New Irish Works: The Thousand Year Old Boy
Yvette Monahan

In 2006, cavers made exciting archaeological discoveries in the Burren, Co. Clare. Within the findings, a poignant revelation was also made: the skeleton of a Bronze Age child. The archaeologists managed to extract DNA from the remains. They tested this DNA against that of 150 children from a local school. One boy was an exact match. This boy lives in a house less than one mile from the cave.

This story captivated Monahan and led her to question whether a landscape could hold the individual and collective stories of those that pass over it? Their histories, myths and legends are unseen and yet they are how we define our culture, its hopes, dreams, and fears. The Thousand Year Old Boy explores the Burren as an ancient landscape, one that acts as a silent witness to the lives of those who have gone before.

A graduate of the MFA Photography programme at the Belfast School of Art, Yvette’s work has been exhibited extensively.  Since 2019, Yvette has been selected as the Irish representative for ‘Visions from Europe’ and as a Futures Talent at Unseen Amsterdam.  Yvette was also invited to take part in TULCA Festival of Arts, Winter Papers Volume 4, PhotoIreland, Lishui Photography festival, China and the summer residency program at Cowhouse studios, Wexford.

Selected by an international panel of 23 professionals, New Irish Works brings you a selection of 20 projects and 20 photographers representing the diverse range of practices coming from Ireland. New Irish Works 2016 is a year long project of 10 presentations and 20 publications that aims to highlight the great moment Irish Photography is experiencing.

Founded in 2009, PhotoIreland was conceived as an organisation that would stimulate a dialogue around Photography in Ireland by developing a varied array of initiatives and events with a strong participative approach.