Grand Stuff: Label Art from Ireland

Curated by Niall McCormack

This exhibition explores Irish label art from the 1890s to the 1990s. Included are vibrant examples of labels for minerals, beers, whiskies, hotels, linens, groceries, and pharmacies. The important part of Ireland’s material culture has been overlooked and this will be the first exhibition of its kind in Ireland.

Many of Ireland’s designers of label art are anonymous artists. It is collections like this one that really preserve their work: their memory lives on in their layouts, lettering, illustration and filigree. Through this exhibition, McCormack aims to inspire people to think about design in Ireland in the early 20th century and how it was more vibrant, diverse and sophisticated than many might imagine. The exhibition also explores the social, cultural, political and technological changes that influenced their production and proliferation.

Grand Stuff is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport, Gaeltacht and Media.

On view from 16 November 2022 – 15 October 2023, free admission.

Exploring the Anthropocene: A Letterpress Investigation

The National Print Museum is delighted to host this exhibition in collaboration with the National College of Art and Design.

The Anthropocene can be defined as the present geological era in which human activity has become visible as a dominant and destructive influence on the Earth’s systems. This exhibition is a letterpress print investigation on the theme of the Anthropocene, at a moment of reckoning with climate change.

It features the collaborative work of twenty-two second year Graphic Design students from the Department of Communication Design at the National College of Art & Design, Dublin, and explores the global human impact on natural systems as it reveals itself through visual traces. Produced at Distillers Press, the typography and letterpress workshop at NCAD.

On view from March – October 2023, free admission.

Upcoming

Miniature Masterpieces: 100 Years of Irish Stamps

Curator, Stephen Ferguson

Stamps provide a unique perspective on how we see ourselves and how we wish to be seen. As the Decade of Centenaries draws to a close, this exhibition will examine Irish identity through the medium of these little pieces of printed paper. Designed originally to show prepayment of postage, the humble stamp gradually became much more than a receipt as it transformed into an object of rare artistry, a symbol of nationhood and a miniature ambassador that quietly represents nations and their peoples throughout the world.

“It is fitting that an exhibition about stamps should be held here in the National Print Museum where the traditional craft of the
printer is celebrated” – Stephen Ferguson, Exhibition Curator and Company Archivist & Museum Curator at An Post

The exhibition is a collaboration between the National Print Museum and An Post – supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications.

Opening in late October 2023, free admission.