Irish women modernists and animation practice as a reclamation of cultural and artistic space

Abstract

Ireland’s geographical position is an important factor to consider regarding animation practices and techniques that were developing in both North America and Europe during the early-twentieth century. Irish artists and filmmakers travelled widely for education and exhibition of their artworks. Film created by Irish artists was only distributed in Ireland under strict censorship laws. Irish society in the early twentieth century was a place of social and political upheaval. The struggle for independence from British rule and the establishment of an Irish government with its own Constitution succeeded in doing two things. It established a Constitution in which the Irish state was sovereign and it embedded discrimination against women into the socio-political fabric of the country. As discussed in much critical literature of the latter half of the century the Constitution was mired in patriarchal and religious sanctimony.