Picturing the Border opens at Highlanes Gallery Drogheda

Photos: Jenny Callanan

Picturing the Border has opened at Highlanes Gallery in Drogheda, bringing together more than a century of artists’ responses to the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The exhibition, Picturing the Border: 1921 – 2026, is the penultimate exhibition in Highlanes Gallery’s 20th anniversary programme and opened to a full house on Saturday, 22nd August.

Co-curated by Highlanes Gallery Director Aoife Ruane and Dr Orla Fitzpatrick, the exhibition explores the border through painting, print, photography, film and popular culture.

Highlanes Gallery says the exhibition looks at how artists have responded to the border since the early 1920s, moving beyond stereotypical representations and examining how partition has affected communities and regions in different ways.

Works from across the island

The exhibition brings together works from public and private collections as well as directly from artists’ studios across the island of Ireland.

A number of participating artists attended the opening, including Mairéad McClean, Kate Nolan, Dorothy Hunter, John Byrne, Ben Malcolmson, Anthony Haughey, Ruth Gonsalves Moore, Laura O’Connor, Emma Campbell from Array Collective, Sean Hillen, Kevin Fox and Ciarán Dunbar.

Aoife Ruane said:

“the exhibition reflects the richness and the opportunity of both borrowing from many other public collections, as an accredited museum, and inviting artists directly, two important ways the gallery likes to work”

She also acknowledged the many artists represented in the exhibition who are now deceased, noting that their work can continue to speak across time and take on new meaning for contemporary audiences.

Major loans from public collections

The exhibition includes a substantial number of loans from collections across Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Works have been borrowed from organisations including The Arts Council of Ireland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, F.E. McWilliam Gallery & Studio, Armagh County Museum, Louth County Council Collection, Fermanagh County Museum, Newry and Mourne Museum, Louth Arts Office, Photo Museum Ireland and Highlanes Gallery’s cross-border partner, the F.E. McWilliam Gallery & Studio.

Highlanes says its proximity to the border has allowed it to draw on local artistic networks, institutions and collections to explore the cultural impact of a boundary that is now more than a century old.

Part of Highlanes’ 20th anniversary year

Picturing the Border forms part of Highlanes Gallery’s 20th anniversary programme.

Drogheda Life previously reported on the exhibition as part of Louth’s Legendary Together cultural programme, where Picturing the Border was highlighted as one of the major Highlanes exhibitions planned for 2026.

The gallery has also hosted a number of major exhibitions and events throughout its anniversary year, including To Land: Living Roots Awaken, presented in partnership with Crawford Art Gallery.