THE LIMERICK EXPERIMENT
presents
Imagining the Future for the Arts in Limerick;
Performance and Dialogue November 30th and December 1st,
Daghdha Space, John’s Square, Limerick
NOVEMBER 30TH, DAY 1:
10.30
11.00
Coffee & Registration
Welcome and Introduction from Chair
Dr. Niamh NicGabhann, Director, MA Festive Arts at the Irish World Academy, University of Limerick.
The Future for Young Musicians in Limerick
Boris Hunka, Co-ordinator, Music Generation, Limerick City
The Relevance of Theatre and Related Arts to a City undergoing Change
Kevin Wallace, London based, international Theatre Producer.
Q&A
Lunch Light lunch included
Cultural Capital in Limerick, creating virtuous circles
Gavin Kostick, Literary Manager, Fishamble Theatre Company & Facilitator of The Limerick Experiment
Culture as a tool for territorial regeneration: the example of Nantes
Patrick Gyger, Director, Le Lieu Unique, Nantes, France,
Q&A
Cultural Cafe
Informal Networking Session, social space to be confirmed
11.15
11.45
12.45
13.00
14.00
14.40
15.30
15.45
THE LIMERICK EXPERIMENT PERFORMANCE; SIX SHORT PIECES
20.00
Saturday, November 30th., 8pm
On the evening of Day 1 of the conference, artists from The Limerick Experiment will showcase a number of
devised performance and interdisciplinary works. These short works are the outcome of monthly workshops
and rehearsals undertaken with Gavin Kostick. The artistic mix of practitioners in The Limerick Experiment
includes actors, writers, film makers, musicians, visual artists and directors, Ann Blake, Marie Boylan, Mike
Finn, Emma Fisher, Kevin Kiely, Maeve McGrath, Mags O’Donoghue, Joan Sheehy,
Jo Slade, Monica Spencer, Ciarda Tobin, Shane Whisker and Damien Wilson. Although these artists are
familiar to each other, they have not worked together in a facilitated group method – outcomes should
be interesting. Tickets for the performances are available from the
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DECEMBER 1ST, DAY 2:
10.30
11.00
11.15
11.40
12.10
12.40
13.00
14.00
14.45
15.00
Coffee & Registration
Welcome & Introduction from Chair
Paul Foley, Senior Executive Officer, Economic Development & Planning, Limerick City & County Council
Limerick Arts, 1993 - 2013: Two Decades of Change
Sheila Deegan, Arts Officer, Limerick City and County Council
Art, Policy, Regeneration and Reason
Tara Byrne, Freelance Cultural Manager and Researcher
Measuring Social Change: Youth Unemployment and the Arts.
Dr. Stephen Kinsella, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick
Q&A
LUNCH Light lunch included
Cities of Culture: Ownership and Legacy
Dr. Bernadette Quinn, Tourism Geographer, Lecturer DIT, in conversation with Karl Wallace,
Artistic Director, Limerick 2014, National City of Culture
Q&A
Cultural Cafe
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Niamh NicGhabhann is the course director of the MA Festive Arts programme at the Irish World Academy of
Music and Dance, University of Limerick. She holds a PhD from TRIARC, the Irish Art Research Centre at Trinity
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space, participation and inclusion in the arts, and cultural entrepreneurship.
Boris Hunka has enjoyed a career as musician, producer, administrator and teacher across a range of musical styles.
Following a music degree at York, he ran large scale arts and festival projects, working with Courtney Pine, Mika and
Sir George Martin in the Barbados Jazz, South Bank and the Larmer Tree festivals. He has held senior roles at the
Irish Chamber Orchestra, Shannon Intl. Music Festival, Limerick City Africa Day, Feile Eile and the Percussion
Studio. He took up his position as Co-ordinator of Music Generation Limerick earlier this year.
Kevin Wallace is a Limerick born, London based theatre producer. Productions include The Lord of the Rings,
Whistle Down the Wind, The Beautiful Game, Closer to Heaven, Our Town, Loserville (all London West End),
Jesus Christ Superstar (UK Tour, Broadway and PBS), The Phantom of the Opera (Switzerland, Mexico, Belgium,
Denmark), and Sunset Boulevard (UK Tour and Germany). He has worked as a stage and TV actor with The Abbey
Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Bristol Old Vic, The Liverpool Everyman, Oxford Playhouse, Liverpool
Playhouse, Yorkshire Television and the BBC. He is a Fellow of Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance.
