New fine-arts society in Cork

Following last year's establishment of the Irish Decorative and Fine Arts Society (IDFAS), a Cork branch, the Cork Decorative & Fine Arts Society (CDFAS) will be formally launched this week. The Lord Mayor of Cork City, Cllr Catherine Clancy will do the honours on Thursday in the Triskel Arts Centre, Tobin Street.

The subject of the inaugural lecture, by author and academic Dr Nicola Gordon Bowe, is the Arts and Crafts movement at the turn of the 20th century in Ireland. Future events include a lecture about Cork's maritime paintings on November 14th by Peter Murray, director of the Crawford Art Gallery, and All that glitters: Cork Silver on March 27th by John R Bowen.

Anthony Wade, the chairman of CDFAS, said the new society would host a programme of lectures and outings for "the advancement and study of the decorative and fine arts". There are also plans to develop conservation and cataloguing volunteering projects designed to preserve the city's cultural and artistic heritage, initially in the area of records retrieval and conservation. corkdfas.ie