Following on from the success Beneath the Layers at Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens this June, Mór Artists Collective in partnership with Old Market House Arts Centre Dungarvan presents contemporary artworks by members, inspired by one of Ireland’s most unique and richly layered historical resources, the Fota House Wallpaper Archive.
Developed in partnership with Fota House, Arboretum & Gardens, the project brought together more than 30 artists from Mór’s 48 member collective of professional and emerging artists across East Cork and West Waterford. Working across diverse disciplines including painting, literature, collage and sound installation, the artists were given unprecedented access to the collection as a source of research, interpretation and inspiration.
The Fota House Wallpaper Collection comprises more than 275 samples dating from the 18th to 20th centuries, collected over several decades by Irish conservation architect John O’Connell and donated to Fota House in 2004. Sourced from historic and stately homes across Ireland, the collection encompasses intricate Chinese wallpapers, leather wall coverings, delicate tracings and fragments, offering fascinating insights into the interiors, tastes and decorative traditions of past centuries.
The exhibition was first presented at Fota House in June 2025 and will re-hang in Dungarvan in August 2025, bringing the work to a new audience in West Waterford. The Dungarvan presentation provides a second opportunity to experience this ambitious and diverse exhibition.
Mór Artists Collective is an artist-led membership organisation supporting artists living and working professionally across the visual, performing and literary arts in rural East Cork and West Waterford. The Collective works to raise the profile of its members and to highlight the quality, diversity and ambition of the artists living, working and teaching throughout our region.
Mór Artists Collective is facilitated by Greywood Arts and supported by Cork County Council and Waterford City & County Arts Offices.
