Who Do We Say We Are? Conversations about Identity, Music, Art and Creativity

Presenters: Marty Fahey, Liz Carroll, and Seamus Egan

Chair: Dr Aileen Dillane

The curation of Irish Art for the Irish Free State centenary
exhibition, ‘Who Do We Say We Are? Irish Art 1922 | 2022’,
involved the creation of an accompanying CD of music under
the guidance of Marty Fahey. This seminar explores that project
in a discussion with the curator and composers/arrangers/
performers Liz Carroll and Seamus Egan, by looking at how Irish
art and Irish music mutually inspire, and how this particular
musical collaboration continues to have important afterlives and
creative resonances, including for us here in UL.

Marty Fahey is a composer, traditional musician, curator for The
O’Brien Collection and editor for the art exhibit catalog, Who
Do We Say We Are? Irish Art 1922/2022, whose collaborations
with Liz Carroll extend back to the 1970s – Friend Indeed (1979),
Ireland Crossroads of Art and Design: 1690-1840- The Music
(2015) and The Dreamer (2021).

Liz Carroll is an Irish fiddler, composer, prolific recording artist, the
first Irish-American musician to be nominated for a Grammy, and
the first American-born composer honoured with the Cumadóir
TG4 award for original tunes.

Seamus Egan is a multi-instrumentalist and composer who has
inspired generations of musicians with his work with Solas, the
pre-eminent Irish-American band of that generation, and more
recently with The Seamus Egan project.