Clare-based visual artist Anne Stewart will present her newest exhibition, “Memories of Displacement in a Divided Community” at Clare County Council’s Scariff Library Gallery from Thursday to 3rd August.
Memories of Stewart’s childhood, her life as a Catholic citizen living in Northern Ireland under British rule in a period referred to as ‘The Troubles’ are revisited in the exhibition.
Violence and fear were the norm in Newtownabbey, County Antrim and throughout Northern Ireland. On investigation Stewart was shocked to find that 27 past and present students of Stella Maris Primary and Secondary schools, which she and her siblings had attended, had died as a direct result of “The Troubles”.
Stewart’s artwork response to these findings and that of her own life, growing up in a violent and discriminatory area of north Belfast. In this show Stewart sets out to pay tribute to all those affected by these troubled times and through this show she wants to remember the forgotten children of Stella Maris.
In 1973, she moved to Shannon along with her family fleeing Northern Ireland “in fear of their lives”. After fourteen years she moved to Kilkishen County Clare and adopted this community as her new home in 1986. Stewart has been interested in fine art most of her life. She began as a self-taught painter and started painting at the age of thirty. In 2011-2012 she attended Limerick College of Further Education and completed a Portfolio preparation course level 5 diploma.
She then attended Limerick School of Art and Design 2012-2016 and completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree Fine Art (Painting). In 2016 -2018 she continued her education at Limerick School of Art and Design and achieved a Masters: By Research and Art Practice (Fine Art). Her practice has evolved as a multidisciplinary practice, consisting of Painting, Drawing, Photography, Audio recording, Video, Sound installation, and sculptural installation. She uses these disciplines as an artistic response to research of any subject.
Entry to the exhibition is free of charge.
