhibition and series of events through which the crucial question will be asked – can something happen in public again?

In collaboration with GradCAM, the Graduate School of Creative Arts & Media in Dublin, and guest curator Daniel Jewesbury, the gallery at TBG&S will become a forum where the public meet with artists and thinkers to reconsider the troubled relationship between art and society. The project asks whether there is even anything left that we can really call ‘public’. After the fiasco of the property crash, we examine the role played by architecture and urban planning in the construction of physical public space. And in a world controlled by globalised markets, loyal to no nation, we ask if we can still talk of meaningful democratic participation by ‘the public’ in the the institutions that shape our lives? Even if we can, is there any room, or any need, for the contributions of artists?

Since 19 January, artist Robert Anderson and architect Mark Hackett have been working in the gallery to build a seating structure that will serve as both a frame and a stage for the events that come after. Over the past week, Artist Dan Shipsides has ‘intervened’ in this structure for one week, modifying and subverting its design so that it is not just a neutral setting, but an active element in the ensuing discussions.

Beginning tomorrow, at 6pm on 4 February and continuing until 6 March, artists, writers and activists will host provocations, from screenings and talks to workshops and performances, in the gallery and around the city, all open to public participation. Please see http://www.facebook.com/l/29058;www.templebargallery.com or pick up an information sheet in the gallery for a full list of events.

Finally, from 9 to the 12 March, artist Peter Liversidge will ‘decommission’ the structure and the materials that have accumulated over the course of the events, returning the gallery to an empty space before a special closing event on 13 March.

Updates on the project, including a full list of participants and a detailed calendar of events, will be available at http://www.facebook.com/l/29058;www.gradcam.ie/re_public.php.

Between 4 February and 5 March, Temple Bar Gallery will be open from 1pm to 8pm, enabling participation from as broad an audience as possible in this challenging and innovative project.
——————–