IMMA Director’s Message

2021 proved to be another tumultuous year in relation to the ebbs and flows of the global pandemic. However, this Annual Report shows how nimble and dynamic IMMA is as an institution. Despite the challenges, we continued to facilitate and grow our publics with our constantly evolving programme, ambitious exhibition making, large scale digital outreach, and outdoor cultural programme.

This included ambitious large scale outdoor installations and events throughout the summer and Aoife Dunne’s dramatic digital art installation DREAMSPHERE which lit up the courtyard through the dark winter nights.

Our 30th birthday exhibition, The Narrow Gate of the Here-and-Now was presented in four chapters, each one exploring the past three decades through different thematic approaches. The chapters are: Chapter One: Queer Embodiment; Chapter Two: The Anthropocene; Chapter Three: Social Fabric, and Chapter Four: Protest and Conflict. This was the first time that the entire Museum had been given over to a display from the IMMA Collection, presenting more than 200 artworks. The exhibition, which will be available to view into 2022, has an international significance as the formation of IMMA was not an isolated event. Around the time that IMMA was formed, several other museums of contemporary art in Europe and its environs were brought into being. These and wider shifts towards globalisation, with the dawn of the internet and the rise of neoliberal politics in the West, provided the context for thinking about IMMA’s role in relation to the global contemporary.

Although our Engagement & Learning programme was restricted during the year with no indoor events or in-person tours, our team hosted a huge range of new events online. The Art & Ageing programme was significantly expanded in partnership with Creative Ireland and the IMMA International Summer School on the theme of Art, Politics and Containment grew its international scope and reach.

All of IMMA’s galleries were closed until 13 May 2021 so the exhibitions that had been installed in late 2020 had very limited public viewing. Notably the extraordinary exhibition Paula Rego: Obedience & Defiance, curated by Catherine Lampert ended on 25 May. An uncompromising artist of extraordinary imaginative power, Rego redefined figurative art and revolutionised how women are represented. Knowing that the exhibition would be curtailed IMMA commissioned two films. The first film, Paula Rego at IMMA: Obedience and Defiance, is a journey through the exhibition at IMMA which brings the viewer through the exhibition revealing some of the principal themes behind Paula Rego’s works. The artist’s son, Nick Willing, provides rare insight into the artist’s personal life, which ultimately informed her work. The second film, Paula Rego at IMMA: Experienced, invites you to see the exhibition through the eyes of IMMA’s visitors.

IMMA’s recent pioneering exhibitions PROTEST! by Derek Jarman went on tour this year and opened to great acclaim in Manchester Art Gallery in December 2021. This is the first retrospective of one of the most influential figures in 20th century British culture, and is exhibition is an indication of the ambition of IMMA to uncover themes that resonate internationally. We are very proud this pioneering show and its international reception.

Another significant collection exhibition Ghosts from the Recent Past closed in June 2021 and explored how urgencies of the recent past continue to inhabit the present. Framed by key political events over the recent past it focused on artworks from the IMMA Collection, including a major donation of 60 art works from the Kerlin Gallery. Early 2021 also featured a photography exhibition Northern Light and new publication, drawn from the extraordinary collection of photography amassed by our committed patron Dr David Kronn.

IMMA was very much in the public eye during 2021. It was featured in Time Out as a perfect day out in Dublin 8 and listed as number 15 on the list of the top 49 coolest neighbourhood’s in the world. IMMA received significant domestic coverage including a feature on the The Late Late show as part of Culture Night and was chosen by RTE 1’s travel programme No Place Like Home presented by Kathryn Thomas, to be the location for the second programme in the series with the show being broadcast from the Formal Gardens in late August. Fáilte Ireland also highlighted IMMA’s Outdoor programme in two leading stories on their website VisitDublin.com – Best Dublin Experiences and Six Unique Summer Experiences. I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak to a number of national newspapers including the Irish Independent and Sunday Business Post to discuss IMMA’s new direction and the Museum’s Collection.

I must thank the Board of IMMA for their enthusiastic support during 2021, my second full year in office. Their experience and wisdom has been invaluable in these turbulent times. Our parent Department has also provided much appreciated support and guidance and is a constant source of encouragement.

Finally, I must thank all of the staff at IMMA who have thrown themselves into the new reality in a proactive, enthusiastic manner. Their primary commitment has been to IMMA’s audiences and maintaining access to art and creativity throughout this unprecedented  year. As we look ahead to the next chapter, we are fully committed to making IMMA radically hospitable, globally connected and through our ambitious programming, a catalyst for artistic change.

Annie Fletcher
Director