The coming months are going to be one of our busiest to date, and you will soon find out why. We want to share now some of the things we are working on, to share the excitement of what is coming, to keep you informed, and to motivate you to be an active participant.

This is why we are closing The Library Project bookshop and library, from today till 29 September. You can still get great publications and browse the collection online. Throughout this period, Black Church Print Studios will host two separate events: Surface Tensions and the SMALL FORMAT International Mini Print exhibition. You can find out more at print.ie

In the meantime, we want to share with you what’s coming:

• First of all, always keep an eye on our Current Opportunities page. All jobs, calls for works, and exhibition opportunities will be listed there.
• Courses: Photography as a Sustainable Arts Practice.
  We have been working really hard on a series of module-based courses that will bring Photography back to where it should be and propel it into the future. Throughout these courses, photographers and artists that engage with the medium will do it in a much more sustainable way. In these modules, there is a strong focus on skills, knowledge, and critical tools, as they are the key to your self-development and sustainability. They will place your practice in the contemporary world, away from the 1900s artcraft approach that misguidedly merges the professional and the Arts practice. The modules will provide you with all you should have been taught in college; from business skills to seeking funding; from administration and management skills, to discipline; from thinking and writing, to talking about your work; from curating, programming, and producing, to exhibition making; and much more.
• Are you happy with the current situation regarding the practice of Photography in Ireland?
  We are certainly not. During Autumn 2017, we will commence a study that will review all publically funded organisations that affect or relate to the practice and practitioners of Photography in Ireland. The evaluation process will contrast their self-defined role with their work done to date, reviewing the organisations archives. As part of this review, we will access data available under the Freedom of Information Act in specific offices like the Arts Council, and others like the CRO, as much as in key archives like NIVAL. With all this data at hand, we will be able to reflect on the current situation and propose benchmarked improvements. The results and recommendations derived from of our findings will be shared publically, and some privately. We hope the effort will yield valuable information to act upon, not only for the organisations involved, but also for related public bodies like the Arts Council of Ireland and the Ministry of Culture in terms of funding and public policy. The planned deadline for this study is Autumn 2018.
• HALFTONE: Dublin’s Fresh New Print Fair 2-19 Nov 2017.
  With submissions already arriving, this year’s HALFTONE will be a super exciting event running over an extended period of three weekends! Read more and submit here.
• TLP Editions
  PhotoIreland Foundation opened a call for proposals from photographers and artists working with the medium, from Ireland and anywhere in the world, to present a brief and coherent project, for inclusion in a new and ongoing set of publications under the name of TLP Editions. The call for proposals is already receiving submissions. You can submit before midnight 22 October 2017. Remember: we do not extend deadlines!
• The PhotoIreland Foundation Awards
  A fun and much needed celebration of this year’s achievements, planned for 23-26 November. More on this soon!
• The PhotoIreland Publishing Award
  We know very well how publishing has become a very important part of an artist’s development, so we will launch an award this autumn. Stay tuned for the details!
• Greetings From Ireland
  The Greetings From Ireland project was very successful, and it engaged with audiences well beyond our planned scope. Seeing it was so popular, we are now working on a great new focus, to be announced.
• Phototropism
  Remember what we did that time? Well, we planned to bring the second instalment of Phototropism to The Library Project this year, but in the end it could not be. Happily, we are working on a much succulent and tropical curatorial approach for 2018, so, guess what: stay tuned for it too!
• How To Flatten A Mountain 2018
  How to Flatten a Mountain is an exciting residency opportunity open to emerging and mid-career visual artists whose artistic practice in whole or part makes use of digital and/or analogue photographic processes. This residency is an ongoing collaboration between Cow House Studios and PhotoIreland, where 2018 will marks the third year for this exciting partnership – applications will open in Autumn! 
• Aside from all this, we are preparing loads of great and ambitious exhibitions and events to be hosted at The Library Project, and of course, we have PhotoIreland Festival coming up next May 2018!

That is it, what do you think? Let us know. If you want to subscribe, there is a form for that!
We hope to see you back on the 29th of September, if not before!