The future of art and design highlighted at NCAD’s Graduate Showcase 2016
The Exhibition is the largest in the College's history and includes the work of over 500 graduating students.
PRESS RELEASE - Friday 17th June, 2016
The National College of Art and Design is showcasing its largest ever collection of graduate work, highlighting the value of art and design education in driving Ireland’s rapidly growing creative industry. That’s according to Bernard Hanratty, Acting Director of NCAD, who was speaking today (17.06.16) at a preview of the College’s Graduate Showcase 2016.
Bernard Hanratty said: “NCAD’s links with industry and focus on innovation and engagement projects allow the College to provide the necessary tools for supporting Irish business to produce high-quality design. Design can make a significant contribution to the economy, increase our competitiveness and create more jobs.
“Our award-winning students and illustrious alumni demonstrate the quality of the education programmes here at NCAD, which will continue to evolve, in dialogue with our stakeholders, to ensure that we extend its place as the foremost college of art and design in the country. NCAD students – the artists and designers of the future - deliver challenging, relevant, versatile and innovative work of the highest standard, which is clearly visible in this year’s Graduate Showcase.
“The showcase is the largest ever in the College’s 270-year history and is complemented by a nine-day programme of events, including organised tours running during both weekends and a series of events targeted at educators, alumni and industry. The spectrum of practice gives evidence to NCAD’s nationally unique ranking in the world’s top 100 Art and Design Schools – in which the College has been rated for two years in a row.
“This year’s showcase represents a powerful concentration of contemporary visual achievement across our four Schools of Fine Art, Design, Education and Visual Culture. Additionally, many of this year’s graduating students are addressing complex societal problems, from sustainability, to mental health, to the migrant crisis, further demonstrating how art and design can add value in non-traditional social and economic settings.
“Our growing campus footprint and place in The Liberties is a measure of our independence, and NCAD is proud to be engaged with local institutions and community groups. With great opportunities on the horizon, including the opening of the new children’s hospital on the doorsteps of NCAD, the potential for new partnerships and synergies is endless. We look forward to welcoming many visitors over the nine days of the graduate showcase,” added Bernard Hanratty.
In total, work by 528 students features in the NCAD Graduate Showcase, which is open to the public from 18th to 26th June across five locations in Dublin 8.
The graduate showcase represents an annual opportunity to exhibit the creative identities of students as they move from NCAD to the world of work beyond the College. There is also an opportunity for potential clients, collectors, employers and other innovators, as well as the general public, to see the best in art and design at its early stages of development.
2016 Graduate Showcase
Works in the showcase include sustainable fashion inspired by the Botanical Gardens, a ceramics and glass project exploring childhood anxiety, a range of folding furniture inspired by adventurous pursuits in nature, a 3D printed prosthetic arm and hand for children, and sanitation essentials for those in migrant camps across Europe.
Other highlights include:
• James Kehoe’s sculpture project ‘After 375,235’ explores the materiality and process of filtering oil and involved building relationships with local chippers to fuel a series of car journeys from Wexford to Dublin.
• Mark O’Meara’s Visual Communications project ‘Homeless Currency’, a social innovation which also attracted €30,000 in funding recently on RTE’s Dragon’s Den.
• Sylvia Lenihan’s work engages the viewer on an experiential journey providing a glimpse into the world of Asperger’s Syndrome, as perceived through the eyes of a mother of an ‘Aspie’.
• The Weight of Water: Elaine Hoey’s work is an elaborate, intense and immersive sculptural installation with a sophisticated technological core – the viewer sits in a room with a large metal cage topped with barbed wire and wears a virtual reality headset to experience a narrative inspired by the dangers faced by migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
• Industrial Design projects by Alan MacFarlane, Mirna Maye, Megan Sands and Sarah Twaddell will also be on exhibit – the projects were recently awarded at the prestigious UK-based RSA Student Design Awards and focused on a community-based service designed to cultivate creativity and a packaging design awareness campaign for patients taking anti-retroviral medicine in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Forgotten Spaces? Alex Costello’s project documents the passing of time and the creation of melancholic vacant spaces. The project questions how this type of desolation and ‘ruin’ affects contemporary Irish society.
• Sean O’Rourke paints on metal plates that were once used to board up south inner city flat complexes such as Dolphin’s House and St Teresa’s Gardens.
The NCAD Graduate Showcase 2016 will open to the public on Saturday, 18th June at 10am. The exhibitions will run until Sunday 26th June across: NCAD’s campus at 100 Thomas Street, the adjoining John Street West School building, NCAD’s James’s Street Campus at 101-103 James’s Street, the Steambox Gallery on School Street, and Eblana House at Marrowbone Lane, Dublin 8.
Admission is free and all are welcome. For opening hours and further information see www.ncad.ie/about/ncad-graduate-showcase-2016/.
ENDS
Contact: Sarah Harte / David O’Donnell, DHR Communications, Tel: 01-4200580 / 087-9858259 / 086-1081139
Note for Editors:
• To download high-res imagery of a selection of the work that will be on display at the NCAD Graduate Showcase 2016, visit: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wi193xvgnoko5pb/AADmnI85KIF12A6NcpOVtnmaa?dl=0.
• To download PDF versions of the four NCAD Graduate Showcase 2016 catalogues, visit: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2s9thly65nanom8/AACiCDCQB47PtxeMPwGjq47Oa?dl=0.
• Media interviews with NCAD’s Acting Director Bernard Hanratty and graduates available on request.
• Photographer Marc O’Sullivan will issue photos to photo desks this afternoon.
About NCAD
The National College of Art and Design occupies a unique position in art and design education in Ireland. It offers the largest range of Art and Design degrees in the State at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and is the only Irish university institution specialising in Art and Design. NCAD has over 1,100 full-time students and a further 450 students who take award and non-award bearing part-time classes. Further information is available at www.ncad.ie
Follow NCAD on Twitter: @NCAD_Dublin, #NCAD2016, Instagram @ncad_dublin, or Facebook www.facebook.com/NCAD.Dublin
