President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins presided at a
ceremony this afternoon, Thursday 9th March 2017, to mark the election of
film-maker George Morrison as Saoi in Aosdána. The honour of Saoi is bestowed
for singular and sustained distinction in the arts and, this afternoon, the
President presented George with the symbol of the office, a gold Torc. The
ceremony took place at 2:00pm at the Arts Council's offices at 70 Merrion Square,
Dublin 2, which is also the headquarters of Aosdána.
Aosdána was originally established in 1981 by the Arts
Council to acknowledge artists who have made an outstanding contribution to the
arts in Ireland. Membership of Aosdána,
which is by peer nomination and election, is open to artists engaged in
architecture, choreography, music, literature and the visual arts and,
currently, the body has 244 members. Members must be (or have been) resident in
Ireland for five years, and must have produced a body of work that is original
and creative.
Members of Aosdána nominate and elect the Saoithe and no
more than seven artists may hold this honour at any one time. The present Saoithe are Seoirse Bodley
(music), Edna O’Brien (literature), Camille Souter (visual arts), Imogen Stuart
(visual arts).
The ceremony was attended by many of the artist’s colleagues
and numerous members of Aosdána, including Samuel Walsh and Jane O’Leary. Also present were Arts Council Director,
Orlaith McBride and Arts Council Chair, Sheila Pratschke.
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