A Celebration of Shared Heritage in The Book of Kells
Storehouse NI
Visual Artists Brief
Call for Submissions - The Book of Kells – The Hope of Something New | Exhibition space St Mary’s College, Falls
Road, Belfast.
Deadline for Initial submission sketches for selection process: Fri 4th Jan, you will receive a reply by Tues 8th Jan.
Selected Artists to deliver finished work Wed 13th February 2013
Exhibition to be held from 7th March – 24th March, 2013 at St Mary’s College, 191 Falls Road, Belfast, N. Ireland,
BT12 6FE.
For information pack contact carolrossborough@hotmail.co.uk or 028 9002 2361
St Mary’s College is at the heart of a thriving arts community in West Belfast and with its historic beauty is the perfect
place to exhibit a collection celebrating Irish Heritage. This is a non-commercial exhibition. The Artists will not be paid
for the submission of their work, but will retain all copyrights and ownership of their artwork. However Artists will have
the opportunity to sell their work during the exhibition and the commissioner will not require a percentage of the sale.
With the increased tourist foot fall in Belfast and especially on the Falls Road during St Patrick’s week, the exhibition
will be well attended and Artists will have maximum opportunity to sell their work.
Submission details are as follows:
- All submissions should reflect the exhibition’s theme of “The Book of Kells – The Hope of Something New”
Artists Objective: To produce a piece of artistic work influenced and inspired by The Book of Kells and its
symbolism of a time in Ireland when there was dramatic transformation. (See History and Context in
information pack for more detail.)
- All work should be on paper and measure 420mm tall by 297mm width with an inner boarder of 30mm to
accommodate a mount. Finished work must be ready to be framed.
– The call is for 25 Artists. For the purposes of selection please submit sketches and a rationale behind what you
intend to create by Friday 4h January 2013. Scan or send a jpeg image (with a maximum size of 1mb) via email to
carolrossborough@hotmail.co.uk Or send sketches by post (please include senders address on back of envelope) to
17 Coopers Mill Avenue, Dundonald, BT16 1WR. You will receive a reply by Tues 8th Jan.
- Due Date for selected Artists submissions Wednesday February 13th 2013, to be delivered to Dallas Framing, 4
Mineral Street, Shore Road, North Belfast between 11am – 2pm.
- Exhibition will run from Thursday 7th March – Sunday 24th March 2013 St Mary’s College 191 Falls Road, Belfast
With the final submission please send the following details through to carolrossborough@hotmail.co.uk for the
exhibition space.
- The artist’s name, address and contact telephone number
- The title of the piece
- A paragraph detailing the rationale behind the piece of no more than 150 words.
- The medium of each piece
- The price of each piece
All pieces must be collected by Wednesday 27th March between 10am and 4pm from the exhibition space. From
Wednesday 13th February to Wednesday 27th March 2013 your pieces will be covered by insurance. St Mary’s
College and Storehouse NI cannot accept any responsibility for any loss, disruption or damage that may occur after
the closing date of the exhibition (although care is taken to preserve and protect artists’ material).
Songwriters and Creative Writers Brief
All submissions should reflect the exhibition’s theme of “The Book of Kells – The Hope of Something New” See
history and context for further information.
Performance Artist Mediums can include:

Poetry and Creative writing including as Gaeilge

Songwriting
– There are no limitations on the style of the piece. There will be a maximum of 10 minutes performance time per
artist. The writing can also be as Gaeilge or any other language; songwriting, poetry or spoken word.
– Thursday 7th March is scheduled as the late night during the exhibition at St Mary’s College where creative writers
will have an opportunity to participate in an open mic performance.
– The creative writing will not be framed and so only needs to be submitted by email to
carolrossborough@hotmail.co.uk
What we want to achieve through this project

We hope to educate a new generation on The Book of Kells as it symbolizes hope, new beginnings and
transformation; unity in the roots of the faith of our nation, and the foundation and importance of creativity in
our heritage.

We believe that looking at what unites us as a cross cultural community in Belfast is a powerful way of
building bridges and breaking down barriers. The Book of Kells is a heritage that is treasured by Catholic
and Protestant communities in Belfast. Through education, workshops and seminar groups we want to
emphasize the unity that we can have through looking back at the spiritual journey of Belfast in the history of
this book.

We aim to recognize the centrality of the Artist in telling the story of Belfast and in moving us forward as a
city of creativity and unity.

