The T. S. Eliot Lecture 2019 Comes to the Abbey Theatre

The T. S. Eliot Estate announces the fourth of five annual lectures in T. S. Eliot's name and in memory of his impact on modern letters, hosted by the Abbey Theatre. Already sold out, the 2019 lecture will be delivered by Sean Scully RA and is entitled "Belief versus Disbelief".

Dr. Barbara Dawson, Director of The Hugh Lane Gallery, will introduce Sean Scully. The lecture will be followed by an interview with Scully, led by Adrian Dunbar. Bríd Brennan will also perform from Eliot's poem, "Burnt Norton".

Sean Scully has long been inspired by the poetry of T. S. Eliot. His 1984 print series Burnt Norton references the title, colours and themes of Eliot's poem of the same name. This poem, the first of Eliot's Four Quartets, is explicitly referenced again in the title of Scully's 2012 painting Wall of Light Burnt Norton. His 1990 painting Durango was named after the arid state in Mexico, a place he visited during his extensive travels, but was painted with Eliot's The Waste Land in mind.

Intrinsic to Scully's paintings and sculpture is a belief in the metaphysical poetic possibilities of what he creates. In this lecture, "Belief versus Disbelief", Scully will argue that, in a world which appears increasingly post-Christian and post-metaphysical, a belief in the power of spirituality and immanence is essential to creating works of power in art, whether from a place of secular mysticism or a more specific religiosity.

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