This talk was organised by the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland and took place on Crowdcast on 7 April, 2021.

Artists engage with museums in a wide variety of ways. Many hone their skills in college classes for the ultimate in still life, but the National Museum of Ireland: Natural History is also used in much less familiar ways. If you extend the definition of art to encompass ‘everything we don’t have to do’ we deal with animators, scientific illustrators, model makers, photographers, poets, musicians, and we even host TV dramas. Many of the exhibits are artworks in their own right, including the spectacular glass models of marine animals that were made by Blaschka of Dresden over 130 years ago, and of course all of our taxidermy. Nigel Monaghan is Keeper of the Natural History Division of the National Museum of Ireland. He has held that role since 2001, after 20 years as museum curator responsible for the extensive fossil collections that are largely hidden behind the scenes. He has been involved in planning National Museum developments at Collins Barracks, Turlough Park in Mayo, and now the refurbishment of the Natural History Museum.

Artists featured in this presentation: Aislinn Adams, Bell X1, Maurice Bouten, Ashleigh Chaney, Cleary-Connolly, Dorothy Cross, Julian Cushing, Shevaun Doherty, Vincent Fournier, Paul Gregg, Karl Grimes, I Draw Slow, IMMA, Natalie Jeremijenko, Colin Martin, Amy Monaghan, Guido Mocafico, Ciarán Murphy, Mairead O’hEocha, Barry Ormond, Lara Scouller, Showtime, Tiger Aspect Productions, Wall to Wall, Eva Walsh, Conor Walton