ISSUE 3
AN OPEN CALL TO THE IRISH IMAGINATION
ART:2016 is the Arts Council’s programme
as part of Ireland 2016. The Arts Council
is placing the artist and the arts at the centre
of how it responds to the centenary of the
1916 Easter Rising. The role of artists in
the Celtic Revival and in the events leading
up to the Rising cannot be underestimated.
They challenged and provoked a different
narrative that sought to imagine a new,
culturally defined Ireland. In the century
since the Rising, artists have continued to
be the great signifiers of our island. Their
work has been the enduring imagination of
what Ireland can become.
ART:2016 is a diverse and distinctive public
showcase of Irish art being presented
across Ireland and abroad throughout the
year. Key programme strands include the
Open Call National Project Awards; the
Next Generation Bursary Awards; and A
Nation’s Voice, a free concert featuring
new choral and orchestral work by Shaun
Davey and Paul Muldoon and the voices of
a thousand-strong choir, which took place
at the National Museum of Ireland, Collins
Barracks on Easter Sunday.
ART:2016 is part of the Ireland 2016
Centenary Programme and is supported by
the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional,
Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, and created
with a range of partners – local, national
and international. This, the third and
final issue of the programme, is focused
mainly on the Open Call National Projects,
reflecting on work to date, and providing
updates and additional information on
events happening between September and
December 2016.
www.artscouncil.ie/Art-2016
THESE ROOMS by ANU Productions
and CoisCéim Dance Theatre
Production image featuring Justine Cooper
by Ros Kavanagh
HEED FM
HEED FM - MELVIN - UNTITLED - 2016
Garrett Phelan
I HAD SO MANY QUESTIONS IN MY MIND AS A CHILD LIKE, WHERE THE FUCK DO I BELONG
HEED FM is a twenty-eight-day anonymous sound portrait created
through one-to-one and group conversations in Dublin with people
aged 18–25 and from all backgrounds.
THE LIGHTS WENT OFF AND MOM IS GONE ITS DARK AND EVERY NIGHT WAS LONG
MY FRIENDS ARE OUT PLAYING FOOTBALL BUT IM STUCK INSIDE WRITING SONGS
IM WONDERING WHY I COULDNT DEFINE BETWEEN WHATS RIGHT AND WRONG
The sound portrait presents a generation whose opinions and beliefs
are rarely heard in the public sphere and who lack institutional
advocacy on their behalf. HEED FM shuns preconceptions and
de-sensationalises this generation without judgement, giving time
and voice to the ambitions, aspirations and passions of those that
took part.
HEED FM will be broadcast to the Greater Dublin area on HEED FM
94.3 from 22 October–18 November 2016. It will also be broadcast
to Dublin and Cork on digital radio (DAB/DAB+), and will be available
online at www.heedfm.com
THINK OF DEPRESSION AS A BOXER I WASN’T SKILLED ENOUGH TO FIGHT THIS SHIT
MY COACH WAS A COUNCILLOR THAT RECOMMENDED ME TO A PSYCHIATRIST
WHAT KIND OF LIFE IS THIS, YOU NEVER REALLY KISSED A FIGHTERS FIST
GIMME THE FUEL I NEED TO MY FIRE I SWEAR TO GOD THAT IMMA LIGHT THIS BITCH
SPAR WITH MY ANGER LOST IN A FOG TRYNA FIND AN ANSWER
FRANCIS WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT GAVE A SHIT UNTIL LATER ON SHE DIED OF CANCER
TAUGHT ME NEARLY EVERYTHING ABOUT MUSIC LIKE WHATS THE DEFINITION OF A STANZA
HOW TO PLAY THE GUITAR SHE WAS LIKE A BEST FRIEND WE SHARED THE LOVE AND BANTER
BUT
BU LIFE IS LIKE A TWILIGHT THAT’S WHAT I LIKE CAUSE WHENEVER YOU THINK IT ENDS IT BEGINS
MY SOUL ON A PAPER THATS WHAT I WRITE THIS IS MY LIFE AND I AM THANKFUL FOR THIS PEN
HAD TO REALLY LEARN HOW TO DEAL WITH EMOTIONS WITHOUT TAKING DRUGS TO EXPRESS IT AGAIN
WRETCHED I FELT LIKE A PESSIMIST PISSED OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF A DESERT DEAD IN THE SAND
SO LETS TAKE A WALK IN A PLACE WHERE I GREW UP IN DUBLINS NORTH INNER CITY STREETS
BRIDGE WATER HALL SUMMER HILL PARADE IN THE NYP COME TAKE A LITTLE PEEK
AS A FOREIGN NATIONAL I CAME AND THEY EMBRACED ME LIKE THEIR OWN
YEAH I LIVED IN A HOUSE BUT THE PROJECT IS A PLACE I REALLY CALL MY HOME
AND THE SWAN YOUTH SERVICE IN A PLACE WHERE I FOUND TRUE PURPOSE
A PLATFORM FOR MY MUSIC TO FLOURISH AND TO STAND ON HERES A BRAND NEW SURFACE
IT KEPT ME OUT OF TROUBLE IN A TIME OF STRUGGLE AND IT REALLY HELPED TO RE ENERGISE AND RECOVER
BUT MY PET PEEVE WAS THE PEOPLE ON PLACEMENT THAT WAS SPEAKING TO ME HOWEVER THE FUCK THEY WANNA
BUT THEY DON’T KNOW ME SO HOW CAN THEY JUDGE
I TELL THEM MY STORY EVEN THOUGH I KNOW THAT HALF OF THEM DON’T GIVE A FUCK
SEE ME CRAVING
FOR THE DRUGS WHEN THE ONLY THING I WAS CRAVING FOR WAS LOVE
CR
PUBLIC BROADCAST
22 October–18 November 2016
HEED FM 94.3 (Dublin only)
DAB/DAB+ (Dublin and Cork only)
www.heedfm.com (online live stream)
The station will run for twenty-four hours, seven days a week
over a twenty-eight-day period.
