Selected Works from the Archives and Collection

This exhibition features a selection of works and materials from the SIRIUS archives and collection, uncovered during research and cataloguing undertakings initiated in 2021. Many of these items reveal – even if only sometimes partially – the richness of the institution’s holdings.

SIRIUS has never been regarded as a collecting entity by its governing bodies, stakeholders, or audiences, but it is nevertheless the custodian of the 1850s architectural drawings for the clubhouse of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, the building it occupies, and miscellaneous documents related to its transition from that function into an art centre. In addition, since its foundation in the mid-1990s, it has accessioned works through donations by artists who exhibited and/or were in residence, and more recently through commissions for artists to respond to Cobh and/or County Cork’s context. The works in the SIRIUS collection constitute a rich repository of art inspired and informed by Cobh as a location of emigration, trade, industry, and activity relating to the harbour.

From its significant architectural and social history as the former headquarters of the Royal Cork Yacht Club through to its current programme, SIRIUS interrogates traditional ideas of building a collection. The works and materials in our care, past and present, are a rich resource for artists, researchers, members of the community, and wider audiences.