Arts centre in Tipperary set to host unique exhibition celebrating female artists

WAAG, an archive, revisits the Women Artists Action Group (1987-1991) through their archive and examines the lasting legacy and impact of the group on Irish Art.

WAAG was founded in April 1987 in Clonmel, so it’s been timely to bring this exhibition, and this conversation, back to where it all started.

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“WAAG – a archive curated by Helena Tobin, makes a significant contribution to Irish art history by marking the foundation of the Women Artists Action Group in Clonmel in 1987. Bringing together rarely seen ephemera, publications, and archival material, as well as recreating the Slide Show exhibition first shown in the Project Arts Centre in 1991, this exhibition expands our knowledge of this radical and radically important grassroots feminist art collective,” says Dr Sarah Kelleher, writer, critic and curator.

All the archival material in the exhibition is on loan from the National Irish Visual Arts Library located at NCAD, Dublin and artist Pauline Cummins.

NIVAL is a public research resource dedicated to the documentation of 20th and 21st century Irish visual art and design.

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NIVAL collects, stores, and makes accessible for research, an unparalleled collection of documentation about Irish art in all media.

“Great to know WAAG is being re-evaluated and critically looked at, and so good to have a spotlight on the archive,” says Patricia Mckenna, artist and former WAAG member.