Front/Row

Mayo County Council's current artist-in-residence, Chris Doris, is clearly taking his job to heart. In a project with a distinctly Biblical ring to it, he is currently ensconced on the summit of Croagh Patrick, and will stay there until September 6th - for a total, in fact, of 40 days and 40 nights. During this time he'll be on hand to greet those who climb the mountain, to collect their thoughts and, with their permission, take their photographs for inclusion in a book that will follow at the end of his sojourn. It is, says, Doris, a "social sculpture" in the tradition of Joseph Beuys, intended as a non-denominational tribute to those who, through the centuries, have used retreats to explore the spiritual and contemplative side of life. Though mind you, unlike traditional hermits, he does have his mobile phone with him.

Irish theatre companies bound for Edinburgh in ten days' time include The Abbey, with Tom Murphy's The Wake, directed by Patrick Mason for the International Festival programme. The ever-expanding Fringe will feature Rough Magic with Frances Sheridan/Liz Kuti's The Whisperers, Kabosh with Owen McCafferty's Mojo-Mickybo, Corcadorca with Enda Walsh's Misterman and the Lyric with Marie Jones's Stones In His Pockets - all at The Traverse theatre. To order festival programmes, which will take the best part of a day to wade through, telephone: 0044-131-4732001 (International Festival) and 0044-131-2265257 (Fringe). Our only other advice is: put your name on a bed in Edinburgh without delay, and start taking the vitamins now.

The West Cork Chamber Music Festival's special "millennium event" - the complete Shostakovich string quartets played by the Borodin Quartet in five concerts over six days next Easter - has to be one of the highest-risk classical music promotions Ireland has seen in a long time. Early indications are that music lovers are going to be as happy to trek down to Bantry in April to hear the greatest interpreters of Shostakovich's quartets as they are to go to the festival itself. Booking for the Shostakovich series opened during this year's festival, and in six weeks half the tickets have already been sold. The dates are Sunday, April 23rd to Friday, April 28th (with no concert on the Wednesday). Season ticket prices range from £32140, individual tickets from £8-35. Full details are available from 027-61576.

Another idea that's brewing in Bantry is for the conversion of a derelict stables into a modern concert venue. It's impossible for the festival to expand its current capacity in Bantry House, and the T-shaped seating arrangement is far from optimal. The stables might be able to seat around 400 and, if successfully transformed, could offer proper backstage facilities and an improved acoustic. The value of the work being done by the festival was acknowledged last month when festival director, Francis Humphrys was conferred with an honorary MA by UCC.

`Cultures, Art and Conflict" is the title of a day-long forum at City Arts Centre, Dublin tomorrow, exploring the relationship of art and culture to political conflict. The central task of artists and cultural institutions in a situation of conflict is "to engage in what Kirkegaard calls `remembering poetically'," writes Fintan O'Toole in a wide-ranging essay (Cultures, Art and Conflict), published by City Arts Centre and launched today. "By remembering poetically, art can, in a purely symbolic sense, of course, change death into life, barbarism into creativity, obliteration into immortality."

This will be the starting point for the debate, with participants contributing their perspectives from some of the world's trouble spots. Speakers include: Marko Hren (Slovenia), Hally Prancer (Jerusalem), Katarina Zivanovic (Belgrade), Tina Wallace (Belfast) and Fintan O'Toole. To reserve a place, contact City Arts Centre: 01-6770643.

Have Ireland's art gallery directors caught the Riverdance bug? The Crawford Gallery's Peter Murray is the curator of 0044, an exhibition of the work of 20 Irish artists resident in Britain, which is currently showing at New York's PS 1 Contemporary Art Centre, before travelling on to The Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo in September and eventually showing in Cork in November. Hot on the heels of the snappily titled 0044, IMMA's Declan McGonagle is putting his show on the road. The rather more prosaically, even pedantically, titled Irish Art Now: From the Poetic to the Political, will begin its US and Canadian tour at the McMullen Museum of Art, Boston, in October. Featuring work by 13 artists, it was organised by Independent Curators International, and should provide an interesting snapshot of McGonagle's own slant on current Irish art. In fact, with names like Willie Doherty, Dorothy Cross, Kathy Prendergast, Alice Maher and Alanna O'Kelly featuring, there are few, if any, surprises.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, first heard at the NCH in 1985, returns in two weeks' time, for a concert under its music director Mariss Jansons. By curious coincidence - or would you call it a slip-up? - the repertoire on August 17th duplicates the major work the orchestra played on their last visit. Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. Sibelius's First Symphony opens the programme.

Familiar names seems to be the thread running through the events of the NCH's new season. Highlights of the NCH/The Irish Times Celebrity Concert Series include return visits by pianist Andras Schiff (October 9th), cellist Steven Isserlis (playing solo Bach and Carl Vine on January 27th, 2000), violinist Maxim Vengerov (in partnership with harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock on February 17th), pianist Evgeny Kissin (March 26th), and a first recital appearance by soprano Galina Gorchakova (December 12th, 1999). The postponed concert by Vladimir Ashkenazy is now scheduled for May 11th, 2000.

Email: frontrow@irishtimes.ie