COMPOSER SEÓIRSE Bodley and visual artist Camille Souter were elected as saoitheby Aosdána yesterday. The honour of saoi is bestowed by the artists' body for a singular and sustained distinction in the arts.
President Mary McAleese said it was a "joy" to present the artists with the symbol of the office, a gold torc.
Both artists were beloved of their colleagues for their human qualities as well as their outstanding genius, she said.
"This is the showcasing of the judgment and of the respect of one's own colleagues."
Aosdána member Colm Tóibín praised the artists for their "single-mindedness, solitary nobility, their pursuit of difficult and complex truths".
Souter has won numerous awards including the landscape award at the Oireachtas Exhibition in 1973; the Gainey Award, shared with Patrick Collins, in 1975 and the Prix de Ville de Monaco in 1977. She was born in England but was raised in Ireland before leaving to study and travel abroad. She returned in 1956 and lives on Achill Island.
Bodley is the first composer to become a saoi and is a founder-member of Aosdána. He began composing at the age of 13 and his music has been broadcast and performed around the world.
Thanking his colleagues for their support, Bodley said he hoped his fellow composers would also gain from his honour.
Aosdána was set up by the Arts Council in 1981 to acknowledge outstanding contribution by artists. Membership is by peer nomination and election, and it currently has 233 members.
