Taoiseach Micheál Martin launches Rinn, an exhibition with work by O’Donnell + Tuomey

Following its run at Ireland House Tokyo and the Ireland Pavilion at Expo Osaka, a landmark exhibition curated by Joseph Walsh and Wahei Aoyama has opened at UCC’s The Glucksman, Cork. Conceived as a dialogue on making, place and time, RINN / Ireland and Japan brings together Irish and Japanese makers.

Architects O’Donnell + Tuomey are represented with Bridge, made by Joseph Walsh Studio in Douglas Fir, oak and linen as a meditation on the Japanese word ‘hashi’, meaning bridge or edge. O’Donnell + Tuomey’s site-specific experimentation with Joseph Walsh Studio – Rambling Houses at Fartha – is given a special focus, with an entire room documenting the collaborative work through sketches, writings, and working models. Each of the three built works – Passage House (2022), Stone Vessel (2023), and Hedge Theatre (2024) – was constructed over the course of a year, growing from a shared conversation between architects, craftsmen and traditional builders.

Speaking at the launch, Taoiseach Micheál Martin described O’Donnell + Tuomey’s Glucksman Gallery (2014) as an “exemplar of world-class Irish design” and RINN as a “magnificent exhibition of creative dialogue between Irish and Japanese makers”. He added: “The exhibition showcases the groundbreaking creative collaborations between Joseph Walsh and the architects Sheila O’Donnell and John Tuomey, two other Irish creatives on the world stage, and in whose award-winning building we are standing.”