Artscape: The long-standing love affair between Brittany and the Irish will be reignited in August when Ireland will be the featured nation in the 35th Festival Interceltique de Lorient (FIL), the largest festival in Europe and the annual gathering place for the Celtic world, writes Jane Coyle.
For 10 days and nights, Ireland will be the focus of attention, as an expected 4,000 performers and 600,000 visitors converge on the bustling naval town of Lorient on Brittany's south coast.
But, along with the honour of being the guest nation, comes a challenge. Jean-Pierre Pichard, the director and driving force behind FIL, has described the Breton-Irish love affair as somewhat one-sided. Last year, in this newspaper, he paid tribute to the massive contribution made by the Irish to the success of the festival, but remarked: "The Irish love to be loved . . . but they are not so keen to listen and love in return. Over the years, it has tended to be one-way traffic, but 2005 will be the year of Ireland, so we'll see."
Proceedings kick off in style over the weekend of August 6th and 7th, with a gala evening featuring 12 Irish-speaking solo singers, musicians and dancers, concerts by three top-ranking groups - Kila, Téada and Lunasa - and the Grand Parade of Celtic Nations, led through the streets of Lorient by the Irish contingent.
Throughout the festival, there will be one-off events, such as the Mná na hÉireann concert, an uilleann pipes recital, a performance of sacred chants by Nóirín Ní Riain and her sons, and an evening of virtuoso solo playing. The Irish pavilion will show off our musical, visual art and culinary traditions.
Support of €70,000 for the music and art exhibition has been given by the Minister for Arts John O'Donoghue, while the Department of Foreign Affairs is assisting the Irish pavilion.
FIL runs from Aug 5 to 14 . Details and bookings: www.festival-interceltique.com and fil05@eircom.net
Easy entry to Gaelchultúr
A singing and poetry workshop next Thursday, June 2nd, from 1-2 pm, which is free and open to the public, will be the first chance for many to visit the new Gaelchultúr Irish-language centre in Dublin's Temple Bar, writes Catherine Foley.
The workshop, organised as part of the annual Turas na bhFilí (Scottish Poets' Tour), now in its 35th year, will feature poets Crisdean Whyte and Maoilios Caimbuel and singer Julie Fowlis. The Scottish poets and musicians will be taking part over the coming week (from today until Friday, June 3rd) in events in Dublin, Co Donegal and Derry. Contact Fionnuala Ní Mhuirí, of Comhdhail Naisiúnta na Gaeilge at 01 679 4780 for more information.
The Gaelchultúr venue, which opened earlier this year on the second floor of the Filmbase Building on Curved Street, is already running a number of Irish-language courses, largely aimed at adults. It plans to be fully up and running by September, with Irish-language classes, workshops, dance classes, a film club, music classes and cultural events. It also plans to run language classes for stage bodies and groups in the Civil Service.
"We are trying to make the learning of Irish fun and painless, and we have a highly developed system in place," says Éamonn Ó Dónaill, one of the centre's three directors. "Many people attend Irish-language classes as adults and unfortunately their experience is often negative due to the approach used by teachers and poor quality of materials. We are trying to avoid those mistakes."
Ó Dónaill was language co-ordinator and author of the books accompanying the two Irish-language TV series, Turas Teanga and Now You're Talking.
The two other directors of the Gaelchultúr Centre are Julian de Spáinn, former director of Seachtain na Gaeilge, and Darren Ó Rodaigh, who co-founded software company Zamano, which developed the Smart Ass game for Esat Digifone (now O2). The three directors also hope to provide e-learning courses.
www.gaelchutur.com
Grey strength
"When we see grey hair, do we equate this with weakness and inability? Do we think about all the things this older person cannot do, instead of finding out what their strengths are?"
Sharon Lynch wasn't the only Galway-based artist to ask herself some hard questions several months ago, during participation in the Burning Bright project now on display in the Galway Arts Centre, writes Lorna Siggins. Artists Maeve McElligott, Alannah Robins, Ruby Wallis, Amantine Dahan, Katherine Gillespie and Tricia McCarthy were also involved in the series of "social engagement" art workshops at six nursing homes throughout Co Galway over a 10-week period earlier this year.
Working with residents of the Maryfield Nursing Home in Athenry, Gillespie found that people affected by Alzheimer's disease had little inhibition in terms of engaging in creative work. Wallis says her eyes were opened at St Brendan's Community Nursing Home in Loughrea, discovering enormous artistic potential among people who may never have had the opportunity to work with good materials in a safe space before.
Lynch has Aran Island roots, and was fortunate to find herself assigned to Áras Ronan, the new home for senior citizens on Inis Mór. Sometimes she worked on a one-to-one basis, sometimes with groups. A visually impaired woman found inspiration through shaping clay, while the island's oldest resident, aged 98, preferred to paint. A former fisherman responded to photographs of boats.
"It was great to listen to him chatting as he drew, likening the marks on his page to tying up boats on the pier or the movement of water," Lynch says. Her conclusion is that senior members of our society should still have a voice in society and that we should "see the whole person and not just the old person".
One member of the Inis Mór group, Joseph Kelly, passed away in March, and Galway Arts Centre's exhibition of work by residents of a number of homes is dedicated to his memory. The project was supported by a number of partners, including Galway County Council, Galway Rural Development, the Health Service Executive West and Age Action West. The exhibition in Dominick Street, Galway, continues until June 11th.
Shortcuts
Also in Galway, the initiative entitled Transcending the Territory, which involved a collaboration between artist Elizabeth Porritt, John Langan of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, and the pupils of Carnaun National School near Athenry, has won the overall prize in the latest Galway County Arts Awards. "What emerged was astounding . . . a fantastically exciting explosion of art and openness," the citation for the award said, describing the impact of Porritt's residency on the school.
In the coming week, young film-makers from five Galway schools will screen the world premieres of their work at the new Eye arthouse cinema in Wellpark, Galway. The pilot initiative is part of the National FÍS project, which is designed to introduce film into the primary-school curriculum. The producers and directors hail from schools in Oughterard, Glinsk, Corrandulla, Carraroe and Athenry.
The Ark children's cultural centre in Dublin's Temple Bar has appointed a new director, Eina McHugh, who will take over in August. Originally from Northern Ireland, she is described as a senior children's arts strategist, with a CV in children's culture and education. Most recently she was head of project development for the commercial company of the Welsh broadcaster, S4C. She has also directed the Second World Summit on TV for Children, leading to the generation of the Charter on Children's Television, and ran Northern Ireland's Cinemagic Film Festival for Young People.
Her appointment follows Belinda Moller's year as acting director, following the departure of former director Eric Fraad. The announcement comments that "over the last 12 months Belinda has redeveloped the marketing and financial infrastructure of the Ark, preparing the way for the appointment of a new director, and will manage the transition period over the next three months, finishing her role in August 2005". Moller initiated co-productions with regional arts centres, redeveloped a schools' touring programme and commissioned the forthcoming Save the Robots festival.
The Ark has also appointed a visual arts project manager, Liz Coman, previously education officer at the National Gallery of Ireland. Annette Nugent (former marketing director of Temple Bar Properties) has been appointed marketing director.
Journalist and critic Helen Meany, is the new editor-in-chief of Irish Theatre Magazine, following founding editor Karen Fricker's decision to step down from the publication after seven years. Meany takes over the magazine, now published by Nik Quaife, in June and her first issue will be published in September.