PhotoIreland launches the International Centre for the Image in the North Docklands in Dublin this July with the support of Kennedy Wilson and the Arts Council of Ireland. The centre will strengthen artistic and curatorial practices in Ireland and internationally through a focus on the role of the still and moving image in arts discourse and for contemporary society.
The new centre is an ecologically focused, purpose-built venue, which will consolidate PhotoIreland’s substantial portfolio of projects, built over the last 15 years. PhotoIreland’s work investigates how images are created, distributed, and consumed, exploring important conversations through the work of artists.
The International Centre for the Image: looking into the future.
The centre is the next stage of PhotoIreland’s research carried out since 2017 towards the development of a forward-looking museum.. The space at its core is informed by current ideas around equality, fairness, and representation in arts practice, avoiding the contradictions and failures of a museum’s historical model, around which there are many transformational conversations.
The International Centre for the Image presents a unique space for PhotoIreland’s three strategic pillars, which are Artists, Artform, and Audiences. The space constitutes four main areas: research, production, exhibition, and storage.
Research: The specialised Art Library contains thousands of resource books, alongside an extensive collection of photobooks, artists’ books, and art prints. It offers ample space to host group visits, talks, screenings, and workshops, in addition to practical facilities for everyday research.
Production: The Atelier offers comfortable artist studio spaces with private desks and storage, which are part of the organisation’s provision for emerging and mid-career artists. It also accommodates a large workshop and process area for the production of artworks.
Exhibition and storage: The large Exhibition Space is ready to host ambitious installations and is complemented by an art storage unit. The new space provides the organisation with the facilities to fulfil our aims as a holistic resource organisation.
In the coming years, we hope to build on the opening of the International Centre for the Image by joining the Heritage Council’s Museum Standards Programme for Ireland and receiving their accreditation, securing the longevity of the organisation’s legacy, and ensuring the ongoing conservation, adequate representation, and enjoyment of photographic practices in Ireland.
The location of the International Centre for the Image in Coopers Cross campus, in the heart of the Dublin Docklands, is the result of a cultural partnership between PhotoIreland and Kennedy Wilson, the real estate investment company responsible for the development of the quarter. Over two years, the partnership benefited from the mediation of Claire Healy, Head of Cultural Strategy for Kennedy Wilson, until the project was consolidated in July 2024. This level of partnership is arguably unprecedented in Ireland, given its scope and process.
The exciting first exhibition coming to the centre, Foreword, highlights works from 17 artists representing a broad set of art practices around photography, and teases out the curatorial issues to which the centre is dedicated. This inaugural show includes both moving and still-image artists: Abigail O’Brien, Alan Butler, Alex Prager, Ana Zibelnik and Jakob Ganslmeier, Anna Ehrenstein, Anna Safiatou Touré, Basil Al-Rawi, Bassam Issa Al-Sabah and Jennifer Mehigan, Colin Martin, David Farrell, Dominic Hawgood, Eamonn Doyle, Jean Curran, Mishka Henner, and Penelope Umbrico.
About PhotoIreland
Since 2010, PhotoIreland has been an arts organisation supporting Photography and the Visual Arts, dedicated to stimulating a critical dialogue around Photography in Ireland, and to internationally promoting the work of Irish-based artists. PhotoIreland is a key constituent of the arts and culture sector in Ireland, working to ensure local audiences benefit from a healthy arts ecosystem and providing frequent professional development opportunities to artists.
Best known for its annual event in Dublin, the PhotoIreland Festival, the organisation enjoys today a diverse portfolio of projects that range from events such as print and book fairs, to running a charismatic art bookshop in buzzing Temple Bar, producing the photography publication OVER Journal, running artists’ residencies, and much more. Beyond Ireland, the organisation has developed constructive channels with a strong network of organisations worldwide, most relevantly through Creative Europe co-funded platforms such as FUTURES.
For any inquiries about PhotoIreland and the International Centre for the Image, please write to office@image.museum