Gavin Kostick’s plays have been produced nationally and internationally. Nominations/awards include The
Stewart Parker Trust, Irish Times Theatre Awards, First Irish New York. Current work includes Show in a
Bag project with Dublin Fringe/Irish Theatre Institute. He is Literary Manager for Fishamble Theatre
Company and is committed to the development of new work for stage. He also teachers at the Lir: The
National Academy of Dramatic Art. He is delighted to be working with artists from The Limerick Experiment.
Patrick J. Gyger is a Swiss Historian and Writer From 1999 to 2011, he was the director of “Maison d’Ailleurs” in
Switzerland (www.ailleurs.ch), a museum housing one of the world’s largest collections of Utopia. As such, he has
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Espace Jules Verne, a new permanent wing of Maison d’Ailleurs devoted to Extraordinary Journeys. Patrick Gyger has
also served as artistic director of the “Utopiales” Festival International in Nantes, France (www.utopiales.org), from 2001
to 2005. Since January 2011, he is the director of the lieu unique, national center for contemporary arts in Nantes
(www.lelieuunique.com), a leading pluridisciplinary venue for theater, dance, visuals arts, music and literature.
Paul Foley has spent most of his career working within local authority structures in Limerick. Positions held include
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Management, Property Management and Economic Development. He recognizes value of cultural innovation as
an important platform for delivery of Limerick 2030, Economic and Spatial Plan.
Dr. Stephen Kinsella is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick and
a Research Fellow at the Geary Institute at UCD. He studies the Irish and European economies and has written four
books, Ireland in 2050: How we will be Living, Understanding Ireland’s Economic Crisis: Prospects for Recovery,
QuickWin Economics, and Computable Economics. He is a weekly columnist for the Irish Independent and regularly
briefs the Irish and international print, radio, and TV media on irisheconomy.ie. In addition to testimony before Ireland’s
parliament, he has also written policy pieces for publications such as the Harvard Business Review, Foreign Affairs,
and VoxEU.
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policy for Cultural Diversity, Local Arts Development, Creative Limerick and was part of the team that bid for European
Capital of Culture in 2001. Capital projects include LCGA, Limerick Artists’ Apartments, Daghdha and Belltable Arts
Centre. City arts events include eva International, The Kate O’Brien Weekend, CUISLE Poetry Festival, Open House
Limerick, Culture Night and the continued publication of the The Stony Thursday Book.
Tara Byrne is a Dublin based arts & cultural manager and researcher. She is currently curating a series of colloquia for the
National Campaign for the Arts. She has just completed a PHD in cultural policy, has taught on DIT’s BA in Creative & Cultural
Industries and TCD’s MSc in Digital Media. She has been a panel assessor with the Arts Council and Dublin City Council. She
was Director of the National Sculpture Factory, Cork, Artists’ Support Exec. in the Arts Council, has worked in IMMA and NCAD.
She holds a BA in Art History and English Literature from Trinity College, Dublin and a H.Dip. in Arts Administration from UCD.
Dr Bernadette Quinn works in the College of Arts and Tourism at the DIT. She is a Human Geographer whose research
interests lie in arts festivals, cultural policy, tourism and cultural change, leisure & social inclusion. Her research has
been published in leading geography, leisure and tourism journals including Gender, Place and Culture, Social and
Cultural Geography, Leisure Studies, Urban Studies and Annals of Tourism Research. Earlier this year she published
Key Concepts in Event Management with Sage. She teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and is
Programme Tutor of the MSc Event Management at the DIT.
Karl Wallace is Artistic Director of Limerick 2014, National City of Culture. From London, he is the former Chief Executive
of Siamsa Tire, National Folk Theatre of Ireland and is also a former Artistic Director of Belltable. For Island Theatre
Company, he directed a landmark production of Outlying Islands by David Grieg in 2006. He was Artistic Director of
Kabosh Theatre Company, Belfast from 1997 to 2006. His work for Kabosh includes: Mojo-Mickybo by Owen McCafferty
(Traverse, Lyric Hammersmith London, USA tour); award-nominated dance theatre performances Chair, Sleep Show,
Strange and Oriana; the musical Sweeney Todd co-directed with Conor Mitchell.