On Friday 11 August 2023, LASALLE College of the Arts unveiled the Brother Joseph McNally centenary celebrations in commemoration of its late founder’s 100th birth anniversary. Guest of Honour, former Senior Minister Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, officially launched the celebrations with the opening of the exhibition Brother Joseph McNally: A Comparative History of One Life.
Over 100 former students, friends and colleagues of Brother McNally, as well as members of Singapore’s arts community, gathered at LASALLE for the opening event to celebrate the life and legacy of one of Singapore’s great champions of arts education. The centenary celebrations launch marks the start of a year-long series of events and activities paying tribute to Brother McNally.
Mr Peter Seah, Chairman of LASALLE, said, “Brother Joseph McNally was a passionate educator ahead of his time who understood the importance of art to the soul of a nation and its people. He once said: ‘LASALLE was founded to enhance the lives not only of the artists who would emerge from it, but of all Singaporeans’. Nearly 40 years later, we are still inspired and guided by his vision for the College. We hope that through the centenary celebrations, more Singaporeans will come to learn of this remarkable man and the significant contributions he made to Singapore.”
Brother Joseph McNally (10 August 1923 – 27 August 2002) was born in Ballintubber in County Mayo, Ireland. He arrived in Singapore in 1946 and began his long and fruitful teaching career at St Joseph’s Institution, retiring as Principal of St Patrick’s School in 1982. His unwavering belief in the importance of arts education led him to set up LASALLE in 1984. Irish by birth, Singaporean by choice, Brother Joseph left his adopted country a body of achievements that continue to inspire new generations of artists and educators of the arts.
Members of the public are invited to be a part of the Brother Joseph McNally centenary celebrations, and to join in film screenings, exhibition tours and community art workshops to learn more about LASALLE’s founder. Some highlights throughout the year include:
- Brother Joseph McNally: A Comparative History of One Life, an exhibition which undertakes a visual chronicle of Brother McNally’s developmental journey—from a young Irishman arriving in Southeast Asia as an educator in the 1940s, to the founding of LASALLE College of the Arts in the 1980s upon his retirement. Curated by LASALLE Senior Fellow and Cultural Medallion recipient, Milenko Prvački.
- Tracing Steps, Learning Journey, an exhibition that pays tribute to Brother McNally’s journey from Ireland to Singapore. Featuring works by two artist-designers from LASALLE’s faculty, the exhibition features a series of drawings responding to a trip to Brother McNally’s birthplace in Ireland.
- Public screenings of Brother Joe, a documentary that presents a haunting, elegaic look into the life of Brother McNally.
- Blossoms For Brother Joe community art workshops, where members of the public can contribute to an art installation that will be on display at LASALLE’s Sky Bridge from January to February 2024 as part of Singapore Art Week.
A full schedule of events is available online at https://bjm100.lasalle.edu.sg.
In honour of Brother McNally’s mission to further art education in Singapore, LASALLE is also pleased to also offer members of the arts and education community reduced fees on any of its postgraduate programmes in the 2024/2025 intake. More information can be found in the Annex.
