Bantracht Letterpress Workshop

Maynooth University Library

Join members of Mná na nEalaín for a creative letterpress workshop, to celebrate the launch of their “Bantracht” exhibition.

John Paul II Library, Maynooth University

This two hour workshop is packed with stories about inspiring women, as well as creativity, we invite discussion on Inghinidhe na hÉireann, Dun Emer Industries and The Cuala Press, Mary Leadbeater and other women lost in history who used print powerfully to make the case for social justice. They wielded the power of print and the pamphlet in the 18th, 19th and 20th-century abolitionist and suffragette movements to great effect!We will honour the suffragettes who used this classic printing technique to get their message out! Drawing on their example, Mná na nEalaín will facilitate letterpress demonstrations on a 1942 Adana, which has it’s own rebel story. Working in groups, you’ll learn how to print bookmarks with words inspired by these courageous women, using vintage text on a mobile letterpress. Workshop highlights:•	Learn the art of letterpress printing. Compose metal type upside down and backwards to make your own narrative.•	Choose your own heroine, or draw inspiration from the women you learn about on the day! Please Note•	All hair needs to be tied up to avoid getting caught in printing presses•	Rubber-based ink stains clothes, participants must wear old clothes or an apron.•	We’ll use Japanese bamboo paper as it gives a lovely impression of the type, is sustainably produced and is eco-friendly. •	This is a free event in collaboration with Maynooth University Library, however booking is essential.Please join us at 13:30 in the Library Foyer, for the official opening of the Bantracht exhibition by Lucina Russell (Kildare Arts Officer).‘Bantracht’ an exhibition hosted by selected members of the Mná na nEalaín will open to the public on Monday 24th April until Tuesday 2nd May at Maynooth University Library. ‘Bantracht’ will feature works from Rennie Buenting, Eva Byrne, Angelina Foster, Lara Grufferty, Carol Kennedy, Sibéal Riordan, Emily Robards and Sinéad Cunneen Williams.Mná na nEalaín is a network of established and emerging female artists and creatives in Ireland, which evolved from the Creative Europe Womarts Program.Twenty female artists across Ireland were invited to take part in Womarts in 2020.Wom@rts pursues womens&#x27; equal share of the arts, in terms of visibility, promotion and access to the market, with female empowerment and professional training at its core.Mná na nEalaín hope to create opportunities for women through collaboration and participation.Throughout the pandemic the artists communicated and collaborated virtually, in September 2022 they met for a letterpress workshop in Limerick Printmakers, which sowed the seeds for the ‘Bantracht’ exhibition.The title ‘Bantracht’ translates from the Irish ‘womenkind’ or ‘womenfolk’– the central theme of this exhibition.Participants were asked to explore female figures from a historical, current, mythological or folklore context, and to create work in response to their discoveries.

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Bantracht Letterpress Workshop

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