Contemporary Celtic: Art At Comhaltas

I'd like to take a moment to report on the recent exhibition, Contemporary Celtic: Art At Comhaltas, which was held at the Fairbanks Room of the Howard Johnson's in Toronto in conjunction with the North American Conference of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann Comhaltas, the largest worldwide organization devoted to the preservation and promotion of Irish traditional music, is celebrating 50 years this year, and has helped oversee an unprecedented revival of traditional music in our time.

The exhibition was organized by the artists of An Droichead/The Bridge in an effort to collect together some of the best artists working in Celtic art today. Catherine Crowe shouldered the responsibility of gathering the artists together and receiving the work, but was unable to be at the show that weekend - the rest of us managed to struggle along without her. The show really looked good- especially considering it was set up in a couple hours in a hotel ballroom without any specialised gallery lighting! Please see the images from the show in the files section. We were so pleased to have Steve Walker joining us for Friday- thanks for your help!

Interest was high in the art work from those in attendance, although this was a new experience for them - it was the first ever art exhbition organized at a CCE North American Conference. We fielded many questions and comments, and people really seemed to enjoy having us there. The excellent quality of the work shown impressed the organizers as well. The Langan-Gorman Branch of CCE not only did a great job organizing this huge, multi-faceted event, but took the time to really make us feel welcome, and very special thanks must go to key organizer Eamonn O'Loughlin, who made sure our problems were solved and our needs were met.

Many thanks to all the artists who participated: Cari Buziak, multi media; Sharyne Graham, iron age pottery; Michael Carroll, illuminations; Steven Walker, metalsmith; Grahame Atkinson, raku pottery; Robin MacGrogan, pottery; Cindi Mayti, painting; Catherine Crowe, enamelling; Brigitte Wolf, stained glass; David Rankine, illumination; Darrell Markewitz, blacksmith; Laura Travis, stone carvings; Brenda Roy, goldsmith; Patrick Gallagher, multi media; Lorraine Bruce-Allen, painting; Kevin Dillon, illuminations; Aidan Breen, silversmith; Kelly Green, woodcarver; Grant Taylor, furniture maker. Your wonderful work made this show a pleasure to put together.

click on these thumbnails to see larger pictures

It is work to set up exhibitions of this sort, but we looked upon it as an investment. Part of our goal in forming The Bridge was to establish more connections with our communities - with our fellow artists and with the larger world of Celtic culture - in order to raise awareness of the high quality of work being done and promote understanding that goes beyond the surface approach we so often see. I'd like to encourage other Celtic artists to consider setting up group exhibits at major events and festivals, local art centers and so forth. Using a gallery model to present our work can be very helpful in differentiating what it is that we do from the inexpensive souvenirs that so often pass for "Celtic art".

	COMHALTAS EXHIBITION
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