FUNDRAISING EXHIBITION (May 2006)

THE PIGYARD GALLERY, IRELAND IS TO HOST THE PáDRAIG GRANT EXHIBITION ENTITLED "Pieces of Africa 1989-2005". Proceeds from the exhibition will be used by IceAid to fund the ongoing rehabilitation of an orphanage in Liberia.The exhibition is a retrospective of black and white photographs made in Africa over a 16 year period.

The orphanage, called "Alfred and Agnes" is home to 75 children, and is located near Camp Clara, the headquarters of the 500 strong Irish peacekeeping force in Liberia. The orphanage is currently being renovated by Irish troops under the direction of their chaplain Fr. Pat Mernagh.

Pádraig is the co-founder of ICEAID and will use the exhibition platform to introduce IceAid to the Irish public. His background as a photo-journalist visiting Africa's troubled lands over the years has inevitably led him to set up this agency. Pádraig explains, "My photographs take the viewer on a journey through the parched landscapes of Sudan and Somalia, the volcanic topography of Ethiopia, the verdant borderlands of Congo and Rwanda and on through Kenya and Uganda. Made in the period 1989 to the present the photographs depict people going about their daily lives against a background of political and environmental disaster."

"But the images are not bleak nor do they present a hopeless scenario. They are thematically linked by my desire to address the near constant stream of misrepresentation of ‘Africa' in the media; as if there is one Africa, a singular identity, an identity of corruption and endless hardship. In extreme circumstances people can be magnificent; it's in the way that they care for each other and the things they do to make life better. This is what my photographs are about." May 2006

Exhibition to Raise Funds for IceAid

More from the exhibition:
Letter of support from Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Dermot Ahern HERE
Children Adopt Photograph HERE
Press Cuttings HERE