The Green Loy
Celebrating Folk Art
20 June — 22 August 2026
Field Work is a remarkable documentary film by acclaimed director Pat Collins (That They May Face the Rising Sun) on the work and philosophy of renowned American folklorist and ethnologist Henry Glassie.
The film is an intricate exposition of Glassie’s life’s work and a vehicle for Collin’s trademark attention to the smallest details which yield deep significance. The rituals and rhythms of working artists across Brazil, Turkey, North Carolina, and Ireland are recorded in slow sequences which mirror the real time process of the crafting of the work. Glassie’s subject is folklore but his abiding love for the people who create it resonates throughout the film.
Field Work honours the work of folk artists — sculptors, potters, ceramic artists, storytellers, and musicians — across five continents, and captures Glassie’s unique approach to the study and documentation of art, anthropology, and people.
To accompany the Green Loy exhibition at the Dock, this is the first screening of Field Work in Leitrim and a rare opportunity to see this reflective and haunting documentary.
For further information and access requests, please contact Events Manager Jane Carmody at jane.carmody@leitrimcoco.ie
About Henry Glassie
Henry Glassie has published widely in the fields of material culture and vernacular architecture. Among his books are Passing the Time in Ballymenone (1982) which won the Chicago Folklore prize and the Haney Prize in the Social Sciences; Irish Folktales (1985); The Spirit of Folk Art (1989); Turkish Traditional Art Today (1993) which was included in the New York Times list of notable books of the year and won the Award for Outstanding Achievement by the Assembly of Turkish American Associations; Art and Life in Bangladesh (1997); Material Culture (1999); Vernacular Architecture (2000) which won the Cummings Award for the best book on North American Architecture; The Stars of Ballymenone (2006); Prince Twins Seven-Seven: His Art, His Life in Nigeria, His Exile in America (2010), and Daniel Johnston: A Portrait of the Artist as a Potter in North Carolina (2019). He also co-authored Sacred Art: Catholic Saints and Candomblè Gods in Modern Brazil (2017) with Dr. Pravina Shukla.
