Join Bullet Points exhibition curator Paula Barrett as she chairs a panel discussion with artists Dominic Thorpe, Michael James Rowley, Claire Halpin, and member of Lord Edward’s Own Re-enactment Group, Monasterevin Barry Walsh. The discussion will be centred around the exhibition and the who, what and how we commemorate.

Dominic Thorpe is an Irish artist based in Newbridge, Kildare. He works in performance art as well as drawing, video, installation and relational based processes. Thorpe has shown extensively, including at the Bangkok Cultural Centre, Tasmanian Museum and Gallery, Performance Space London and Golden Thread Belfast. Much of his work addresses contemporary and historical violence, human rights and institutional abuses. He was awarded a PhD at Ulster University for research on perpetrator trauma representation within performance art from Ireland and in 2024 completed a commission for the Crawford Gallery Cork exploring perpetrator trauma in the context of the Irish Civil War. Thorpe has completed several residencies, including at the Nordic Arts Centre, Fire Station Artist Studios, and was first artist in resident in Humanities at UCD. He has received several awards, including from the Arts Council Ireland and was recipient of the inaugural Crespo Foundation Residency at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre. He frequently engages with inclusion and education-based initiatives and has work in several public collections in Ireland, including the collection of the Arts Council Ireland.

Michael Rowley graduated with a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff in 2000. He has held regular exhibitions of his work ever since, with his 14th solo exhibition taking place in Kildare Library in September 2024. This year marks the 30th anniversary since Mel Gibson began filming his epic movie Braveheart on the Curragh. Michael was there behind the scenes watching the director at work. To mark the 30th anniversary he has painted landscapes where the Curragh scenes were filmed.

Michael is the current Chairperson of the Curragh Local History Group. He is active in working on this group’s behalf. Michael is a regular contributor to Curragh History on Facebook and frequently posts on anything Curragh Camp military history related.

Barry Walsh is a native of Monasterevin and has been involved in local history for many years.

Since 2004 he has been a historical reenactor and living history practitioner with Lord Edward’s Own Living History Group. During that time, he has taken part in international re-enactments of the Battles of Trafalgar and Waterloo and of the major events of the 1798 Rebellion in Ireland.

For the Decade of Commemorations, he was involved in events recreating the Battles of Ashbourne and Enniscorthy, the TV series Rebellion, and many smaller local events and documentaries.

Bullet Points: Who, What, and How We Commemorate
McKenna Gallery
Friday 12 April–Saturday 25 May
Monday-Friday 9:30m-5pm | Saturday 10am-4pm
Admission Free