The place of sculpture in Irish art cannot be over-emphasised and it comes as a complete surprise to anyone from NZ where sculpture is rarely seen or given any sort of prominence (although we do have the Waiheke Island outdoor sculpture exhibition, now I think of it). Each year there is a competition called Sculpture in Context and all the works are set out on display in the National Botanic Gardens which are about a 15 minute walk from our place, so yesterday, another lovely day, we went to have a look and, naturally, to take a few photos.
Here is the winner. It is called “Nomadic Family” and is carved in stone by a Zimbabwean named Blessing Sanyanga. You can see the cowled family of 5 from the front and on the other side it becomes a clever visual pun.
Here are a few of the others. They look stunning in their outdoor settings.
Mind you, I couldn’t help thinking as I looked across the gardens that nature, too, is a pretty good sculptor. Click on it to see what you think:
There were many flowers still in bloom and I couldn’t resist a few shots of them as well as the colours are so brilliant.
And just to finish off with, a couple of examples of Irish humour.
The Irish Sunday Times today includes instructions on how to tell if you’re living in a good part of Dublin. First you ring the Gardai (police) to tell them that a man with a balaclava and a crowbar is climbing in your living room window. Then you ring Domino’s and order a 12 inch pizza. If the police arrive before the pizza, you could legitimately describe the area in which you live as “desirable”. If the pizza arrives first, well, you know the answer. (Ross O’Carroll-Kelly, Irish Times magazine, 4 October 2014)
Then an interesting take on societal expectations. In NZ, if you arrive at work all dressed up, you are inevitably asked what time the job interview is. In Ireland, we are reliably informed, you are asked what time your court appearance is.
