Embassy of Ireland, The Netherlands | Hamilton Gallery, Sligo | Pulchri Studios, The Hague
An Open Call for submission of new artworks for an exhibition themed on the poem
Carrying the Songs
by Moya Cannon.
The open call is to professional artists resident in The Netherlands or on the Island of Ireland.
The exhibition will take place at Pulchri Studio, The Hague, The Netherlands, in July 2026.
About the exhibition Carrying the Songs
The Embassy of Ireland, The Netherlands, in partnership with Hamilton Gallery Sligo and Pulchri Studios, The Hague, invite submissions for an exhibition of new paintings by artists who are resident either on the island of Ireland or in The Netherlands.
The exhibition is themed on Carrying the Songs a poem by Irish poet Moya Cannon, a prescient reflection on how music is often the only thing a people or a culture can take with them when forced to leave their home and native country behind.
Hamilton Gallery has curated several major exhibitions in association with Irish Embassies abroad in recent years, involving hundreds of artists. Previous exhibitions, themed on the lives and work of writers Leland Bardwell, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and Eva Gore-Booth have been shown in London, Beijing, Dublin, Berlin and New York. The Gallery curated the exhibition Europe in the Heart of Ireland, featuring work by 100 Irish artists, which launched the Europa Gallery at the new EU Commission Building in Dublin in November 2024. Bloodroot, a Lá Fhéile Bríde exhibition in February 2025, curated by Hamilton Gallery in partnership with The Embassy of Ireland, The Netherlands, featured new paintings by 125 Irish women artists was shown at Pulchri Studios in February 2025.
Carrying the Songs will open at Pulchri Studio, The Hague, Netherlands in July 2025. (Final Dates TBC)
Submissions for Carrying the Songs open call can only be made via ArtCall.org
Carrying the Songs by Moya Cannon
For Triona and Mairéad Ni Dhomhnaill
Those in power write the history, those who suffer write the songs - Frank Harte
It was always those with little else to carry who carried the songs
to Babylon,
to the Mississippi -
some of these last possessed less than nothing
did not own their own bodies
yet, three centuries later,
deep rhythms from Africa,
stowed in their hearts, their bones,
carry the world's songs.
For those who left my county,
girls from Downings and the Rosses
who followed herring boats north to Shetland
gutting the sea's silver as they went
or boys from Ranafast who took the Derry boat,
who slept over a rope in a bothy,
songs were their souls' currency
the pure metal of their hearts,
to be exchanged for other gold,
other songs which rang out true and bright
when flung down
upon the deal boards of their days.
About Pulchri Studio - The Hague
About Pulchri Studio
Pulchri Studio is an artists' association and gallery founded in 1847. The name Pulchri is derived from Latin and means ´out of love for the arts´. It is a place where ideas are born and showcased, art is traded, acquittances are made and friendships are forged.
On average there are 60 different exhibitions per year
Carrying the Songs will open at Pulchri Studio, The Hague, Netherlands in July 2026.
It is most likely the exhibition will be presented at other international galleries in 2026, as well as Hamilton Gallery Sligo.
Carcanet Press
Carrying the Songs has kindly been made available for this event by the publishers Carcanet Press.