HEED FM, Melvin – Untitled, spoken word/rap, 2016
HEED FM, Sarah McIlroy – Gel Nails, digital print, 2016
HEED FM, Hossin Moazemi – Life Risk for Unknown Life, mixed media on paper, 2016
SOME OF US DON’T GET IT OUTSIDE THE YOUTH CLUB AND MY YOUTH WORKERS TRULY UNDERSTOOD
SO I PAINT A SMILE ON MY FACE AND I AM GIVING OFF A FEELING THAT I AM HAPPY THATS WHAT I AM LIKE
ACTING COOL AINT REALLY MY STYLE IVE PUT A LOT OF ENERGY IN LETTING TIME FLY
SOME OF US GET RICH SOME OF US DIE TRYING OUT OF THE ABYSS WITH A LIGHT IN MY EYE
LOOKING AT THE STARS UP IN THE NIGHT SKY TAUGHT ME ALWAYS TO LOOK AT THE BRIGHT SIDE
TO MY PAST I AM WAVING GOODBYE I HAVE DONE BAD THINGS BUT I AM STILL A GOOD GUY
LOOSE ENDS
Willie Doherty
‘The RCC is presenting one of the biggest
projects it has ever organized, as part of
the Ireland 2016 centenary programme.
It is hosting the world premiere of Loose
Ends, a major new multi-screen video installation by world-renowned Derry/Donegal
artist Willie Doherty. The video installation,
with a voice-over by the great Donegal
actor Sean McGinley, and a number
of large-scale photographic works have
been produced in locations on Gola Island,
County Donegal and Moore Street in Dublin,
that are connected with the Rising.’
Donegal Daily, 27 June 2016
Loose Ends is a new commission that
considers how people, places and events
associated with the 1916 Easter Rising
are remembered and imagined today. The
work explores if a residual response to
these events continues to be played out,
and how the voices and actions of one
generation resonate in the unconscious of
another.
www.regionalculturalcentre.com
www.kerlingallery.com
www.mattsgallery.org
Loose Ends is commissioned by Donegal
County Council/Regional Cultural Centre in
partnership with Nerve Centre, Earagail Arts
Festival, Kerlin Gallery and Matt’s Gallery.
CURRENT AND FORTHCOMING EXHIBITIONS
Loose Ends
Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny
10 July–24 September 2016
Kerlin Gallery, Dublin
3 September–19 October 2016
Matt’s Gallery, London
Spring 2017
Loose Ends by Willie Doherty
FUTURE HISTORIES
Performance Art Live Foundation
Curated by Áine Phillips and Niamh Murphy
Artists: Michelle Browne, Fergus Byrne,
Brian Connolly, Pauline Cummins, Francis
Fay, Debbie Guinnane, Sandra Johnston,
Dr Laura McAtackney, Danny McCarthy,
Ciara McKeon, Alastair McLennan, Katherine
Nolan, Sinéad O’Donnell, Méabh Redmond,
Dominic Thorpe and Helena Walsh.
THESE ROOMS
ANU Productions
and CoisCéim Dance Theatre
Helena Walsh performing in Future Histories
at Kilmainham Gaol, 21 May 2016
Photo: Clodagh Kilcoyne
Over fifteen hundred people attended Future
Histories – a live-performance art and
digital-media event – at Kilmainham Gaol
on 21 May 2016. Invited artists
engaged with the commemoration of the
1916 Easter Rising through time-based
performances. Exploring themes of nationality, freedom and gender, the artists
created contemporary perspectives on our
shared past, conflicts, crises and passions
in relation to the Rising and its greatest
monument, Kilmainham Gaol.
