A Bottle of Stout in Every Pub in Buncrana: John Carson, Sean Lynch & Bernie McAnany

Join us at 1:30 on Saturday 21st January for this very special lunchtime event.

First exhibited at Derry’s Orchard Gallery in 1978, John Carson’s A Bottle of Stout in Every Pub in Buncrana has since become a fabled artwork. Did Carson manage to drink in all of Buncrana’s 22 bars in just one day? Did he succeed in persuading Guinness to sponsor this endeavour? These are questions still asked, as rumours of his pub-crawl-as-art still abound.

Last year, artist Sean Lynch and Askeaton Contemporary Arts reissued Carson’s original artist book – alongside an interview with him and new recollections revealed by Bernie McAnaney, Carson’s guardian on that day. The ethics of marketing and advertising, the goings-on of a small town on the Irish border, and the myth and reality of the sturdy Irish drinker all prominently feature.

This public conversation between John Carson, Sean Lynch and Bernie McAnany marks a return of the work to Derry after almost 40 years. Copies of the re-issued publication, co-designed by London-based Wayne Daly and artist Nick Davies from Cardiff, will be available to buy on the day for €10/£9.

Light refreshments will be provided, including Derry Milk Stout, generously supplied by the Walled City Brewery.