Launch day for Dignams

THERE will be lots of media attention for the launch of Christy Dignam’s new book this Wednesday afternoon but his talented sister Bernie will also be in the spotlight at the same time on the other side of the country.

While not as famous as her Aslan frontman brother, Bernie is a gifted artist and is launching her solo exhibition called MÓIN as part of this year’s Clifden Arts Festival at 5pm on Wednesday, which is about an hour before Christy launches ‘My Crazy World’ in Eason’s on O’Connell Street.

Bernie’s body of work was inspired by the threat to turf cutting by the EU ‘Habitats directive 1992’.  The peat bogs of Connemara are an iconic part of its landscape and the evidence of the bog as a fuel source is also a part of this iconography.

“As a multi-disciplinary artist living in Connemara and working in a variety of media I decided to use all the media at my disposal to capture these marks in the landscape before they vanish,” said Bernie.

“Ironically, it has recently come to the attention of local people that the Irish Government has invited Canadian mining companies to Connemara, to prospect for gold.

“Prospecting is classed as ‘not invasive’ so there’s no apparent necessity for planning permission, public consultation or an environmental assessment impact.

“These environmental concerns and subsequent legislation and the resulting tensions between the turf cutters and the authorities were my original focus but these tensions have now increased with the threat of mining to the area.”

Bernie graduated from DIT with a degree in design and went on to work in timber research projects in DIT, Bolton Street and University of Limerick, where she completed a H Dip at Limerick School of Art & Design.

She has worked on product design in the furniture industry and as a teacher of art & design to adults, which she still does part-time as well as working on her own art.

MÓIN will be on display at the Festival Gallery, Station House, Clifden, from 10am-6pm daily until Sunday, September 29.