These Rooms le ANU Productions agus le
CoisCéim Dance Theatre
Íomhá léiriúcháin le Ros Kavanagh ina
bhfuil Justine Cooper ann.
These Rooms, an important new collaboration
between ANU Productions and CoisCéim
Dance Theatre, is an intimate and immersive
live performance that cross-pollinates
contemporary dance, theatre and visual art.
The work is based on a historical incident
that took place in North King Street, Dublin
in April 1916. Drawing audiences into the
events of one hundred years ago, These
Rooms explores the 1916 Rising from the
perspective of civilians whose homes and
lives were violated by the conflict, with
devastating consequences.
These Rooms combines eye-witness testimonies from thirty-eight
women with the recently released findings of the government inquiry
that followed, and investigates questions of dignity and trauma,
belonging and dispossession. It is a fearless and embodied physical
performance that focuses on the effects of conflict on ordinary people’s
lives, and reaffirms the role of art in negotiating history.
FORTHCOMING PERFORMANCES
These Rooms
Location: 85/86 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin
Previews
27, 28 September, 7.30pm
World premiere as part of
Dublin Theatre Festival 2016
29 September 2016, 7.30pm
Information and booking details at:
www.theserooms.ie
www.dublintheatrefestival.com
www.coisceim.com/theserooms/
Dates
30 September, 4–7 October, 11–14 October, 7.30pm and 9.30pm;
1, 8, 15 October, 2.30pm, 7.30pm and 9.30pm;
2, 9, 16 October, 4.30pm and 7.30pm
THE CASEMENT PROJECT
Fearghus Ó Conchúir
The Casement Project dances with the queer body of British knight,
Irish rebel and international humanitarian Roger Casement to
imagine a national body that welcomes the stranger from beyond
the border, as well as the one already inside. This choreography
of bodies and ideas by choreographer Fearghus Ó Conchúir takes
place across national boundaries and includes a stage performance,
a celebratory festival of dance, a short film, an academic symposium,
and a series of participatory events to address the legacy of 1916.
www.thecasementproject.ie
FORTHCOMING PERFORMANCES
Butterflies and Bones: The Casement Project
Tanzmesse 2016 (open studio),
Düsseldorf, Germany
2 September 2016
The MAC, Belfast, as part of the Ulster Bank
Belfast International Arts Festival
13 October 2016
Project Arts Centre, Dublin
20–22 October 2016
Butterflies and Bones: The Casement Project,
world premiere, The Place, London, 11 June 2016
Photo: Stephen Wrighth
Féile Fáilte as part of The Casement Project,
Banna Strand, Tralee, Co. Kerry, 23 July 2016
Photos: Clare Keogh
Ar chlé: Ó Loose Ends le Willie Doherty
IN THE SHADOW OF THE STATE
Sarah Browne and Jesse Jones
Throughout 2016, artists Sarah Browne
and Jesse Jones have been developing In
the Shadow of the State across Ireland
and the UK. The project investigates the
role of the nation state in the regulation
of the female body, tracking the everyday
institutions of the state, including the
home itself.
The next iteration of the project, The
Touching Contract, will explore the qualities
of how we encounter the touch of the
state every day, with and without consent.
Staged in the Pillar Room of the Rotunda
Hospital, the first lying-in hospital in the
British Isles, The Touching Contract examines
the intimate gesture of touch as a site of
contact with the state through an
immersive-performance work.
Engaging with the audience directly, The
Touching Contract proposes a kind of
hypersensitivity to touch as a way of
dramatising usually unfelt political
realities. The performance will feature a
newly commissioned soundscape by Alma
Kelliher, and a legal score developed by
the artists with legal academic and activist
Máiréad Enright.
FORTHCOMING PUBLIC EVENTS
The Touching Contract
Location: Pillar Room,
Rotunda Hospital, Dublin
Dates: 23, 24, 25 September 2016
Information and booking details at
www.create-ireland.ie
www.intheshadowofthestate.org
This event follows on from Of Milk and
Marble, the first public performance of the
project staged in Derry in February. In July,
Browne and Jones presented The Truncheon
and the Speculum, a live ‘telefeminist’
broadcast from Liverpool at part of the
Liverpool Biennial. The final public event
in the series will take place in London in
December 2016.
In the Shadow of the State is a co-commission
of Artangel and Create.
In the Shadow of the State by Sarah Browne
and Jesse Jones
The Touching Contract, 2016
Graphic artwork by Sarah Browne,
Jesse Jones and Miriam O’Connor
THE SOUVENIR SHOP
Rita Duffy
Over eighteen hundred people attended
Rita Duffy’s Souvenir Shop at 13 North
Great George’s Street, Dublin between 25
April and 11 June 2016. Referencing the
city-centre shops once owned by Proclamation
signatory Tom Clarke, Duffy created a shop
– as an art installation – filled with ordinary,
everyday goods and foodstuffs packaged
and interwoven with images of the Rising
and its heroes. The Souvenir Shop explores
the shifting meanings of gestures and
symbols associated with the revolution,
examining how the images, objects and
themes of the 1916 Easter Rising, and
conflict more generally, become souvenirs.
