An exciting exhibition entitled ‘Take a Seat’ and featuring the work of 27 students from Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology at Letterfrack has been extended and the pieces are now in place throughout the galleries.
The benches and chairs were made in 2006 / 2007 by students of the Furniture Design and Manufacture programme at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology campus in Letterfrack
. The students worked from a brief developed by staff of GMIT at Letterfrack and the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life to design seating suitable for the public visiting these exhibition galleries.
The individual pieces take their inspiration from many sources: from the contemporary exhibition building designed by the Office of Public Works, from the Victorian Gothic Turlough Park House by Thomas Newenham Deane, from the subject and themes of the National Folklife Collection and from individual items of vernacular furniture on exhibition.
Much of this gallery seating is made of brown oak purchased by the National Museum from a renewable source. The National Museum, through this project, aims to promote the use of certified wood from forests that practice sustainable forest management.
You can see images of the seating in the Photo Gallery, or download the exhibition catalogue:
Take A Seat Exhibition Catalogue Letterfrack Catalogue sml.pdf (2.58 MB, Adobe PDF)