Geneva St Patrick's Day Event - Harry Clarke and the Geneva Window

As we all continue to work virtually, we have decided to focus our St. Patrick’s Day 2021 celebrations on the great Irish artist, Harry Clarke, who was commissioned to produce Ireland’s gift to the new Headquarters of the ILO in 1927. Born in Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day 1889, Harry Clarke was a world renowned stained glass artist and illustrator. Active in his father’s stained glass studio from an early age, Clarke was awarded a Scholarship in Stained Glass to study at Dublin’s Metropolitan College of Art and Design. Throughout his career, Clarke would produce more than 130 windows and take over the family studio with his brother, Walter, upon their father’s death in 1921. His ‘Geneva Window’ is one of his most arresting works of art. It depicts scenes from the works of 15 of Ireland’s most famous writers including James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Sean O’Casey, Liam O’Flaherty, William Butler Yeats, John Millington Synge, Lady Gregory, and Patrick Pearse. Some of the scenes, however, fell foul of conservative official Irish views of art and literature in the late 1920s, and the gift was never given by the new Irish State. Harry Clarke died in Switzerland on 6 January 1931, after a stay in a sanatorium in Davos, and he is buried in Chur. His Geneva Window is now on permanent exhibition at the Wolfsonian at the Florida International University. We look forward to welcoming you to our St. Patrick's Day celebration. 19:30 (Geneva time): Introductory remarks by Ambassador Michael Gaffey Speaker 1: Ms. Fiana Griffin Interlude: Music by Geneva-based Irish band The Emigrants Speaker 2: Dr. Roisin Kennedy, UCD School of Art History & Cultural Policy and co-editor of ‘Harry Clarke and Artistic Visions of the New Irish State’. Interlude: Live music from Eimear Quinn, Irish singer, composer and winner of the Eurovision Song Contest Speaker 3: Recorded message, Guy Ryder, Director General ILO Speaker 4: Noel Curran, Director-General of the European Broadcasting Union Q and A: Session for participants to ask questions of the speakers Concluding remarks: Ambassador Gaffey Images courtesy of the Wolfsonian–Florida International University, The Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. Collection.