Important information: For the health and safety of our visitors and staff, IMMA will be closed to the public from 5:30pm today Thursday 12 March until 29 March 2020 inclusive. All events have been postponed until further notice. Apologies for the inconvenience. Please follow our social media channels for updates.

IMMA is delighted to host an evening chaired by Rachel Thomas, Head of Exhibitions, IMMA, in conversation with Fashion Designer Richard Malone, Fashion Curator Oriole Cullen and Activist and Advocate Sinéad Burke.

Oriole Cullen

Oriole Cullen is Curator of Modern Textiles and Fashion in the Department of Furniture, Textiles and Fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum, specialising in 20th and 21st century fashion. A graduate of University College Dublin and the Courtauld Institute of Art, she is a member of the inaugural group of UCD Creative Fellows.

Prior to joining the V&A Oriole was curator for Dress and Decorative Arts at the Museum of London where she worked on exhibitions including Vivienne Westwood: The collection of Romily McAlpine (2000) and The London Look (2004).

Since 2006 she has overseen the V&A’s Fashion in Motion series working with contemporary fashion designers to showcase their work in live settings within the Museum space. She is the director of the V&A Learning Academy’s Curating Fashion course for International museum professionals.

Richard Malone

As an Irish trailblazer award-winner Richard Malone will explore representations of the self in Desire: A Revision from the 20th Century to the Digital Age, discuss the politics of fashion, and invite the audience to try on some of Malone’s sculptural wearables on display during the evening.

Richard Malone’s unique style takes great inspiration from sculpture, the women in his life and his Irish heritage. Malone is an advocate for sustainable fashion. Sourcing the yarns for his collections from the Himalayas, he works with a community of female artisans in Tamil Nadu, Southern India, to hand-weave the fabrics and dye them naturally. Malone is strongly against the mass production involved in the fashion industry.

Sinéad Burke

Sinéad Burke is an academic, teacher, writer and advocate. Sinéad works towards accelerating systemic change within the domains of diversity, education, inclusion, design and disability. She consults within the fashion, architecture, technology and design industries to ensure that spaces and products are accessible to all. Sinéad is responsible for the introduction of the term for little person, ‘duine beag’, into the Irish language.

Sinéad is a TED speaker, her talk ‘Why Design Should Include Everyone’ has amassed over one million views and speaking on the topics of design, education and inclusion, she most recently addressed the Business of Fashion’s VOICES conference, was the only Irish female delegate at World Economic Forum’s 2018 annual meeting in Davos and returned as a Cultural Leader of Davos’ programme in 2019. Sinéad was presented with The Leadership Award at Eco-Age’s Green Carpet Fashion Awards by Gucci CEO, Marco Bizzarri. Sinéad is a Contributing Editor for British Vogue, she was the first little person to attend the Met Gala. She writes for the Financial Times, Teen Vogue and the New York Times and is one of the coverstars of the Forces for Change September issue of British Vogue (co-edited by HRH The Duchess of Sussex) and the Business of Fashion’s Age of Influence print issue. She is a member of the BoF500, and is a judge for both the Woolmark and the LVMH Prizes. According to British Vogue, Sinéad is one of the 25 most influential women working in Britain and Ireland. Finally, by appointment of President Michael D. Higgins, Sinéad is a member of Ireland’s Council of State.

Booking essential.

Ticket-holders will receive a complimentary drink from Hennessy on the evening.

The exhibition Desire: A Revision From the 20th Century to the Digital Age and Desire Nights are proudly supported by Kildare Village.