This is the final version of the programme:
The Symposium will take place on Saturday, 23 March 2024, at the Absolute Hotel in Limerick.
Friends of Lace Limerick will be at the venue from 9am, to welcome the participants and facilitate setting-up the pop-up exhibition.
The symposium will open at 10 am, with a welcome address by Cllr. Gerald Mitchell, Mayor of Limerick.
The first morning slot will include three talks focusing on Limerick and its lace making history:
10:10 – Matthew Potter – Limerick lace – the once famous Limerick industry
10:30 – Sharon Slater – The Hands Behind the Stitches
10:50 – Randel Hodkinson and Grania McElligott – The enduring legacy of Maude Kearney
There will be a short break, and after that we will have:
11:20 – Bairbre Guilfoyle’s keynote talk:
Lacemaking in Ireland: Looking forward, looking back.
This will be followed by three other presentations:
12:00 – The Irish Crochet Lace Revival, in collaboration with lace artist Fiona Harrington – Threading the Tower- a community lace project
12:20 – Eilís Nic Dhonncha – Headford Lace Project, Seven Years On
12:40 – Nora Finnegan – Kenmare and other Irish Laces – a historical perspective.
A lunch break will follow between 1 and 2pm. Lunch will be served in the hotel’s restaurant, and will be covered by the cost of the ticket. The pop-up exhibition and lace-making demonstrations will be available during the lunch break.
In the afternoon at 2pm, Rosie Finnegan-Bell and Gabriela Avram will present the Laces of Ireland – an all-Ireland Lace Trail project, and will facilitate a discussion on this topic.
A panel titled “This precious lace – storage, conservation, repair” will include presentations and discussions (2:30pm-3:10pm). The panelists will be Kathie Earle(GOIL) , Zara Power(Limerick Museum) and Sr. Bernadette Kopek, Charleville Sisters of Mercy.
The symposium will end with a panel titled “Keeping the craft alive in the 21st century“(3:30pm-4:10pm), including short invited talks and facilitating a conversation among participants. The panelists are Panelists: Giordana Giache (LSAD), Eithne Guilfoyle (GOIL) and Fiona Harrington, lace artist, educator and researcher.
We will finish at approximately 4:30pm to facilitate the dismantling of the pop-up exhibition.
Tickets are now on sale via Eventbrite.
This event is supported by Limerick City and County Council through the Festival and Events Grant Scheme.
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