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Riding the Franchises

Riding the Franchises
wood, paint, varnish, construction mesh, plant dyes, mordants, wool
dimensions variable
installed at The LAB, Dublin, 2019. image © Kasia Kaminska

Riding the Franchises (detail)
2019
wood, paint, varnish, construction mesh, plant dyes, mordants, wool
installed at The LAB, Dublin, 2019. image © Kasia Kaminska

Riding the Franchises (detail)
2019
wood, paint, varnish, construction mesh, plant dyes, mordants, wool
installed at The LAB, Dublin, 2019. image © Kasia Kaminska

Riding the Franchises (detail)
2019
wood, paint, varnish, construction mesh, plant dyes, mordants, wool
installed at The LAB, Dublin, 2019. image © Kasia Kaminska

Riding the Franchises (detail)
2019
wood, paint, varnish, construction mesh, plant dyes, mordants, wool
installed at The LAB, Dublin, 2019. image © Kasia Kaminska

Riding the Franchises (detail)
2019
wood, paint, varnish, construction mesh, plant dyes, mordants, wool
installed at The LAB, Dublin, 2019. image © Kasia Kaminska

Riding the Franchises (detail)
2019
wood, paint, varnish, construction mesh, plant dyes, mordants, wool
installed at The LAB, Dublin, 2019. image © Marielle MacLeman

Riding the Franchises
2019
wood, paint, varnish, construction mesh, plant dyes, mordants, wool
installed at The LAB, Dublin, 2019. image © Kasia Kaminska

Riding the Franchises (detail)
2019
wood, paint, varnish, construction mesh, plant dyes, mordants, wool
installed at Galway Arts Centre, Galway, 2019. image © Tom Flanagan

Riding the Franchises (detail)
2019
wood, paint, varnish, construction mesh, plant dyes, mordants, wool
installed at Galway Arts Centre, Galway, 2019. image © Tom Flanagan

Riding the Franchises (detail)
2019
wood, paint, varnish, construction mesh, plant dyes, mordants, wool
installed at Galway Arts Centre, Galway, 2019. image © Tom Flanagan

Riding the Franchises
2019
wood, paint, varnish, construction mesh, plant dyes, mordants, wool
installed at Galway Arts Centre, Galway, 2019. image © Marielle MacLeman

Early in her research for the exhibition In course of rearrangement, both Dublin City Council’s Weaver Park and the National Museum of Ireland, home to the remnants of The Liberties weaving industry, were under construction and shrouded in mesh. MacLeman embroidered scaffolding mesh with wool dyed using plant dyes and staged them like the banners of guild processions or trade protests, overlapping to create the moiré effect reminiscent of Irish silk poplin. Originating in a twelfth-century decree, ‘Riding the Franchises’ was a Dublin tradition involving the Lord Mayor perambulating the jurisdictional boundaries of the city, latterly opened up to the weavers and guilds of The Liberties in a peaceful procession that displayed their craft.

Riding the Franchises was funded by an Arts Council Project Award 2018 and developed during a Dublin City Council Residential Residency supported by Galway City Council.