High profile craft exhibition opens in two Kilkenny venues on Saturday

Monumentality/Fragility, a major multi-venue exhibition of contemporary crafts featuring 74 makers from 19 European countries, including seven Irish participants, will open in Kilkenny on Saturday afternoon.
In a major endorsement of the local, specialist craft industry, three of the seven Irish participants are Kilkenny based.
They are: Textile artist Caroline Schofield and jeweller Eimear Conyard, who is also the Course Manager at the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland Jewellery and Goldsmithing Centre of Excellence.
The third is jeweller, Annemarie Reinhold who initially studied Art, Craft and Design at the Grennan Mill Craft School, Thomastown before progressing to the National College of Arts & Design in Dublin from which she graduated with a Degree in Metals and Jewellery in 2016.
She is living in Kilkenny, developing her skills further at the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland Jewellery and Goldsmithing Centre of Excellence.
In partnership with the OPW, the showcase of over 170 exceptional objects will be displayed at two locations – The National Design & Craft Gallery, Castle Yard and across the road at Kilkenny Castle.
Ireland is the only country to host the exhibition for the European Prize for Applied Arts outside of Belgium.
Monumentality / Fragility will be officially opened at the National Design & Craft Gallery and Kilkenny Castle on Saturday, from 4 to 6pm with guest speaker Gaëlle Cornut,director of BeCraft.
Karen Hennessy, Chief Executive of the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland said hosting the exhibition across two venues in Kilkenny was a privilege.
“It is also an opportunity to share the stunning work of a diverse group of European artists with the public.
Among which there is a strong Irish representation and it is great to be able to display the very best of modern craft practice within the historical setting of Kilkenny Castle as well as the National Design & Craft Gallery,” Ms Hennessy said.
Mary Heffernan of the Office of Public Works in Kilkenny said the OPW delighted to partner with the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland to showcase this wonderful exhibition taking place at both venues. Kilkenny has become synonymous with excellence in art, design and craftsmanship and this collaboration represents a great opportunity to bring this array of talented artists from around Europe before a new audience in one of Ireland’s finest national historic properties.”