OFF Programme: Exhibitions

This is an homage to James Joyce and his last great masterpiece, Finnegans Wake: an epic tale largely set in Chapelizod where the river Liffey begins its last descent to the sea. Contemporary Japanese photographer Motoko Fujita captures the ethos and ambience of this historic village enfolded by Phoenix Park on the fringes of Dublin. Selecting 23 stunning black-and-white images from the book, Motoko guides the viewer through a townscape and landscape, the essence of a world which Joyce captured in words and which has scarcely changed since his death seventy years ago. The result is an immersive journey of recall and renewal.

Motoko’s book The Shadow of James Joyce: Chapelizod and Environs (Dublin: Lilliput Press, 2011) contains 55 images with original essays by Joyceans, local scholars and historians, which enliven these original photographs. They include contributions from Senator David Norris, actor Barry McGovern, Joyce scholar Sam Slote, and John McCullen, landscape historian and Chief Park Superintendent of Phoenix Park since 1984. Joyce’s celebrated textual editor Danis Rose writes about ‘The Strange Case of the Disappearing Bread: Bloom’s Budget for 16 June 1904’, biographer W.J. McCormack describes ‘Sheridan Le Fanu and Greater Chapelizod’, and the late Thomas MacGiolla and Raphy Doyle evoke their native environ. Japanese professor Shigehisa Yoshizu concludes with a commentary on Motoko’s photographs.
Curated by Dr. Stacey Herbert.