Transferiencias
25th November 2014 - 19th December 2014
UAM, Mexico city
Two person show
Elaine Byrne and Oweena Fogarty
Extract from the Press Release :
Elaine Byrne has been photographing and interviewing the Bradigan Irish dancing school in Mexico City since 2012. With over 4,000 Irish dancing students in Mexico DF her investigation into the globalization of culture, questions what happens to traditions such as Irish dancing when absorbed and transformed by another culture.
Competitive Irish dancing is a global phenomenon with strict rules governing all aspects of the dance This has been the entry point into Elaine’s work for this exhibition which questions who gets to control culture and how. In this she references the 16 century sumptuary laws which were imposed on the Irish by the English in an attempt to stamp out nationalism. She places large text on the wall subverting the 16 century laws such as ‘oversized sleeves must not be worn’ as a juxtaposition to the rules governing Irish Dancing.
In a large drawing she ambiguously outlines the dance moves and places photographs of the dance over the drawing- all which lead to questions on what can be known through viewing alone.