‘It is, of course, much too early to say what
the overall response of artists to the 1916
centenaries will look like. But one thing
we can say is that an old template has
been shattered. There used to be a choice
for artists – reverence for the Rising or
scathing scepticism. Now, it is possible to
be scathing and reverent at the same time.
The Rising may at once be upheld as a gift
from the past, a rebuke to the present and
a challenge for the future.’
FORTHCOMING EXHIBITIONS
The Souvenir Shop
Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris
16 September–1 October 2016
Fintan O’Toole,
Irish Times, 30 July 2016
‘Rise Up Baking Soda’, 2016
The Souvenir Shop by Rita Duffy
Photo: Stanislav Nikolov
Installation image. Making Ireland
Modern at Bailey Allen Hall, University
Road, NUI Galway as part of the
Galway International Arts Festival,
11–24 July 2016
MAKING IRELAND MODERN
Curated by Gary A. Boyd and
John McLaughlin Architects
Photo: Alice Clancy
Making Ireland Modern explores the
relationship between architecture,
infrastructure and technology in the
building of a new nation. Making Ireland
Modern describes architecture’s role in
transforming the physical and cultural identity
of the new state through its intercession in
the everyday lives of its population.
Making Ireland Modern is a touring project
as part of ART: 2016. It was originally
presented as Infra Éireann – Making
Ireland Modern at the 2014 International
Architecture Exhibition at La Biennale di
Venezia. Ireland at Venice is an initiative of
Culture Ireland and the Arts Council.
www.makingirelandmodern.ie
EXHIBITION TOUR
Making Ireland Modern
St Peter’s Church, Cork
8 September–1 October 2016
Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin
13 October–12 November 2016
1916 – VISIONARIES AND THEIR WORDS
Lorcán Mac Mathúna
A cycle of songs inspired by the ideals of the leaders of the Easter
Rising, written and performed by Lorcán Mac Mathúna. Drawing
from the writings of Pearse, Connolly, Plunkett and others, Lorcán
Mac Mathúna explores the vision of the revolutionaries and its
contemporary resonance. Featuring new music, as well as traditional
songs, 1916 – Visionaries and their Words is an audiovisual
experience of music, song and archive imagery.
‘Songs such as Johnny Seoighe, White Dove of the Wild Dark Eyes,
Óró sé di bheatha abhaile provided touching yet haunting musical
accounts of a time long since gone but still felt in the heart of every
Irish man and woman. With so much of our history steeped in
politics and troubles, it is easy to forget the culture and traditions
that have developed, soared and excelled through time.’
Review in Ireland Today, 3 February 2016
1916 – Visionaries and their Words premiered in Dublin in January
(as part of TradFest), and was presented in Ennis, Co. Clare (as part of
Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann) and in Brittany, France (as part of Le Festival
interceltique de Lorient) in August to popular and critical acclaim.
www.1916visionaries.ie/shows.html
A POET’S RISING
Irish Writers’ Centre
The Irish Writers’ Centre commissioned six poems from influential
contemporary poets Theo Dorgan, Paul Muldoon, Thomas McCarthy,
Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and Jessica Traynor.
The poems reflect on significant figures and events associated with
the Rising, including James Connolly, Patrick Pearse, Dr Kathleen
Lynn, Elizabeth O’Farrell and Michael Joseph O’Rahilly. Each poet
was filmed reciting their poem at locations including Dublin’s
Moore Street, City Hall, the GPO, Liberty Hall and the Garden of
Remembrance.
The Irish Writers’ Centre launched A Poet’s Rising on 31 March
with readings by the commissioned poets and a live performance
of the commissioned film score by Colm Mac Con Iomaire. A Poet’s
Rising (the film) was broadcast on RTÉ 1 on 19 April, and the
poems were published in the Irish Times during the anniversary of
Easter Week, from 24–29 April. A copy of the printed programme,
featuring all poems, can be downloaded from www.artscouncil.ie/
Art-2016/A-Poet_s-Rising/, and an online app is currently under
development. www.irishwriterscentre.ie
The Arts Council, An Chomhairle Ealaíon, is the national government agency charged
with developing and promoting the arts in Ireland. It works in partnership with artists,
arts organisations, public policymakers and others to build a central place for the arts in
Irish life. The Arts Council is guided by its strategy Making Great Art Work: Leading the
Development of the Arts in Ireland. www.artscouncil.ie/Art-2016/