Art Scape: The new Minister for Arts, Seamus Brennan, this week made a public call for input from those working in and interested in the arts.
"Over the coming months I would welcome your advice and support, and that of the whole cultural sector, on how together we can lay the stepping stones, through policies and supports, that will open up arts, culture and heritage to thousands more of our people," he said to a few hundred assembled for the opening of the Jack B Yeats Masquerade and Spectacle exhibition at the National Gallery, taking the opportunity while opening the exhibition to indicate some of his own priorities as Minister.
The Minister teased National Gallery chairman Loughlin Quinn as he took over the podium from him, that Quinn's praise of previous minister for arts John O'Donoghue's achievements had an implication that he expected Brennan to do even better. And certainly many present (and absent) are keen to see how the new Minister will approach his brief.
Brennan said it must be acknowledged that arts and culture are of central importance, "not only to the cultural development and status of Ireland, but also in contributing to the economic and social progress of the country. Tourism, for example, benefits enormously from a thriving arts and culture sector that shows us as a people unique in heritage and unrivalled in written and dramatic expression.
"I want to assure you this evening that I am committed to working with you, and for you, in expanding, supporting and promoting the arts and the cultural life of the country. In driving forward the policies and supports that will achieve this, it is also important that we demonstrate for the public at large the impact and outcomes of funding and investment across the whole cultural sector."
His previous ministry, in social welfare, also informs his attitude, he said, adding that he wants to "strive with you to ensure that everyone, regardless of age, gender or background, shares in and benefits from the vibrant cultural life of the nation. 'Arts for all' is a well-worn phrase. But it is an aspiration that I want to breathe new life into and to give a fresh impetus to."
More than 970,000 men, women and children receive welfare payments every week, he said. "How many of [these have] access to or involvement in any aspect of cultural life, I don't know. I've no doubt some were artists struggling to make ends meet, but the vast majority were people struggling on the fringes of mainstream society, where access to any kind of cultural opportunity can be limited.
"The challenge for all of us is to build on the progress that has been made and to identify new and imaginative routes that will open up more and more opportunities to involve those who, for whatever reason, may feel excluded."
That some 30,000 are employed in arts and culture in Ireland "will surprise many, and it certainly surprised me", the Minister said, and, "when spending across the whole spectrum of arts and culture is taken into account, it means an investment each year that can be conservatively put at €500 million", and he wants to build on that investment, with the goal of increasing access, he said.
Irish to hang in Cape Town
The Royal Hibernian Academy has been developing links with institutions outside of Ireland over the last six years or so, and now one of those institutions, the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town, South Africa, is hosting an exhibition of work by 10 Irish artists, Singing the Real, from July 20th until November 3rd, writes Aidan Dunne.
Supported by Culture Ireland, the show is curated by RHA director Patrick T Murphy, and the aim is, he says, to explore "the combination of scientific method and art practice that is an evident and strong strain in Irish art today."
He has certainly come up with an interesting and eclectic group, whose work incorporates video monitor and projection pieces, installations, photography, painting and drawing.
Among the artists are Barrie Cooke, who has long dealt with the degeneration of the rural environment, particularly relating to water management, in works that anticipated such crises as the current Galway water debacle. Dorothy Cross mingles anthropological concerns and research projects in her wide-ranging investigations of the links between the human and the natural.
Nick Miller has in the past worked in the South African townships. His landscapes bypass traditional rules of perspective. Neva Elliott and Gary Phelan adopt the techniques of sociological and market research. Cecily Brennan, Susan Tiger and Grace Weir use scientific imagery and references as metaphors for human behaviours. Martin Healy looks at the role of superstition and urban myth in modern life and John Gerrard uses digital technologies in visually dazzling, metaphysically charged works.
Pretty much all the work is readily accessible and addresses concerns common to societies everywhere, and it will be interesting to see how South Africans relate to it.
Name sponsor for DTF
It's a big boost to the Dublin Theatre Festival (DTF) in its 50th anniversary year to secure title sponsorship from Ulster Bank, which will invest more than €1 million, agreed initially for three years. The bank has been looking for a suitable event to sponsor in an attempt to complement its rugby and golf sponsorships, and Bobbie Bergin, the bank's director of communications and corporate services, said he was "pleased to have secured this opportunity in the performing arts. We believe that through this partnership, all parties will benefit - customers, the festival and the Ulster Bank brand".
DTF, the country's oldest arts festival, was founded in 1957 by Brendan Smith, who ran the Olympia Theatre, and since then it has thrived as one of the key European theatre festivals. It has attracted significant sponsorships in recent years, but since Irish Life ended its role a few years ago has had no title sponsor.
A free ticket concept is part of Ulster Bank's support. This, an idea borrowed from the bank's recent "free ticket Thursday" at the European Open, will involve a free outdoor spectacle on the opening weekend.
The Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival runs from September 27th to October 14th, and the full festival line-up, including the opening weekend's celebratory events and outdoor spectacle, will be unveiled on July 31st.
Meantime Tríona Ní Dhuibhir, theatre producer and general manager of Barabbas, has started as general manager of the festival. Ní Dhuibhir has also worked with Daghdha Dance Company and is chairwoman of the Performance Corporation.
She takes over from Marcus Barker, who has been in the role for a number of years. More information at www.dublintheatrefestival.com
Design graduates and sisters Nina and Hanorah Lyons have set up a new online portfolio company to cater specifically for the needs of professional artists, designers and craftspeople, both new and established, in Ireland.
RiseCreatives aims to provide a support structure by offering managed webspaces and marketing for its members through the website, www.risecreatives.ie.
Nina Lyons identified a lack of portfolio websites in Ireland to allow artists and designers to have their own designed webspaces to showcase work to potential buyers, gallery owners, employers or sources of commission.
So, for an annual membership fee, members can choose from templates to create their personalised webspace and they will receive a web address and marketing and promotion of the webspace.
The Arts Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland have announced the winners of the Curated Visual Arts Award: Brendan Earley, Bea McMahon, Conor McFeely and Factotum.
The award, an initiative of the North/South Committee of the two arts councils, in partnership with the Douglas Hyde Gallery in Dublin and Void in Derry, offers selected artists the chance to produce pivotal work that will advance their own practice, including exhibiting in both the Douglas Hyde and Void. Guest curator Mike Nelson said the submissions represented a range of practices and included artists at very differing stages in their work. He said he was "thrilled that Brendan, Bea, Conor and Factotum share my belief in the potential of the award".