Ealaín sa Díseart: Dingle 2020: The Year The Tourists Never Came Cian O’Connor

As we approach 5 years since the 2020 global pandemic, Dingle 2020 is a photography exhibition that starkly documents the year the tourists never came. Shot in stark B&W 35mm film by Cian O’Connor at the height of the pandemic, this project features portraits and interviews with locals of the town as well as streetscapes and personal moments in O’Connor’s family life. From images of a sunny tourist-less Main Street to his parents’ 40th wedding anniversary in isolation and portraits of the people that bind this town together: publicans, business owners, doctors, and the vulnerable. The exhibition consists of 12 printed photos as well as a separate audio soundscape featuring interviews with locals and field recordings from that time.

Cé nach bhfuil Covid chomh contúirteach is a bhí, cuireann an taispeántas seo ar an súile orainn cé chomh coimhthíoch is a bhí an phaindéim. É sin ráite, tá léargas ann chomh maith de stuamacht mhuintir an bhaile.

This exhibition has an ideal home in Feile na Bealtaine as many of these photos were taken in May. Is í bunaidhm an tionscadail seo ná léargas macánta a chur i láthair ar mhuintir an Daingin agus iad ag maireachtaint i gcúinsí neamhghnácha.