ArtScape: On Thursday, Ballymun Regeneration and German-born artist Jochen Gerz launched a new public art project, A National Memory Grove, writes Aidan Dunne. The project is designed to maintain the names of the seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation in Ballymun after the demolition of the tower blocks named after them.
Gerz's plan is to plant a grove of 400 oak trees on a hectare of land. Lecterns in the grove will feature portraits of the signatories. Members of the public are invited to donate an oak tree to the grove at a subsidised cost of €60 apiece.
Gerz, based in Paris since 1967, has devised and completed a succession of innovative public art projects, including Monument Against Racism in Saarbrucken, Germany, and The Future Monument in Coventry, UK. As part of the regeneration of Ballymun, he was commissioned by Braking Ground to make amaptocare, currently in progress in Ballymun, which involves local people agreeing to sponsor tree plantings in their area. Texts detailing the donors' personal testimonies will be located next to each tree.
Gerz's projects usually entail a process of bringing people into contact with their own history and, in a sense, taking possession of that history as personal stories are viewed in relation to wider public contexts, bringing a sense of focus on to community and the future. "I think it is important for a society that people have a link to public spaces," he says of his own work. "The normal way that a monument comes about is that a ruler decrees it. I try to put people in the position of the ruler, to give them the authority of authorship." While he was working on amaptocare, he says: "People talked about the towers, and how their disappearance was a new beginning for Ballymun, but they also had the feeling that the names of the signatories should not go away from the area." The experience awakened his curiosity about Irish history and he began reading about the background to the 1916 Rising: "They were pretty good poets for people who organised an uprising." He thinks it vital that the memory of the vision, courage and idealism of the signatories, who "worked from a position of powerlessness", should continue to be associated with Ballymun. "History here is still a breathing thing, still living." In Celtic mythology, oaks symbolise strength and courage. "The grove will grow, change and live, it will be a living monument." The aim is to inaugurate A National Memory Grove at Easter 2006, the 90th anniversary of the Easter Rising.
A break with tradition
Lady Gregory would surely smile at Music Network's latest addition to its Young Musicwide Award Scheme, writes Siobhan Long. Established in 2001 with the aim of supporting emerging young musicians as they embark on their careers, this award was previously available only to classical and jazz musicians. This year, though, Young Musicwide is opening its doors to traditional players. Through an audition process, a traditional group will be selected to participate in the Young Musicwide programme for three years. The main features of Young Musicwide 2005 are: several performance opportunities with Music Network promoters in Ireland; an agreed fee and expenses for each concert; a specially designed professional support package and publicity campaign surrounding the campaign; a newly commissioned work; a showcase concert at Dublin Castle Coach House; a promotional CD; and advice on a range of subjects including self-management, self-promotion and repertoire building.
Having an established track record in supporting traditional music through its twice-yearly Best of Irish trad tours, Music Network is proving yet again that traditional musicians' rightful place is cheek by jowl with their peer practitioners in other styles of music. Past winners in the classical genre included the Callino Quartet, soprano Ailish Tynan and clarinettist Carol McGonnell. Organics were the first jazz musicians to benefit when the ambit of the award was extended last year.
Auditions for Young Musicwide 2005 will take place in Dublin on June 14th. The closing date for completed applications is May 9th, and applications can be obtained by contacting Aisling White at Music Network, Tel: 01-6719429 or e mail: aisling@musicnetwork.ie.
North at Smithsonian
Some may scoff, others may cheer at the announcement this week that Northern Ireland has been invited to take part in the 41st Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC in 2007, writes Jane Coyle. It is only the second region of the UK to be accorded the privilege - Scotland was the first in 2003.
The North's Culture and Arts Minister, Angela Smith MP, declared that " . . . the very best of Northern Ireland's culture is to be centre stage . . . at the largest cultural event in the US capital's calendar. Never before has there been such a magnificent opportunity for Northern Ireland's most talented people to tell the story of their region through music, dance, drama, song, crafts and storytelling . . ." In a rare piece of cross-government funding, Northern Ireland PLC is contributing £350,000 to the basic budget, with the Smithsonian chipping in £750,000 to make up the remainder. But there will also be concerted efforts to drum up sponsorship and commercial backing for what the North's Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) is describing as " . . . an authentic cultural snapshot of Northern Ireland, whose long-term benefits should continue to be enjoyed after the main event has ended." The festival was started in 1967, with the aim of highlighting the living cultural heritage of communities across the US and their roots in other nations. It now attracts some 1 million visitors to the National Mall for 10 days at the end of June and the beginning of July. In 2007, the other invited participants will be the State of Virginia, with which the North has many historic links, and the countries of the Mekong Delta.
In seeking to allay fears of a clichéd, sugar-coated presentation, DCAL underlined the thorough manner in which the Smithsonian Institute - the largest museum and research organisation in the world - goes about laying the groundwork for its featured regions. And it was also stressed that lessons learned during Belfast's memorably unsuccessful bid for European Capital of Culture would be put into effect in the formation and running of the two steering groups, which will ensure adequate funding, research and content of the festival programme.
Ballet's good fortune
Wednesday's launch of Ballet Ireland's spring season marked a dazzling turnaround in the fortunes of the company, writes Christine Madden. Apart from publicising the world première of its new ballet, Alice, which begins its tour of Ireland and the UK on April 1st, the Minister for Arts, John O'Donoghue, used the occasion to announce the first award of the successor organisation to the CRC, Culture Ireland: a €10,000 grant to Ballet Ireland.
O'Donoghue praised Ballet Ireland for its accomplishments in the dance sector, stating: "Events such as these afford me the opportunity to highlight the growing importance of dance to the artistic life of Ireland. They also give me a chance to commend the work of this remarkable company, Ballet Ireland, under its highly energetic and talented joint directors Anne Maher and Günther Falusy."
He went on to announce: "I am delighted that one of the first funding decisions made by Culture Ireland, which I established last month to promote Irish arts and artists abroad, has been to fund this tour by Ballet Ireland." Olive Braiden, chairwoman of the Arts Council, was also present for the inaugural grant of the new international funding organisation.
The added portent of the occasion came as a great surprise to Maher, who had made the application to the CRC but had not expected such good news at the launch. "We really and truly nearly went to the wall in 2003," she said. "It's spectacular now to be where we are." In addition to the €10,000 fromCulture Ireland, Ballet Ireland had also received a grant of €10,000 from the EU-funded Cultural Co-operation and Touring, which awards monies for artistic individuals and organisations touring between Ireland and Wales.
Maher attributed the sea-change in Ballet Ireland's fortunes to its attention to recommendations made by the Arts Council in the wake of the 2003 funding crisis. "The Arts Council expressed a fear that our focus was too narrow, ie the company was run just by Falusy and myself," she explained. "We then appointed a strong board of directors, and they have been fabulous. That has helped us considerably." The change in fortune has given a great boost to the company as it embarks on its spring tour. "We're feeling very confident," Maher admitted. Apologising for the pun, she continued: "We're all happy little bunnies".