Culture Night in Clough’
Public welcome to attend exhibition launch
The fourth annual Thomas MacDonagh Hedge School takes place at the Thomas MacDonagh Museum in Cloughjordan from September 16-19, with this year’s programme exploring memory, legacy and storytelling.
As part of the programme, Cloughjordan-based artist Lian Callaghan has curated an exhibition of new work by members of the North Tipperary Artists Collective. Drawing on Joan Didion’s observation that “the past could be jettisoned … but seeds got carried”, the artists have responded to the themes of memory and legacy through individual works.
The idea of intertextuality, that creative work is shaped by, responds to and draws from what has gone before, is one of the central elements of the Hedge School. Each year, participating writers and artists interpret its themes through their own ‘texts’, creating new connections between the past and present. For the 2026 exhibition, artists have written a statement examining their new work in relation to Didion’s words and the ways in which memory and inheritance shaped their creative practice.
The North Tipperary Artists Collective brings together more than 50 professional and emerging artists. The network aims to establish a permanent exhibition space for visual and other artists working in North Tipperary.
The exhibition will be officially launched on Culture Night, Friday – September 18 - by artist Fiona Nolan. With more than 30 years’ experience as a community artist, primarily in Dublin’s inner city, Nolan has used memory, storytelling and observation to create plays and sketches with local communities. Her work reflects the lives of the people involved in a way that validates the culture and experiences of their neighbourhoods.
The Culture Night event is free, but booking is essential as space is limited. Please book on our Eventbrite page here www.eventbrite.ie/e/culture-night-during-the-hedge-school-launch-of-ntac-art-exhibition-tickets-1993542200386. Please note artworks are for sale, and the exhibition will run until October 18.
Culture Night will include feedback and insights from the genealogy workshops’ facilitators and participants.