Brian Maguire is a painter whose work focuses on humanitarian issues internationally. His exhibition, a collaboration with Concern Worldwide, opens on the evening of the conference and comprises work that was inspired by his recent visit with internally displaced people in Bentiu, South Sudan. Maguire uses portraiture as a means to create cultural demonstration which is disseminated in the north-western world. The North – South axis has been a significant element in his work since 1988. He hosted student groups at the World Social Forums in Brazil and Kenya in the 2000s.

In his earlier career Maguire taught for 20 years in Irish Prisons and has conducted research programmes in European and North and South American prisons. He sees the issues of poverty and crime to be inseparable and produced a body of work prior to 2012 on this theme. The consequences of violence has been his main subject since his participation in the Sao Paulo Biennial 20 years ago. More recently, this involved work from Aleppo, Syria, which gave witness to the destruction of parts of the city. He is represented by the Kerlin Gallery, Dublin and the Fergus McCaffrey Gallery, New York and Tokyo. His work is held in museum collections in Ireland, Brazil, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Netherlands and Finland.