Members Tour: Insight into the work of Sharon Murphy and Emma Spreadborough

Thursday 8th May 2025

Photo Museum Ireland invites members to an exclusive guided tour exploring the evocative and theatrical photographic worlds of Sharon Murphy and Emma Spreadborough. This special event offers a unique opportunity to experience the work of two artists who harness the language of performance and the power of the image to explore personal, cultural, and psychological landscapes — each at very different stages in their creative careers.

Emma Spreadborough’s You Mustn’t Go Looking conjures a haunted yet familiar terrain, drawing on the mythic landscape of Northern Ireland and the shadowy echoes of folk ritual, children’s games, and domestic spaces. Inspired by Brian Friel’s Dancing at Lughnasa, Spreadborough stages the home as both sanctuary and stage — a place where the supernatural and societal tensions collide. Her images blur the line between reality and fiction, control and chaos, suggesting an uneasy search for belonging amid the shifting political and cultural identities of the North.

In Sharon Murphy’s Mise en Abyme, carousels, theatre curtains, and deserted fairgrounds serve as metaphors for inner worlds and layered realities. Drawing on her background in theatre and literary influences from psychoanalysis and magic realism, Murphy explores the uncanny space between the seen and the unseen. Her work plays with mirrors, repetition, and the boundaries of illusion — evoking a dreamlike tension where enchantment meets unease, and presence slips into absence.

Together, these exhibitions open a vivid dialogue around performance, memory, and the role of photography as a space of transformation and staging. This tour will delve into how both artists explore identity, myth, and imagination — inviting us to consider how the past performs itself in the present.

Spaces are limited — don’t miss this opportunity for an in-depth and guided experience of two visually rich, thought-provoking exhibitions.

This tour is exclusive to our members and will last 1 hour and will take place in the gallery space which is accessible by stairs and lift. There is some seating available. The physical spaces within the Museum are fully wheelchair accessible. Read more about accessibility at Photo Museum Ireland

Please kindly arrive at Photo Museum Ireland 10 minutes before the tour start time.

If you have any accessibility requests or any other questions please contact us at niamh@photomuseumireland.ie

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