In the mid 1800's the newly arrived immigrants to the province of Buenos Aires from Ireland found themselves in a land of great opportunity and fertile soils. From these first settlers to today's vibrant Argentine Irish community, they have embraced this land and made it their own.

Encuentro ("A Gathering") documents the Argentine Irish community in Buenos Aires and its surroundings. Maurice Gunning's photographs bring fragments of the lives of the descendents of these faraway settlers. The imagery is complemented by the moving stories told in the letters that the early Irish immigrants sent to their distant families and friends. Together, these pieces immerse the viewer in a personal narrative that takes us on a trip of hundreds of years and thousands of miles, and on the way stopping at the archives of the Southern Cross newspaper and the grounds of the Argentine Hurling Club.

Maurice Gunning was born in Ireland in 1978. He currently is photographer in residence at the University of Limerick and at Dance Ireland. His work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions across Ireland, Greece, Argentina, and the UK.