On September 20th as part of Culture Night 2024 celebrations, RCSI is delighted to welcome members of the public to ‘Intersections: Surgeons, Medicine and Art’; a night to celebrate art and the role it plays within the health sciences. 

This evening will introduce RCSI’s rich, varied and diverse art collections, highlighting some of the key historical as well as contemporary pieces within it. RCSI has been engaged with the practices of commissioning, purchasing and displaying the work of artists for over 230 years. Now in its ninth year, the RCSI Art Award celebrates the long-standing association between art, medicine and well-being. Details of the award can be found here.

Watch the video here

Guests to RCSI are welcome to view the art collections at their own leisure between 5.30pm-8pm. Alternatively join a tour.

Tours of the RCSI Art Collection

There will be two tours, each lasting 25-30 mins of the art collections on Culture Night.

The first tour, ‘Portraiture in the Boardroom’, will commence at 6pm

Professor Una Sealy, Member of Royal Hibernian Academy; Professor of Art, RCSI will give a tour of RCSI’s portrait collection which includes pieces from the 19th century to more contemporary commissions. Learn more about the people represented in these portraits and the contributions they have made to the development of healthcare in Ireland and abroad. The tour will also include a special viewing of the award-winning Women on Walls portrait series showcasing extraordinary women in RCSI history. It will take place in the historic boardroom which overlooks St Stephen's Green.

A second tour, ‘Portrait Sculpture’, will commence at 7pm

Susan Leyden, Archivist, RCSI Library will introduce RCSI’s portrait sculpture collection which spans from the 18th and 19th century right up to current years. The collection includes sculpture portraits by prominent Irish sculptors, including female sculptor Kathleen Shaw as well as more recent commissions by contemporary Irish sculptor John Rainey. They are housed and displayed in the light-filled atrium space and the front hall.

Musical performances will set the tone of celebration on the evening.