Angry at Your Apathy / Tá fearg orm le do neamhshuim
- GG Ward

Using Irish history and cultural traditions as a lens, Angry at Your Apathy draws connections between historical and contemporary systems of cultural erasure and narrative control. Stories commonly framed as famine, mass emigration, and cultural loss are reconsidered through the structures of power that shaped land, language, identity, and people.

Ireland is not presented as a unique case, but as one example of patterns that continue to emerge across the world. While the locations, conflicts, and political circumstances may change, many of the same systems continue to persist.

The sculptural forms draw from the stone walls and rocky landscapes of Ireland, referencing famine walls that remain scattered throughout the countryside as enduring traces of hardship, displacement, labour and survival. Built during the Great Famine (an Gorta Mór) as a condition of relief, these walls stand as physical records of a system that demanded work in exchange for existence. Where monuments have traditionally documented ownership, place names and official histories, these surfaces instead hold questions, frustrations, anxieties and reflections on the present. Fragments of text recur throughout the exhibition, including the phrase There Never Really Was One, reflecting on absence, denial and the stories societies tell themselves to avoid responsibility. Inspired by famine walls, where stone became a record of survival and control, these ceramic forms reimagine the landscape as an archive of the systems that continue to shape lives across generations.

The forms reference histories embedded in stone, but the systems that produced them have not disappeared. While the locations, conflicts, and circumstances may change, many of the same systems of displacement, dehumanisation, and narrative control continue to operate across the world.

The title is directed towards the viewer. We are saturated by images of war, displacement, and human suffering. Fatigue is understandable. Apathy is not.

Soundscape by Vessa @ve.ssa_

Irish Language Workshop Date: Saturday 11 July  12 PM – 2 PM, Book Now

ABOUT THE ARTIST

GG Ward is an Irish-born artist and curator based in Naarm/Melbourne whose practice centres on ceramic sculpture, installation, and text. Their work is politically and socially responsive, exploring the intersections of history, identity, language, memory, and place. 

Research forms a significant part of their practice, particularly in relation to cultural memory, systems of power, and the ways histories are constructed, preserved, and contested. Their work examines how social, political, and cultural narratives shape collective understanding, influence belonging, and determine whose stories are remembered, valued, or overlooked. 

 Storytelling plays a central role within their practice, providing a means of engaging with complex social and political issues. Through ceramic sculpture, installation, and text, they draw on narrative and cultural reference to examine systems of power, collective memory, and the ways societies understand historical and contemporary events. Central to this exploration is an interest in the emotional, symbolic, and political weight objects can hold, and the ways meaning becomes attached to material forms. 

Drawing on Irish stories, histories, and cultural experience as a lens through which to consider broader social and political concerns, their work frequently explores questions of power, hierarchy, identity, and responsibility. Underpinning the practice is a sense of urgency, examining how historical events continue to shape contemporary life and how the consequences of those histories remain active in the present. 

Alongside their studio practice, they work as a curator across exhibitions and public art projects. This engagement with artists, audiences, and public space informs an ongoing interest in participation, storytelling, and the role of art as a site for critical reflection and dialogue. 

Please note our galleries are open :

Monday – Saturday: 10am – 4pm

Sunday: 10am – 3pm