OPW Ireland acquires Miriam McConnon's Rows of Passport Tents

The Olivier Cornet Gallery is delighted to share the news that Miriam McConnon's work 'Rows of Passport Tents' has just been acquired by the Office of Public Works (OPW) for the Irish State's Art Collection.

This work, which featured in Gemma Tipton's recent Irish Times article about the art of curation, was part of the same series of work exhibited in the artist's 2021 solo show at the Olivier Cornet Gallery. The exhibition, titled 'Displaced Privilege', looked at the opposing narratives of the refugee and the non-refugee. The work incorporated personal objects from the refugee’s migratory journey, all visual testimonies exposing a commonality between the then global restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic and the constant reality for those displaced by conflict. 

Mary Rose Porter, who interned with us a couple of years ago, wrote about this work as part of 'My Favourite Artwork at the Olivier Cornet Gallery' series.

Please note that some of the paintings from the same series of works are still available for purchase. Please visit the Displaced Privilege exhibition page or the online edition of the show in our 3D Virtual Space. You can also browse our online catalogue of works by the artist on the Kunstmatrix platform.

In Ireland, the artist's work can be found in many private collections. Other works already feature in the OPW State Art Collection: for instance, The Gardener, acquired in 2016 and Two Syrian Roses acquired in 2019. The Office of Public Works also acquired a beautiful drawing from the artist's Lost Lace exhibition/installation in 2022.

In Cyprus, where Miriam is currently based, institutions such as the Cypriot Ministry of Education and Culture, have also acquired her work for their State Collection (see our previous blog dedicated to the work 'Domestic Partition'). Earlier this year the Municipal Art Gallery in limassol also aquired two paintings from the Excavating Narratives series from the artist's solo exhibition The Refugee's Armour at the Centre of Contemporary Art Diatopos. 

Back in 2018, another work by Miriam McConnon, a beautiful painting titled Threads II, was acquired by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs for the Embassy of Ireland in Nicosia. More recently, another work, titled 'Aaron’s Armour' was also acquired by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs for the same Embassy.

Congratulations to the artist who -just when we are publishing this blog post- has received the news that she is now included in the List of Ambassadors of Culture in Cyprus.

Image: Miriam McConnon, Rows of Passport Tents, oil on canvas, 45x60cm, OPW State Art Collection.