Panorama Europa: Claire Halpin

Claire Halpin's Panorama Europa, 2024, presents a wide-ranging view of Europe that encompasses geographic, historic and cultural relationships. The painting shifts from images that evoke the religious traditions and conflicted histories of the island of Ireland on the far left through to the civic realm architecture of Eastern Europe and the Belt and Road initiative on the left, moving through affecting depictions of war, public protest and totalitarian gatherings.

In partnership with UCC’s Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence for EU Integration & Citizens' Rights, the Glucksman invited artist Claire Halpin to create a new work for the UCC Art Collection that responded to the centre’s research and civic engagement.

The work also acknowledges the imagery that came through the creative sessions with community participants. Notably the experience of Ukrainian emigrants and concerns about the unclear motivations of the Chinese government come to the fore.

There are references to celebrated paintings such as Bruegel’s The Tower of Babel, Caravaggio’s Head of Medusa and Keating’s Men of the South, as well as other cultural signifiers for Halpin’s painting is filled with allusions to military history, cartography, religion, past civilisations and contemporary society. These diverse narratives compete for space across the canvas, and encourage us to understand the plural, and often contentious, perspectives of what it means to be European today.