Audiences

IMMA’s 2022 exhibition programme combined with an extensive outdoor programme and the launch of the inaugural Earth Rising Festival creating many opportunities to profile IMMA to new and existing audiences across national and international media.

Highlights included:

• The Otolith Group exhibition Xenogenesis received extensive media coverage from leading international and national outlets. Notably, The Guardian and Artforum conducted interviews with the artists, while The Quietus, Frieze, Burlington Contemporary, and others published positive reviews.  IMMA hosted a group of invited journalists from the UK for opening night and the exhibition also welcomed an official visit from Minister Catherine Martin T.D., who participated in a photocall with the artists.  In addition, the exhibition was featured in a two-part radio interview on Culture File Lyric FM and was included in Frieze’s round up of the Top Ten Shows in the UK & Ireland in 2022

• The outdoor installation DREAMSPHERE by Aoife Dunne garnered widespread attention, both in print and social media. The Evening Herald prominently featured this visually stunning work, while the Irish Examiner selected it as their photo of the week.  The installation also received coverage from prestigious publications such as RTE Culture and the Irish Times, the latter of which produced a video news story.  The work generated significant buzz on social media, with many visitors creating and sharing their own videos, particularly on Instagram.

• IMMA Nights launched as part of the IMMA Outdoors programme and the Night-Time Economy Scheme supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. It received notable coverage in print media, including the Irish Mirror and the Irish Times.  Reflecting the broader appeal of IMMA Outdoors, the Irish Times carried a photo of an outdoor yoga class at IMMA as its “Image of the Day”.

• IMMA’s inaugural eco-art festival, Earth Rising was successfully launched and welcomed 9,000 visitors across the three-day event. The festival eco pavilion, Éirigh was featured as an Irish Times ‘Image of the Day’ and coverage also included an interview in Totally Dublin with corporate partners Lioncor.
  

• IMMA’s Art & Ageing Curator was interviewed on the Ryan Tubridy Show on RTE Radio 1 to discuss IMMA’s Azure programme and dementia and art experiences.

• Amanda Coogan’s work Yellow performed as part of the Narrow Gate of the Here-and-Now exhibition and was the focus of an arts programmes on BBC Radio 4 to mark the 50th anniversary of the series Ways of Seeing.

• The IMMA Outdoors programme received significant support from Fáilte Ireland, which included marketing opportunities such as a multi-channel radio campaign in Northern Ireland and prominent placement on the homepage of their newly launched website. As a result of this positive engagement, a member of the IMMA Audiences team was invited to join the Winter in Dublin working group representing the National Cultural Institutions.

• IMMA’s digital marketing campaign for the museum-wide exhibition, The Narrow Gate of the Here-and-Now, was comprehensive and innovative. The campaign included the launch of four virtual exhibitions, enabling global virtual audiences to explore the museum’s galleries online for the first time. In addition, a monthly in-depth digital focus was created to highlight each exhibition, featuring bespoke digital offerings such as an Instagram Live Studio date with artist Alice Maher as an alternative Valentine’s Day experience.

• IMMA’s visitor figures for 2022 reached an impressive 567,391, which represents a remarkable increase of 101% compared to the pandemic affected year of 2021. More significantly, when compared to the pre-Covid level of 2019, IMMA’s visitor figures increased by 13% in 2022, demonstrating a robust recovery and growth trend.  This achievement reflects the success of IMMA’s programming as a radically public space attracting an increasingly diverse audience base. The popularity of the IMMA Outdoors programme in particular, continues to engage and inspire new audiences.