The art exhibition Art and Soul in the Culloden hotel
in Hollywood Co Down
has been extensively covered
We have got a fair idea of
the scale of that exhibition and
the big name celebrity names in the art circle that are on display.
The likes of Andy Warhol, the likes of Banksy
There are 95 outside sculptors 75 inside sculptors and 70 paintings
but the coverage doesn't convey
exactly how exciting what is being done at the Culloden hotel
by the Hastings hotel group is.
We've often heard
wouldn't it be nice to stay in a big art gallery
wouldn't it be nice to be able to visit somewhere
you can stay late in the evening and
then sleep in that environment
that's what the Culloden are actually doing
their recreational their contemplative leisure facilities that are all there
all around are being enhanced
by this amazing art really expensive artwork
some of the inexpensive artwork all very creative
some of it is chosen purely
because of it how unusual and how expressive it is and
you can immerse yourself and get up close and personal
from an artistic point of view that's pretty much
as good as any artist would ever wish
that they have an audience that is appreciative and
can relate to the subject
and the statements that they are making
I don't see any circumstances we would be allowed to sleep
in the Tate Modern or the Musee D'Orsay
anytime soon so this is the next best thing
The Culloden hotel needs no introduction
It is the original five-star product in Northern Ireland
It is where the celebrities come
because of its proximity to Belfast.
It is on a main road from Belfast
on that Newtownards Bangor road.
It is on its own grounds on the Loughside.
It is also right beside the road, so access from the city is terrific
A few things have happened since I last stayed there.
The most important is that the bar area has moved
and swapped places with the restaurant has given
a little bit more discretion
to the location of the restaurant and has
left the bar in a more accessible area from the main lobby area.
In the mid-noughties a big extension was put in place
that not just increased the reach in terms of the number of rooms
it also increased the level of comfort in those rooms
because, as a lot of people know
the Culloden is famously old.
that later became a bishop's palace.
This is what makes the art so special
it's like one of those famous art galleries you get in an old European city
and it's also a commercial enterprise
because these paintings and these sculptures
are all for sale so the sort of thing
you would have to travel into the centre of
New York or London to see in a gallery
it's sitting there and you can come engage and spend as long as you like
engaging with all of this magnificent art.
I asked Oliver Gormley of Gormley fine art
how long does it take to put something like this together?
You start to think about it about a year out
Just notify artists that it is on
About six months out you start to check what they want to show
When it will be ready
We have 95 pieces in the grounds
75 sculptures throughout the hotel
And we have over 70 paintings
Some are really well known, Andy Warhol, Banksy, people like that
it is a huge range of artists
We have 45 sculpture artists on show
to Patrick O'Reilly have installations
These pieces are immensely fragile
Do you lie awake at night worrying what might happen
in life there is no point worrying
ion there is we will let the insurance company worry
Howard Hastings of the Hastings hotel group
always full of ideas, always full of innovation
I asked him how things have changed since Covid and
what he expects to happen over the summer of 2021
in this post-Covid phase.
Hastings Hotels have been open for about four weeks now
they have a little bit more visibility
than some of the other hotel groups around the island
Art and soul is the name of the exhibition
Be sure to drop in and have a look
Eoghan Corry here always delighted
to talk about the joy of travel