About this Event
A new artist book by Siobhán McDonald brings together three years of artist Siobhan McDonald’s practice, tracing a journey from the Arctic- where she witnessed permafrost slowly transforming ice into soil—to the wetlands of Ireland and the remarkable survival of medieval letters preserved for over a thousand years within the vellum pages of the Faddan More Psalter. Throughout these works, the artist explored states of transition, time as both subject and material: geological time, ecological time and human time converging through painting, film and installation. On occasion of the launch, McDonald hosts a discussion titled Traces of Time with Luke Gibbons, Helen Carey and Dr. Mark Hennessy.
Siobhán McDonald works across painting, drawing, film and sound to create poetic encounters with the forces and processes that shape our planet. Recent exhibitions: Biennale des Arts et de l’Océan, Villa Arson, Nice (2025); Art Basel Paris, Centre Culturel Irlandaise (2025); Royal Hibernian Academy (2025); VISUAL Carlow (2024); Living Canvas, Public Art Project (2023). Awards include the European Commission's S+T+ARTS 4 Water Programme (2024); Ocean Memory Award (2022); EU Commission Alumni Award, Italy (2023); Alfred Kordelin Foundation Climate Whirl Award Helsinki (2023).
Luke Gibbons has taught as Professor of Irish Studies at Maynooth University, and the University of Notre Dame, USA. His most recent book is James Joyce and the Irish Revolution (2023). He has published widely on the visual arts in Ireland, including essays on Brian O’Doherty and James Coleman, and, more recently, Margo McNulty and Shane Hynan; and for exhibitions Limits of the Visible: Great Hunger Museum (2013); The Moderns, IMMA (2011).
Helen Carey is Director of the National Sculpture Factory, Cork, and an independent visual arts curator. Recent curatorial work includes the Choctaw Nation / Irish Government Public Art Commission, Oklahoma (2024); Galerie Michaela Stock, Vienna; and TULCA Festival of Visual Art, Galway (2020). She holds an MA in International Relations from UCD and an MA in Visual Arts Practices from IADT, with research interests spanning contemporary culture and national identity.
Dr. Mark Hennessy is a historical geographer in the Department of Geography, Trinity College Dublin. He has published widely on aspects of the historical geography of medieval Ireland. He is the author of the Irish Historic Towns Atlas volume on Trim, County Meath. He lectures on the history of Irish cartography and is responsible for historic maps in Trinity College Dublin’s Virtual Trinity Library project. He is a member of the editorial board of the interdisciplinary journal Rural Landscapes.
Event location information: This event will take place in a room with theatre style seating and low lighting. The space is accessible by lift and stairs and there is a semi-accessible bathroom on the ground floor. Please check-in at the cash desk in Dublin Art Book Fair, where you will be directed to the event room. For further accessibility information, please contact Learning + Public Engagement Curator Órla Goodwin at [email protected] or call the office on 016710073, 11am–5pm (open Monday–Friday).
Dublin Art Book Fair (3–13 December 2026) is a centre for contemporary artist books offering a wide selection of artist publications and titles from creative, small and independent publishers, both Irish or international, to browse or buy. In conjunction with the Fair, DABF presents an programme of book launches, publishers talks, and workshops, offering ways to engage and gain insight into contemporary independent and arts publishing.
DABF is annually hosted and produced by Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, an artists’ studio complex and contemporary art gallery in Dublin City Centre. The Gallery presents five exhibitions annually of newly commissioned work by Irish and international artists. This is supported by a programme of free talks, tours, screenings and workshops.
Dublin Art Book Fair 2026 is generously sponsored by our longstanding partner Henry J Lyons and supported by Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.
Event venue & nearby stays
Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, 5-9 Temple Bar, Dublin, Ireland
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