The Tunnel Archive

Ireland in the 1980's was a time of little cash and even fewer established outlets for the creative spirit.  However, the arts were long since removed from the traditional establishment and the avant-garde controlled NCAD, and much of the arts infrastructure and media.  Following the punk revolution, young artists flocked to Dublin to find their creative selves. 

A lively music scene in Dublin in 1980 was producing musicians and song writers; ambitious painters & writers were emerging who would eventually bring to reality Charlie Haughey’s then plan to promote Irish Arts on an international level.  This collection of photographs spans from 1979 to 1983.  Capturing the lives of his friends on film, Bill Alford has catalogued the birth of a generation of creative individuals as they followed their dreams and matured into to-day's diaspora.  From London to New York, Sydney to Cologne they have made their mark.  

This is a timely reminder of a previous generation’s struggle to be heard in an economic downturn.