Flail by Debbie Godsell

In Conversation Event, 12-1pm, 25th March

In Conversation event, 12-1pm, Saturday 25th March 2023, between artist Debbie Godsell and writer and ethnologist Deirdre Nuttall, facilitated by arts writer and curator Sarah Kelleher at Cork Printmakers Studio Gallery as part of Flail, a solo exhibition by Debbie Godsell.

Booking Essential via Eventbrite

The panel will explore the broader ideas around the meaning of custom, and identity through the lens of the Church of Ireland tradition of the harvest thanksgiving. Central to the conversation will be gaps in the historical and archival narrative relating to a minority cultural group and its impact in contemporary Ireland.

Flail is a solo exhibition by artist Debbie Godsell, it is a testing ground for new work by the artist encompassing video, digital and textile works.

Debbie Godsell is a visual artist and arts educator based in Cork. She studied at the Limerick school of Art and Design and the Crawford College of Art, where she graduated with a Masters in Art. Her work is found in many collections including the National Gallery of Ireland, The OPW, Crawford Gallery, UCC, UCD, Cork Opera House and The Port of Cork. Recent exhibitions include Residues, Solo Exhibition 2022, Grilse Gallery; Botanica, The Art of Plants, Crawford art Gallery, 2022; Residues, Blue House Gallery, 2022; New Threads, Crawford Art Gallery, 2021; Land under the Waves, Cork Printmakers at Nano Nagle Place 2021; Home, West Cork Creates Exhibition, 2021; Visions of an Unsettled Earth, Sirius Art Centre, 2020; RHA Annual Exhibtion 2020.

Deirdre Nuttall is an ethnologist, researcher, and writer with a particular interest in narrative, folk religion, and oral history. Among her recent research projects, the Irish Protestant Folk Memory Project, which was carried out in partnership with the National Folklore Collection at UCD, culminated in a book (A Folk History of the Protestants of Independent Ireland, Eastwood Press). She is currently engaged in a research project exploring the oral history of the county of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown. She also works as a writer, researcher and collaborator in the areas of memoir and biography.

Sarah Kelleher is an independent arts writer, curator, and Government of Ireland scholar currently finishing her PhD on contemporary Irish sculpture with the History of Art Department in UCC, and is an assistant lecturer at MTU CCAD.

Exhibition Opening Times: Monday – Friday 10am – 5pm Until 6th April

Flail by Debbie Godsell

Flail is a test ground and fluid project space for new work by Debbie Godsell. Encompassing video, digital and textile works Godsell explores the meaning of custom and tradition, ethnicity, identity and belief systems through the lens of the Church of Ireland tradition of the harvest thanksgiving. ‘Flail’ examines the symbolic frameworks of this annual tradition, bringing together contemporary and historical iterations and their collective meaning within a modern Ireland.

By drawing together concepts of culture clash and ethno-cultural notions, Godsell tentatively explores the inherent tensions and contradictions within an Irish minority group that holds a historically complex relationship with the land and belonging.

Flail was opened by Sarah Kelleher, on Thursday 16th February 2023, Cork Printmakers Studio Gallery and runs to 6th April.

The development of this work was supported by an Arts Council Visual Arts Bursary and a Cork County Arts Office Creative Arts Bursary.  Cork Printmakers is supported by The Arts Council and Cork City Council.