From wardrobes to water – exhibition aims to turn the tide on climate apathy

Posted on: 15 August 2025

The exhibition, which explores our relationship with climate change, transforms familiar, domestic objects into a large-scale sculpture installation.

The exhibition, entitled Container, is accompanied by a series of curated roundtable talks at beaches throughout Wexford on topics such as the circular economy, materials, nature-based solutions, and water quality, with a focus on getting attendees to take meaningful actions.

Container, photographed at the launch by Claudio Nego, photojournalist. 

House on the Beach is a recipient of the Creative Climate Action fund, an initiative from the Creative Ireland Programme. It is funded by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, in collaboration with the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. The fund supports creative, cultural and artistic projects that build awareness around climate change and empower citizens to make meaningful behavioural transformations.

The installation in Wexford County Hall (Container) tries to underline how urgent it is that we act to address the climate crisis. It comprises three sculptural pieces constructed from household objects on a monumental scale, which is intended to reflect the magnitude of the challenge we face, while the medium conveys the weight of materialism and its contribution to climate change. The treatment, meanwhile – each piece is charred to reveal a beautiful but dissonant carbon surface – evokes a sense of what we stand to lose, unless we act.

Artist Nina McGowan said: “I am delighted to present my first solo exhibition. Container draws our attention to climate change through ideas around industrial production, excessive materialism and the unseen anxiety that the environmental collapse is causing. The exhibition speaks to multiple environments, from the planet we live on to the houses we live in, and the societal structures that have led to exponential growth – a huge factor in where we find ourselves today.”

Mary Colclough, Project Manager from Trinity, said, “This project brings together different audiences – the art world, academics, civic organisations and community groups. It will take diverse perspectives for us to effectively tackle the climate crisis, and we hope that through the exhibition and public events we can bring more people together to act locally and at a systems level.”  

Frank Burke, Climate Action Coordinator, said: “Wexford County Council’s Climate Action Plan has an action that specifically relates to this exhibition where we support the arts and culture sectors in raising awareness and promoting behaviour change on climate action, sustainability and the natural environment. Self-reflection of our actions with this exhibition is valuable and can lead to a change in our behaviours and thereby contribute to climate action.”

Dr Emma Delemere, School of Psychology, DCU, said: "We were delighted to work with the House on The Beach team to explore the behavioural impacts of works like this. Community-based visual arts are a powerful approach in communicating about the climate, allowing people to explore and engage meaningfully with contextually-relevant climate topics. We look forward to further engaging with community groups over the next month."

Trinity's Prof. Brian Broderick and Mary Colclough with artist Nina McGowan at the launch of Container, a key element of the House on the Beach project. Photographed by Claudio Nego, photojournalist.

The thought-provoking exhibition leads us to question what we have accumulated in our own homes. What is inside our own wardrobes and our houses that we perhaps don’t use or need? All these accumulations can be a burden and put pressure on the earth's finite resources.

In Ireland, for example, we discard around 110,000 tonnes of textiles as waste every year, of which around 64,000 tonnes are discarded as household waste via kerbside collection, the majority being clothing. Similarly, we discard the furniture of previous generations to replace with newer, more modern pieces. The accompanying roundtable talks will explore tangible actions we can take to meet the climate challenge.

House on the Beach is supported by Wexford Council Council’s Climate Action and Culture Teams. All events are open to the public. The exhibition will be open from 15^th August until 12^th September, Monday to Friday, 9 am-5 pm.

“Talks on the Tide” will take place at the following locations and times:

• Burrow Strand, Rosslare;  Wednesday 20^th August, 2-3.30pm
• Rosslare Harbour; Tuesday 26^th August, 11-12.30
• Kilmore Quay; Wednesday 3^rd September, 10.30 - 12
• Rosslare Strand; Tuesday 9^th September 10.30-12

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