Glory of woodcraft captured in Dreaming Vessels at NUIG

The Galway Chapter of the Irish Woodturning Guild is showing its work at NUIG as part of the University’s annual Múscailt Arts Festival.

The exhibition, in the foyer of the Hardiman Library foyer, will run until May 1.

It features a half-scale Claddagh Hooker, with its sails covered in a variety of turned bowls and platters.  On the reverse of the sails the crafts group has presented a selection of various members of the group turning pieces of wood.

The sails contain a total of 170 turned pieces while there are 30 individual pieces on display.

According to the Chairman of the Galway Chapter of the Irish Woodturners’ Guild Ambrose O’Halloran, the Múscailt installation presents vessels in a contemporary context.

“The exhibition is not a nostalgic longing for a pre-industrial age; rather it is an expression of individual creativity,” he says.

“This group exhibition sets out to show that preconceived limits of what a woodturning can express may be pushed to a scale not previously imagined.”

Dreaming Vessels is an experimental piece, but it observes traditional rules and aesthetics, albeit presented in a contemporary context, he says.

“All the vessels displayed here carry the dreams, hopes and spirits of the makers who pursue their craft with creativity and passion”.

Members of the public are welcome to view the exhibition in the foyer of the Hardiman Library until May 1.