Siúnta| Niamh Coffey at Súil Gallery

Event Details

SIÚNTA by Niamh Coffey

In 1937-39, the Irish Folklore Commission asked primary school children to collect local history from their relatives and neighbours. Nestled in exercise copies, between thousands of stories detailed in meticulous handwriting, lie tales of metamorphosis and binary-blurring. Hares become milk-hungry witches, needy children are turned to stone, gooseberries transform sore eyes, tadpoles swirl in boggy bellies.

Siúnta, taking its name from the Irish for a seam or joint, uses these instances of metamorphosis as departure points to wriggle further into absurd and imaginary realms. These archives show that in an earlier Irish imaginary world, the boundaries that separate us from nature and other entities were not so separate and fixed, but porous and blurred.

Everyone is welcome to join us at the launch of Siúnta on Saturday 13th September at 2pm!