Douglas Hyde Gallery

It opened to the public in March 1978 as the first publicly-funded gallery dedicated to contemporary art and the first university gallery in Ireland. When the Gallery opened in 1978, it was for a number of years Ireland's only public gallery of contemporary art. In 2017 Georgina Jackson was appointed director, taking over from John Hutchinson who was director for 25 years. The Douglas Hyde Gallery consists of two exhibition spaces that are used to show concurrent exhibitions, which often have a relating theme or tone.

• Name — The Douglas Hyde Gallery • Native Name — Gailearaí Dhubhghlas de hÍde • Established — 1978 • Location — Nassau Street, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland • Type — Contemporary art gallery • Director — Georgina Jackson

Gallery 1, designed by Paul Koralek of ABK Architects, is the Gallery's main space and has played host to solo-exhibitions by renowned artists such as Fischli/Weiss, Marlene Dumas, Gabriel Orozco, Mona Hatoum and Peter Doig. Notable Irish artists who have exhibited in Gallery 1 include: Dorothy Cross, Willie Doherty, Gerard Byrne, Patrick Graham, Patrick Hall, Michael Warren, Kathy Prendergast, Aleana Egan, Sam Keogh, Niamh O'Malley, Isabel Nolan, and Sean Lynch.

Gallery 2, which opened in 2001, was designed by McCullough Mulvin Architects. In addition to exhibitions by contemporary artists, this space was often used by director John Hutchinson to show small collections of ethnographic objects and artefacts, or outsider art, which are generally marginalised by larger museums and galleries. The most popular of these exhibitions have included: Nepalese Shamanic objects, Japanese Tea Bowls and Ghanaian Asafo Fante Flags. A number of exhibitions in Gallery 2 fell under "The Paradise" series of shows, which invited artists to create a new work or present a series of works based on their own idea of "The Paradise". The series included 40 exhibits, the last of which was created by artist Ciarán Murphy in 2013.

The Douglas Hyde Gallery has become increasingly well known for its programme of musical events. In recent years, Cat Power, Sufjan Stevens and Laura Veirs have all played in the Gallery. Sometimes the musical performances relate directly to exhibitions: In 2008, Jandek performed a concert to coincide with an exhibition of his album covers and in 2009, Jim White played a gig to celebrate the opening of his exhibition of ephemera from the American South. Often, the performances and exhibitions share a mood or atmosphere rather than a direct connection.