We have come a long way since the days when the thatched cottage and the creel of turf were central to the iconography of Ireland, and films like Darby O'Gill and the Little People projected the image of this country as a place of fairytale charm. The part played by films, literature and the performing arts in contributing to the ways in which others perceive us should never be underestimated. The opening this week of Heinrich Böll's Achill cottage is a reminder of the enormous influence his Irish Journal had in stimulating a German fascination with Ireland.
Art and culture have long been deployed as a diplomatic tool, a way of engaging in a dialogue with the outside world. Culture Ireland, the new agency established by the Minister for the Arts, John O'Donoghue, seeks to extend this dialogue by raising the profile of Irish art abroad. In a more formal way it takes on the functions of the former Cultural Relations Committee (CRC), which since 1949 had been active in sending Irish culture overseas; but the new Arts Act firmly placed statutory responsibility with the Minister for both policy and promotion in this area.
Last year's exchanges of artists, writers and exhibitions with China and our new European partners point to the kinds of cultural bridge-building envisaged with the creation of the new agency. The potential to foster knowledge and understanding of our cultural identity internationally is one aspect of what the new agency can do, but in an era when that identity is all the time changing and broadening with the rise of multiculturalism, the opportunity to forge partnerships that could help here in the assimilation of this new diversity is equally important.
Arts Council director Mary Cloake, in this newspaper yesterday, quite rightly asserted that "our arts are strong enough to absorb any influences, reinterpret them and own them". Our cultural identity is not now as easily defined as perhaps it used to be, so it is essential that the commitment that Culture Ireland would "strike a balance between tradition and innovation" is followed through.
With limited resources - though the €2 million budget is a considerable increase on the previous €700,000 - it was never going to be possible to develop any kind of stand-alone network of cultural institutes, like Britain and Germany, so the involvement of our diplomatic service - for now - makes sense. However, the principle of "arm's-length" from government is vital in areas of artistic creation, and that could be difficult to establish in a relationship with two ministerial departments. Nonetheless, this new body is a first step in the direction of increasing our stake in the global cultural landscape.