We aim to help tell the story of where Belfast has come from and strengthen the sense of identity and
belonging for all members of the community.
Events Overview
An evening discussing the history of the Book of Kells and how it impacted Irish Culture will be held at An Culturlánn
on Thursday 17th January. The lecture will be taken by Dr Angela Griffith of Trinity College Dublin. This will be open
to the wider public and will also give a good contextual foundation for all participating artists.
Another great seminar will be held on the transition between pre- and post-Christian Irish art by Kayla Rose who
is doing her Doctorate on Ilumination with UUJ. She will also focus on the continuation and lasting memory of Kells as
an aspect of Irish visual culture that has overcome religious and political boundaries.
This celebration will culminate in the framing of the produced artwork and showing in an exhibition at St Mary’s
College for St Patrick’s week 2013. The exhibition will run for 2 weeks including a late evening Thursday 7 th March
where artists can discuss their work and creative writers can perform in an open mic setting. We welcome
submissions from all faith backgrounds.
Calendar of Events

January Thursday 17th – Lecture by Dr Angela Griffith on the history and impact of Kells on Ireland.
This will take place in Culturlánn at 7:00pm for tea and coffee for a 7:30pm start. Dr Griffith will cover the
preservation of the Book of Kells through the Dark Ages by the Irish Monks and subsequently the impact it
had on Ireland.

January Thursday 24th – A seminar group for reflection and debate. This will be an overflow discussion
group for those interested in delving a little deeper into the impact of The Book of Kells in Ireland; how it
impacted culture and how it can still impact us today. Venue – Culturlánn 7pm.

January Thursday 31th – The Transition between Pre- and Post-Christian Irish art. Kayla Rose who is
doing her Doctorate on Ilumination with UUJ will be taking a discussion evening. She will be focusing on the
transition between pre- and post-Christian Irish art and the influences the Book of Kells had on later Irish
work. She will also focus on the continuation and lasting memory of Kells as an aspect of Irish visual culture
that has overcome religious and political boundaries. (venue to be confirmed)

February Thursday 7th - Artists workshop. This will be a gathering of participating artists. We aim to
create a space for artists to discuss writing ideas or show their preliminary sketches, to encourage each
other and enjoy the creative process in community with other artists. Together we will look at key pieces of
art within the Book of Kells and discuss illumination and typography. The date for this workshop is
preliminary booked for an afternoon on Thursday 7 th Feb and the venue is still to be confirmed.

March 7th – 24st St Mary’s College Art Exhibition - Visual Art Exhibition at St Mary’s College, Falls
Road. The exhibition will run for 2 weeks including a late evening Thursday 7 th March where artists can
discuss their work and creative writers can perform in an open mic setting. We welcome submissions from
all faith backgrounds.
History and Context
The evening of history with Dr Griffith should bring us up to speed with the broader context. The following few
paragraphs will provide some basic background until Dr Griffith can do a better job in January.
The Book of Kells is a masterpiece of Celtic art, unrivalled for the exquisite quality of its decoration, intricate designs
and visionary concept. It is regarded as one of the world’s greatest illuminated manuscripts with decoration so
stunning and lavish that it was thought to be the work of angels. It consists of the four gospels of the New Testament,
which tell the story of Christ’s life.
The Book of Kells is symbolic of much more than just unparalleled art and Irish creativity, it is also symbolic of an era
for Ireland that sees a nation riddled with war, slavery, human sacrifice, instability and poverty; transformed into a
nation of peace, prosperity and the academic hub to all of Europe (Cahill, 1995). It is symbolic of a people filled with
new vision and hope for the future and that comes across strongly in the joyous colours and intricate outpouring of
creativity we see in the pages of the book. Thomas Cahill puts it well,
“This thirty year span of Patrick’s mission in the middle of the 5 th Century encompasses a period of change so rapid
and extreme that Europe will never see its like again. By 461, the likely year of Patrick’s death, the Roman Empire is
careening into chaos, barely fifteen years away from the death of the last western emperor. The accelerated change
is, at this point, so dramatic we should not be surprised that the eyes of historians have been riveted on it or that they
have failed to notice a transformation just as dramatic – and even more abrupt – taking place at the empire’s
periphery. For as the Roman lands went from peace to chaos, the land of Ireland was rushing even more rapidly
from chaos to peace. (p124 How The Irish Saved Civilization)
The Book of Kells symbolises hope, new beginnings and transformation; unity in the roots of the faith of our nation,
and the foundation and importance of creativity in our heritage.
Contract
If you wish to participate please contact carolrossborough@hotmail.com for further information and to receive a copy
of the contract to be signed by all participants.