There’s been curious goings-on at Ballymaloe.

An iron goat, a bronze crow, an enormous copper man and a giant stainless steel banana have taken up residence on the lawns.

It’s not some kind of dystopian invasion however; the pieces form part of a magical collection of 42 wild and wonderful sculptures that will be displayed in the Shanagarry hotel and cookery school for the summer.

 

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A post shared by Richard Scott (@rssculpture) on Jun 5, 2019 at 1:15am PDT

It’s all part of the sixth annual open air Sculpture Exhibition, curated once again by art dealer Richard Scott, who has been painstakingly welcoming and positioning each unique member of the menagerie by forklift at Ballymaloe since March.

Irish, Swiss and Slovenian artists and familiar names like John Coll, Elizabeth Cope, Patrick O’Reilly and Michael Quane are featured among the 33 artists.

 

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A post shared by Helen Walsh (@helensculpts) on Jun 4, 2019 at 6:24am PDT

 

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A post shared by Richard Scott (@rssculpture) on Jun 5, 2019 at 1:20am PDT

A particular highlight this year is the Stone Carving Symposium, which will see artists Eileen McDonagh from Sligo and Bojana Krizanec from Slovenia reside and work on the farm in an ‘open studio’ setting.

Eileen will carve from Red Granite, while Bojana will work with Kilkenny Limestone and both artists will welcome questions from visitors on all aspects of their work.

 

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A post shared by Richard Scott (@rssculpture) on May 30, 2019 at 10:39am PDT

The exhibition will officially open on Thursday, June 20th at 6pm and will be open for viewing from 9am to 9pm daily until August 31st, 2019. You can join Richard Scott on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 6pm for a free, guided one-hour walk through.