PUNTERS ARE BEING asked to participate in an arts festival by creating their own masterpiece – out of beermats.

The Westport Arts Festival 2011 has a strong reputation for promotion of the arts in the west and has been running since 1976. It’s unlikely though that they’ve had an exhibition like this one destined for McGing’s pub in the town.

Things That Matter is being curated by Mayo-based visual artist Ian Wieczorek, who masterminded the BLINK exhibition programme and art trail at last year’s fest. He is asking artistic types to submit ideas for their beermat art to beermartart @ gmail.com – it is open to anyone over the age of 16. The exhibition is due to open at McGing’s – where artists have displayed their pieces for years – on September 29 at 8pm, so better get cracking on your coaster creativity.

According to the arts fest, the show will be playful but is also intended to take art out of the gallery and away from the elitist perception of where and how art should have a place in society. A spokesperson said:

There has been a conscious move in recent years to take visual art out of the formal gallery context, to display it in public spaces where people who are not self-proclaimed ‘art lovers’ can engage with a range of ideas and art practices.

Things That Matter takes the lowly beermat and proposes that it can be as valid a vehicle for visual art as any traditional medium. It opens this proposal up to everyone, giving them the opportunity to explore a rather unusual medium. It presents the artists’ works in a venue where the beermat is a familiar object.

And also:

And there is no reason why art can’t be fun too. Beermat art. Why not?

That’s more like it.

Find out more about the Westport Arts Festival, running from 1 to 9 October, here>