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Martin Hayes and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh at Other Voices NYC.
Photo: Jacob Blickenstaff
I’m sitting at home on Paddy’s Day watching back a recording of Other Voices New York which – although originally aired at Christmas time- makes perfect viewing on this most irish of days. It’s expecially pertinent as I’ve just finished reading the Irish Times Weekend, and have Fintan O’Toole’s words ringing in my ears;
“What we need to project abroad are independent thought, free expression, provocative imagining – the idea of a culture mature, dynamic and self-confident enough to be constantly testing its boundaries.”
Fintan was writing today about the proposed abolishment of Culture Ireland, or rather its proposed subsuming into the Department of The Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, a crazy proposal that is more about optics than understanding. As Fintan points out, Culture Ireland is a nimble, cost effective, well respected agency – not something that can be said of many others. Their current position aligning them with the Department of Foreign Affairs surely makes sense, allowing them to avail of international diplomatic connections and presumably making their work easier and more cost effective. When so many things are broken already, why try to fix something that simply doesn’t need it?
The Other Voices NYC event “a gathering” as they describe it, was supported by Culture Ireland as it happens, and presented by their Cultural Ambassador Gabriel Byrne as part of their Imagine Ireland initiative. A year-long programme (2011) that brought 500 artists in over 1400 events to 45 states across America, its sure to have had a lasting impact on impressions of contemporary irishness in one of our most important markets. A microcosm of the initiative at large, Other Voices capitalised on their musical reputation in Ireland to bring something altogether more interesting to New York; two nights of music and spoken word that pushed traditional and contemporary musicians together with contemporary writers, in a gathering of creativity that reveals a lot about what it is to be irish today, a deep connection with tradition contrasted with a openness to contemporary practices that reveals a modern, questioning psyche that’s both creative and experimental, ever questioning and expressing itself.
The tv programme can only show so much (and unfortunately is not available on the RTE player ) but the broad theme – what it means to be irish right now and how we can express that- creates a strong focus for the show. Contributions from the writers were the most erudite – naturally enough – but an observation from Martin Hayes struck a chord:
“…the arts tells us something about who we are as people…”
And if they tell us something about who we are as people, especially who we are right now – something we need reminding of most forcibly at a time like this – they equally tell others about who we are as people, something that Culture Ireland seems to understand implicitly. If we need art to help us articulate that which we cannot always confront consciously, a complex web of our values, morals, opinions, emotions, expressions and aesthetics, then we need agencies like Culture Ireland to pave the way for this expression abroad.
Joseph O’Connor comments on the programme that he feels “you’re putting on the green jersey, and you should be proud of it, you’re playing for Ireland” an idea that Gerry Godley echoes in his letter to the Times this week when talking about the role of artists to help rehabilitate our international reputation “Ask our artists. They are perpetually in the field, the trade mission that never sleeps.”
I’m not saying that the arts are the answer to our troubles, clearly it’s more complex than that, but I do believe its crucial that we attempt to have influence on how we are perceived abroad. We are a small nation that punches way above its weight creatively, and the creative expression of our culture, past and present, is capital that we should be investing in, not pulling apart. Any successful company will tell you that the impression of their brand is formed by what they say about themselves, and what others say about them. It’s hard to control what others say about you, but we can at least control what we say about ourselves, and I want the artists talking for me thanks.
News of a great exhibition for Sligo appeared in my inbox today. A week long illustration based show, it features brilliant local artists like Wayne O’Connor and national heroes like Chris Judge, who’s exhibiting the first works from his Key Frames project. Here’s the official blurb, but get yourself along from July 17th as it’s only there for a week.
The Yeats Building in Sligo will play host to a week long exhibition entitled Through The Looking Glass. Drawing together the work of several Irish Artists from around the country, the exhibition will open on Sunday 17th July at 6pm. Each of the artists works in an illustrative style and come from backgrounds informed by Animation, Illustration and Street Art.
Chris Judge is a Dublin based illustrator and painter who was a guest speaker at this years Childrens Book Conference and recently took part in the ‘Unflattering Portraits’ promotion in Sligo.
Marian Noone is a Belfast based artist with a background in Animation, who is part of the Spoom Collective, a group who frequently collaborate on large scale street murals.
Wayne O Connor is a Sligo based artist who has been published in several fantasy and Science fiction games and draws influence from his interest in those genres.
James Gammell is a concept artist and illustrator from Limerick who has worked on various franchises including Judge Dredd.
Patrick O Callaghan is another Dublin Based animator who has worked with a variety of clients including Brown Bag Films.
Finally Daniel Bourke is another Dublin artist whose work was recently featured prominently in the international art magazine Imagine FX. Each of the artists work in a variety of mediums across both traditional and Digital formats so the show promises to an intriguing mix of pieces. All the work will be available for sale.
The show opens officially at 6pm on Sunday 17th July and wine and music are promised, so you’ve no excuse. It’s great to see this sort of thing being put on in Sligo, so fairplay to the organisers.
Had another great weekend at Body&Soul this year, with the musical highlights being Donal Dineen’s new project Parish (download/hear the live set here) and Lamb, who are old school faves from way back in the day. As always though, the real joy at Body and Soul is the arty surprises. It’s impossible to communicate the real childish joy you feel at that festival, and although the holistic side of things are not my bag, I do love all the arty and foody flourishes. The main tents are all well and good but there’s always a bevy of quirky alternatives dotted around the site. My favourite tent this year was tied between the Queens Go Wildside Banquet or Natasha’s Living Food Tent, the later was the perfect place to sneak into for a cuppa and some chocs accompanied by some lovely tunes while the rain came down.
Queen's go Wildside
Natasha's living food tent
My very favourite thing though was Aoife Banville‘s Camera Obscura installation Inside/Outside. Built inside a garden shed, you were literally inside the camera, as the shed acted as a pinhole camera reflecting the scene outside. You sat on beanbags against the wall with the pinhole, looking at a blank screen in the pitch dark, as you wait for the images to appear before your eyes. It’s hard to explain exactly how magical it is to see ghostly images start to appear out of nowhere as if suspended in the dark. My friend’s eyes are better in the dark (I’m clearly not eating enough carrots) so she was seeing things a good 60 seconds before me, cue much hilarious disclaiming of the “you must be able to see that” variety. Once things pop into view though it’s incredible. The image is inverted, so it started for me with the tips of the tree appearing at our feet. The sunlight was creating this dappled leaf effect across the flood, in a golden colour, almost like a moment from Avatar, or translucence. So beautiful and surprising. Then the white chair and table appeared and finally I could see upside down people as they walked by the hole outside. The while concept of a pinhole camera is magical enough, but seeing images appear like that was so gorgeous, and so transportative…oh, and so addictive. I could have sat there for 10 times longer than I did. I really hope the project gets re created for Electric Picnic or another festival like Gracelands art festival in Leitrim perhaps, everyone should have the opportunity to try this out.
Artist Aoife Banville outside her Camera Obscura
