Kilkenny ends on a high note

BRIGHTLY DRESSED men and women throwing shapes on the street, a choir serenading shoppers under the shadow of Kilkenny Castle, spontaneous DJ sets from headline acts; the final weekend of the Kilkenny Arts Festival was all chaotic exuberance and surprise.

From Ponydance’s guerrilla dance performances to the prospect of casually chatting with poets in a bookshop, even if you didn’t have a ticket to an event you still got a chance to experience the arts festival and the exciting energy it injects into the city.

Kilkenny Arts Festival is refreshingly inclusive, with audiences of all ages attending both daytime and evening events. At the premiere of Eoin Colfer's new play for children, Holy Mary, a trio of white-haired older women sat happily without any under-age company. At the X-rated theatre production of Beowulflast Friday there were several children in the audience, relishing in the swearing and gory details as Beowulf battled it out against his enemies.

An army of energetic festival volunteers provided a visible presence across the city throughout the 10 days, the many teenaged helpers identified by their striking yellow T-shirts. However, there were other young locals taking in the festival programme in more structured way at the Red Square Critics initiative, organised by the Butler Galley, which invited teenagers to sample a variety of the festival’s events and to review the work in an online blog. The project culminated on Friday in a live forum in which the participants discussed their opinions with other festival-goers. This year, the second year of the project, 11 teenagers took part, which enabled them both to see most of the work at the festival for free and to meet the producers, actors, curators and artists of the various shows. Having seen the entire visual arts programme, and four theatre/dance performances, they were in a great position to give an overview of their own festival highlights, and to talk about the advantages of getting involved with a festival in an alternative capacity rather than merely just through buying a ticket.

Eleanor Walsh (15) says she participated in Red Square because she “wanted to learn more about art and the idea of doing that while blogging about it attracted me”. Before getting involved with Red Square, she had only limited experience with the festival; “I always thought it seemed cool but not very accessible,” she says. For Walsh, Banana Bag and Bodice’s Beowulf was the highlight of the 10-day experience: “it was one of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever seen”. Best friends Kym Byrne and Leah Grace (both aged 15) got involved with the young critics panel because they enjoy art in school but also, as Grace explains, because they “love writing and the opportunity to blog was a way to start writing in a different way”. Grace picks Rachel Dickson and Alison Lowry’s exhibition Vessels of Memory as her favourite, and she was particularly pleased to get the opportunity to meet the artists: “When I heard the stories behind the work I saw the exhibition differently. The stories behind the project were so beautiful they made me love it even more.” Eighteen-year old Mark Hennessy cites Maria McKinney’s sculpture Horny Grid as the best thing he saw during the festival: “It was made of all different materials; old shopping trolleys welded together and matches. I loved it because it really made me think about how it was made.” Hennessy was attracted to participating in Red Square because it offered him the chance to “learn about film-making” as well as to respond to lots of different work. In collaboration with his peers Hennessy was involved in recording and creating an archive of performances throughout the festival.

The teens’ reviews and videos can be seen at redsquarekibosh.wordpress.com

Other highlights from the closing weekend included: Hypnotic Brass Ensemble’s sell-out gig at the Ormonde Hotel on Friday night, where they had the crowd learning new dance moves and singing (or rapping) along with their freestyle funk; an end to the excellent literary programme with readings by Paul Muldoon, Michael Longley, John Banville and Claire Keegan; and several prestigious theatre premieres.

Current chief executive of Kilkenny Arts Festival Damien Downes is now leaving the post after one of its most artistically diverse and successful years to date. It will be interesting to see where a new director will take the eclectic, lively festival in the years to come.