Photography festival launched in Temple Bar

A PHOTOGRAPHIC exhibition is highlighting migration around the world, including the legacy of the Irish emigration to Argentina.

The PhotoIreland festival was launched last night at the Gallery of Photography in Temple Bar, Dublin. It features some 323 artists and 73 exhibitions across 50 venues and takes place between now and July 31st.

One of the exhibitions is Maurice Gunning’s project on The Argentine Irish Diaspora, which will be shown at the National Photographic Archive in Meeting House Square.

The exhibition also examines what it means to be an Irish emigrant in David Monahan’s project Leaving Dublin.

Festival director Ángel Luis González said the theme would be that migration was often a bittersweet experience, with the pain of leaving home contrasting with the new opportunities that emigration could provide.

“You see something bad about emigration and to a certain extent it is, but we are exploring the idea that life continues and that you can fulfil your traditions elsewhere,” he said.

“Why do people leave home and what happens to them when they do are two of the things that we are exploring.”

The question of what is lost and what is gained in the process of transition between leaving home and settling in the host country is addressed in Ieva Baltaduonyte’s project Migracijos, a dialogue with Lithuanian women representing two generations who came to live in Ireland during the Celtic Tiger years. Latvian emigrant Tina Remiz will also highlight the impact of the economic crash on her country’s fortunes.

The Cervantes Institute is showing an exhibition called

The Other Side of the Soul about the Afro-Cuban religions and how they influence religious culture nowadays.

Swiss photographer Jean Revillard’s Sarah on The Bridge at the Copper House Gallery is a photographic chronicle of the fate of a woman from Ghana who goes into prostitution in a wood outside Milan in Italy. The issues are related to human trafficking, migration, and forced prostitution. A book and magazine fair will take place on the weekend of July 13th-15th and will feature extensive selection of photobooks. Visitors will also enjoy a selection of contemporary photography co-curated by five international photography magazines.

See also photoireland.org