The group campaigning to preserve the gallery which hosted the highly prestigious Turner Prize exhibition have called on the people of Derry to support a protest rally against its conversion into an office block.
A group of senior cultural figures in Derry are battling to keep 1881 building, a former British army barracks, as a gallery space.
They have called on supporters to gather at 2.00pm this afternoon at the Ebrington venue, where the Turner Prize exhibition will come to a close today.
It is the first time in its history the world renowned exhibition was outside of England by the Tate Gallery.
Since it opened two months ago, thousands have visited the free exhibition which featured work of the four nominees of the Turner Prize, awarded to French-born artist Laure Prouvost.
Builders are expected to move at the end of this month to dismantle the gallery and start work on turning the building into a “cultural hub.”
Ilex, the group set up to “promote the physical, economic and social regeneration” of Derry with specific responsibility to manage and re-develop the former 26-acre military base, has defended its decision to dismantle the gallery.
An Ilex spokesperson said: “The intention is and always was to make it a creative hub, not a gallery. This was approved even before Derry won the City of Culture title.”
She added that with a series of other buildings in the space, Ilex would welcome the possibility of bringing in a gallery in some form,
Among those supporting the building’s retention as a gallery space is local artist Willie Doherty, twice nominated for a Turner Prize, and Turner Prize judge Declan Long.
The campaign is being fronted by the Void Gallery, one of the city’s most prominent art institutions.
Maoliosa Boyle, manager of the Void, said it would be a “real shame” that after so much hard work and funding that the building would not be kept on as a gallery space.
She added: “Ebrington was supposed to be a public space handed over to the people of Derry. It really should be kept on as a gallery space. There have been so many visitors to it, it now has a natural association as a gallery space.”
A petition tabled by Void reads: “Our small city became huge in 2013 – let’s not belittle ourselves in 2014. We built something beautiful during city of culture, let’s not rip the heart out of the spirit of 2013.”
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