Richard Malone's fabric sculptures to adorn EU Council during Irish presidency

Irish artist Richard Malone has created a fabric sculpture installation for the EU Council buildings as Ireland assumes the rotating presidency of the union.

• Malone was commissioned to produce the installation, titled "Cuimhne agus Séadchomhartha (Memory and Monument)," for the Justus Lipsius and Europa buildings in Brussels.
• The work includes five-metre fabric sculptures and suites fitted with sofas, rugs, and vessels by contemporary Irish makers.
• Malone said the installation aims to highlight the historical erasure of queer and female artists and to question why traditional crafts are not collected.
• Malone noted that other presidencies have commissioned polished sculptures, while his work is intentionally fragile and "in conflict with all the glass and steel."