Shane MacGowan: They Gave The Walls A Talking Exhibition Opens in the Bob Dylan Center with added memorabilia

Today sees the opening in the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa of the exhibition They Gave The Walls A Talking, dedicated to the extraordinary musical and creative legacy of Shane MacGowan and The Pogues. The exhibition, curated by Hot Press editor Niall Stokes, in collaboration with EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, opened in Dublin before Christmas. Shane MacGowan sadly died on November 30th. There were remarkable scenes in Dublin and in Nenagh, where Shane's funeral took place, as Irish people celebrated a songwriting legend and a fallen hero.

For the new, expanded iteration of the exhibition at The Bob Dylan Center, a range of additional material and memorabilia has been added by Shane MacGowan’s wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, with detailed explanatory notes. There are numerous examples of hand-written lyrics, including ‘Fairytale of New York’, ‘Hell’s Ditch’, ’Summer in Siam’ and ’Sayonara’, which offer fascinating insights into the creative process of a man who ranks among the greatest Irish songwriters of all time, as well as never-before-seen or published illustrations, drawings, lyrics, stories and snippets dating back to his childhood, and journeying through six decades of punk and Irish revelry.

“Shane MacGowan was the greatest songwriter of his generation,” Nick Cave told Hot Press, in a powerful feature in a special commemorative issue of the magazine, published at the end of November.

“It was a special kind of occasion last night,” Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said this morning. “The team at the Bob Dylan Center have been brilliant throughout and the exhibition truly looks amazing – not least residing alongside the fantastic presentation of the work of the great songwriting maestro Bob Dylan himself, at what is a unique celebration of fearless creativity.

“I love the addition not just of the song lyrics, but also items like the broken hurley that actually featured in an all-Ireland final in which Shane’s beloved Tipperary were playing. It recalls those great lines in ’The Broad Majestic Shannon’ – ‘I sat for a while by the gap in the wall / Found a rusty tin can and an old hurley ball’ – but also the myth of Setanta, who used his hurling prowess to kill Culainn’s dog and then was himself given the name Cú Chulainn, which translates as 'Hound of Culainn'. That legendary Irish mythical figure, of course, inspired one of Shane’s greatest lyrics, the marvellous narrative of 'The Sick Bed of Cú Chulainn’."

Steve Higgins, the CEO of the Bob Dylan Center – who has worked tirelessly to bring the exhibition to Tulsa – introduced Victoria, Anne Margaret and Niall, communicating his own love of the music and the legacy of Shane and The Pogues.

Victoria Mary Clarke was in great form on the night, offering unique insights into the worldview of Shane MacGowan, into his fascination with outsiders and those on the margins – and how these characters, and the bruised lives they live, inspired his writing. And she talked about the contradiction that is often at the heart of an artist’s struggle with ordinary life.

“When you love someone who likes drugs and drink the way Shane did," she said, "you spend a lot of time trying to change them – as I did with Shane trying to encourage him to become more... normal. But then I realised: if he changed it wouldn’t be him."

The launch of the exhibition at the Bob Dylan Center had been welcomed by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins.

“Shane MacGowan was one of the greatest ever Irish songwriters,” President Higgins said. “I was honoured to present him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Dublin’s National Concert Hall in January 2018. The resonance of Shane’s words was reflected in the extraordinary outpouring of warmth which followed his death last November. One of the hallmarks of Shane’s writing was his intrinsic understanding of the vital importance of bringing a poetic sensibility to those wonderful, evocative songs of his. These are qualities that he shared with Bob Dylan, whose exceptional body of work rightly saw him being awarded the Nobel Prize In Literature in 2016.”

Tonight, Friday March 8, Victoria Mary Clarke will appear at a special public screening of Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan, the 2020 documentary directed by Julien Temple and produced by Johnny Depp. Due to the high demand for tickets, the screening has been moved to the historic Circe Cinema in Tulsa, and is sold out.

"As thousands of Irish Americans make their way to Tulsa to celebrate this year’s Irish festival and St. Patrick’s Day,” Aileesh Carew of EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum reflected, "I have no doubt this special exhibition will serve to strengthen both their sense of connection with their identity and their pride in their Irish heritage.”

• They Gave The Walls A Talking us currently on show at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum in Dublin.