Limerick Exhibition of Visual Art 1981
The 1981 Limerick Exhibition of Visual Art was first to use the acronym ‘EVA’ that continues to this day. Pierre Restany (at the time, special correspondent for Domus magazine) was the Adjudicator, who selected 57 works from an open submission and chose six prize winners. In his introductory notes for the accompanying catalogue, Restany wrote of the process of selecting the works for the exhibition: “Coming from different parts of Ireland, almost all of the entries were unknown to me. I did not try, until the last moment, to know the identity if the authors of the works which appealed to me – in order to preserve the integrity and spontaneity of my choice.”
The 1981 Limerick Exhibition of Visual Art introduced a system of purchase awards by local and national companies and businesses. As part of the fringe events that accompanied the exhibition, Seamus Heaney read his poetry at the Limerick City Gallery of Art.