Exhibitions as Agents of Change

Over the last 20 years the IAF has curated, produced and delivered many exhibitions to national and international audiences. From award-winning, touring exhibitions on the Irish town and on the future of housing in Ireland, to exhibitions that champion the creativity and brilliance of architects and artists, such as i see Earth, to offering platforms for risk and new voices to emerge through exhibitions such as gapLab, to bringing the best of Irish architecture to the world’s biggest stage for exhibitions in Venice, the IAF is committed to the exhibition as a primary means to engage and thrill audiences with the value and culture of architecture.

What these have in common is that, for the IAF, an exhibition is an agent of change. Exhibitions are things around which audiences gather to discuss, debate and engage with the subject of architecture through the objects on display. As curators, we wish to take care of the architects and artists and their work, but we also intend that the experience of presenting their work to public audiences is, in itself, transformative for them and their work. And for our audiences, we are careful to ensure exhibitions are challenging, open, accessible and beautiful, offering people many ways into the themes and topics on display, so their views can potentially be altered. And, as IAF is named in Ireland’s National Policy on Architecture, we are also keenly aware that our work in exhibitions can provide a bridge between national policy and lived experience, most recently seen in The Reason of Towns exhibition with Valerie Mulvin. The potential of exhibitions to support and drive real change in architecture and the built environment, while also tending to the unique culture of creativity and imagination in architecture, is limitless.

There comes a time too when exhibitions need to hold things to account, to hold a mirror to us all, to confront us with ourselves. As Earl Nightingale wrote, “our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations”. 

This season at IAF House, we present three exhibitions that act as evidence towards countering negative and untrue narratives about our built world. To Not Design Is To Cost The Earth argues the absolute value of design when it comes to building a better, fairer world. HouseEurope! presents evidence of the wanton, unnecessary demolition of buildings in Europe when cities and those that live in them badly need more space for housing. Mise Le Meas presents evidence of the loss of social, cultural and intellectual capital that is happening as our young people leave Dublin to build their lives abroad.

The exhibitions are available to view from 4th October and will continue to 30th November at IAF House at Charlemont Square, Dublin. Do these exhibitions reflect the world you see? Do some truths remain hidden as tall tales are told in the name of a kind of progress? Come in, take a look, see what you think for yourself.

Photo: Exhibitions in IAF House, Charlemont Walk, autumn 2024. Photo by Ste Murray.