Crawford Art Gallery to host Culture Night ahead of works

Culture Night will return to Cork’s Crawford Art Gallery next month.

This will be the gallery’s last Culture Night for a number of years as they are set to close to the public on September 22 for a major redevelopment project.

The project, entitled Transforming Crawford Art Gallery, will see the gallery double its space by adding a new fifth storey to the public gallery — which will boast a bird’s eye view of Cork city landmarks — and conserve 300 years of built heritage for generations to come.

The gallery expects to reopen to the public in mid-2027.

This year will see the return of the popular ‘living statue’, actor Kyle English, who will be bringing the gallery’s famous Canova casts to life.

There will also be family-friendly workshops, promising chaos and creativity inspired by the Crawford collection, as well as live music, a series of talks detailing the intricacies of caring for more than 3,500 precious artworks, and a series of ‘speed-dating the collection’ mini tours, which will provide insight into the gallery’s best-loved pieces.

Crawford Art Gallery will stay open until 10pm to give visitors a chance to enjoy as much of the gallery as possible.

Highlights on the day include the living statue exhibition, taking place from 5pm to 7.30pm outdoors and in the Gibson Galleries; The Gallery Shenanigans family-friendly workshop, taking place from 5pm to 9pm in the Upper Gallery; The speed-dating the collection series, taking place from 5pm to 9.30pm throughout the entire gallery; and the meet the team lecture series, taking place from 6pm to 9pm at the lecture theatre.

Speakers at the meet the team lecture include conservator Dr Chiara Chillé, registrar Jean O’Donovan, and gallery director Mary McCarthy.

Booking will not be required in advance, with most events operating on a first-come-first-served basis.

For the full programme of events taking place at Crawford Art Gallery on Culture Night, visit: https://crawfordartgallery.ie/culture-night-2024/