Nine new people were elected to the membership of Aosdána, the affiliation of creative artists in Ireland, on Thursday.
The newly elected members are musician Paul Brady; writers Áine Ní Ghlinn and Nuala O’Connor; writer and director Paul Mercier; architect Shih-Fu Peng; choreographer Mufutau Yusuf; and visual artists Alan Gilsenan, Orla Barry and Locky Morris.
The new members were elected at Aosdána’s 43rd general assembly, in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. This brings the organisation’s membership to 250 people.
Addressing the general assembly on Thursday, Maura McGrath, chairperson of the Arts Council, said: “Aosdána is a cherished part of the Arts Council and of the wider arts community.
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“Today we gather to celebrate the spirit of creativity while also honouring and remembering those members who are no longer with us.”
At the meeting, a minute’s silence was observed in memory of former Aosdána members who died in the last year including Edna O’Brien, Michael Longley, Paul Durcan and Michael Kane.
In a statement, the Arts Council praised the work of its new members. It noted that Paul Brady, as a singer, songwriter, musician and producer, has for over 50 years been “at the forefront of music in Ireland, both traditional and contemporary”.
Alan Gilsenan’s “diverse and eclectic body of film work extends across creative documentary, feature films and more experimental work”, the council said.
Shih-Fu Peng cofounded Heneghan Peng Architects with Róisín Heneghan. Their completed projects include the Grand Egyptian Museum and the refurbishment of the National Gallery of Ireland’s historic wings.
[ Paul Muldoon appointed Saoi of AosdánaOpens in new window ]
Paul Mercier, the writer and director, cofounded Passion Machine, creating 12 original plays that toured internationally. His work for the Abbey Theatre and Fíbín Theatre includes notable Irish-language productions.
Orla Barry is a lecturer at the Institute of Technology, Carlow. She has performed in cities across Europe, including Dublin, Brussels, London and Lisbon.
Novelist and poet Áine Ní Ghlinn has written 36 books and was Ireland’s Laureate na nÓg/Children’s Literature Laureate from 2020 to 2023.
Locky Morris was born 1960 in Derry City, where he continues to live and work. “Renowned for his early work that explicitly dealt with the conflict in Northern Ireland, he has gone on to develop another working vocabulary that touches on a broad range of subjects, from the highly personal and familial to the political,” the council noted.
Mufutau Yusuf is based between Ireland and Brussels. Since 2020 Yusuf has performed with the Liz Roche Company in Ireland and the USA. He made his full-length NYC choreographic debut with Òwe at the Irish Arts Centre, New York in 2022.
Nuala O’Connor’s fifth novel NORA, about Nora Barnacle, wife and muse to James Joyce, was recently published to critical acclaim in the USA, Ireland, the UK, and Germany, and is forthcoming in other languages.
