CAG.3087 Amanda Dunsmore, Senator David Norris , 2012, video (Edition 2 of 3), 19:19 minutes. Purchased, the Artist, 2020. © the artist.

Let’s celebrate Bloomsday with this WORK OF THE WEEK!

Senator David Norris (2012) by Amanda Dunsmore is a video portrait of the renowned Joycean scholar and prominent Irish civil rights activist.

To enter the world of James Joyce’s literary masterpiece Ulysses (1922), Norris suggests: ‘Listen to it, read it as far as you can with your ears.’

A recent addition to the collection, it was filmed in the attic of the James Joyce Centre in Dublin a decade ago. Dunsmore’s portrait of the usually animated raconteur is noticeably silent: Norris sits composed, but perhaps somewhat restless, surrounded by books and the remnants of Joyce-related materials.

David Norris (b.1944) is a founder of the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform and has served in Seanad Éireann since 1987.

This screening of Dunsmore’s video work coincides with Bloomsday (16 June) – the day during which the fictional Leopold Bloom traverses Dublin in Ulysses – and LGBT Pride Month.

Amanda Dunsmore (b.1968) examines place, people, and moments of political significance through her work. The artist’s filmed portraits feature social actors who have transformed society, often filming them in locations of social-historic significance.

Senator David Norris (2012) by Amanda Dunsmore shows daily in our Screening Room (Floor 2) until 10 July.

Open daily | Free entry

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