Acknowledging the importance of the former Braun factory in Carlow town, and alongside the creative re-imagination of the building for Woman in the Machine, VISUAL and Carlow Arts Festival have undertaken to document and record this important building and site in the Braun Archive.

VISUAL is opening this project up to the public and would love to hear the recollections of people who worked at Braun over the years. If you have stories or memorabilia from your time working at Braun, you are invited to come and share them. You can bring materials such as photographs, documents, or artefacts to donate to the archive on Thursdays throughout the summer months. Copies can be made if you would like to keep the originals. You can also drop in to visit the archive any day during our opening hours.

The material gathered will be retained by Carlow Library as a permanent archive of Braun in Carlow. The archive exhibition presents historical drawings, photographs and documents collated as part of a research project led by Emma Geoghegan, architect and TU Dublin lecturer with architecture students Rosie Feeney, Finbarr Deurden, Clara Quinn, Shona Quigley and Audrey Murphy. This material will be on display alongside a collection of contemporary photographs, documenting the former Braun building by photographer Aisling McCoy.

The above photograph is of Dorothy Coughlan, Clare Butler Halligan, Patricia Moore, Aggie Kelly (standing), Margaret Clarke Nolan, Elizabeth Casey, Bernie Coakley. Credit Old Carlow Photos / Susan Reid.

Kindly supported by the Engaging with Architecture Award, Arts Council of Ireland.

Woman in the Machine, co-created by VISUAL and Carlow Arts Festival is presented as part of Brightening Air | Coiscéim Coiligh, a nationwide, ten day season of arts experiences brought to you by the Arts Council. To see the full Brightening Air | Coiscéim Coiligh programme, visit www.brighteningair.com