Press Release: New Exhibition | Lorcan Walshe The Artefacts Project

About The Artefacts Project

The Hunt Museum is bringing “The Artefacts Project” to Limerick from 21 July to 11 September, giving visitors the chance to witness familiar objects from pre-colonial Ireland in a different light. The works in Lorcan Walshe’s “The Artefacts Project” were totally inspired by indigenous craft and early Irish religious treasures.  Croziers, Missals, Bells and Shrines are transformed in this unique exhibition of paintings and drawings.

15 years after its debut at the National Museum of Ireland, The Artefacts Project is being revived and partially reworked following an increased awareness of the significance of Walshe’s work.  His engagement with artefacts of the pre-colonial past in his search for artistic and cultural roots has been likened to the approach taken by Frida Kahlo in her revival of the pre-colonial.

Celtic craftsmanship in visual arts spread to all corners of medieval Christendom, but the traditions were subsumed into Christianity and Colonisation.  Through The Artefacts Project, Lorcan Walshe investigates and interrogates the art of our past and in the act of translation, transforms the objects from one artistic form to another, creating beautiful contemporary art.

Artist Lorcan Walshe explains

“It was a highly expressive period and what came out of the monasteries was truly mesmerising. While traditional Irish music survived colonisation, unfortunately, visual traditions were lost due to the dissolution of monasteries. Art in Italy and Spain is still evidently connected to its past but not in Ireland.  So I decided to work from the artefacts to make something modern while connected directly with our indigenous culture.  Many of the objects that inspired the project were augmented or refurbished centuries after they were initially created. Similarly, I have augmented some of my works years after their creation, following in their medieval creators footsteps.”