Copper House Gallery, off Synge St, Dublin Ends Jul 12 thecopperhousegallery.com
The Copper House Gallery runs an exceptional exhibitions programme highlighting two relatively neglected areas in the visual arts: photography and illustration. Its latest show, under the banner of PhotoIreland Festival 2012: Migrations (see listings) features an exceptional body
of work by Dutch-born photographer Isabelle Pateer. From 2007 Pateer has been engaged in the project, which “questions in a metaphoric way the postmodern idea and realization of ‘economic progress’.”
She explores the strange case of the village of Doel, close to Antwerp and on the border between Belgium and The Netherlands. Development plans threatened the existence of Doel when it was designated as the site of a new container depot. Economic stagnation stalled the plans, but the village had already been irrevocably changed.
It’s not just brute industry, Pateer discovered. Regulations calling for “nature reserves” to compensate for industrial expansion have also impacted on the village and its inhabitants.
Can’t See That? Catch This
Kinsale Arts Festival Exhibitions Virtue and Vice, Living in the Ice Age, The Ethics of Objects, Manifest, KAF Artists Trail kinsaleartsfestival.com
