ArtScape: Dublin's Irish Film Centre may be on the point of extinction, writes Donald Clarke.
Happily, this is not another tale of a much-loved arts institution going to the wall for want of funding. If a proposal is passed at next Thursday's extraordinary general meeting of the Film Institute of Ireland, of which the IFC is a constituent body, then the FII as a whole will revert to its original title, The Irish Film Institute, and that name will replace the Film Centre's over the discreet doorway in Eustace Street.
"We found that when we went out and talked to people, there was often confusion as to where we were coming from," FII director Mark Mulqueen says. He explains there has always been some bewilderment in the public mind as to what the institute's responsibilities were beyond the IFC. Its work with, among other things, the Irish Film Archive and film education is often overlooked.
"The reasoning is that less than 50 per cent of the organisation - the IFC part - has a very high profile with general punters. This way, if they share the same profile, one will benefit from the other."
Mick Hannigan, the IFC's first cinema director, who coined the name in 1992, is philosophical about the potential change. "I do have some affection for the old name," he says. "And it did gain a certain purchase with the public. But I am happy that the organisation is becoming the Irish Film Institute which puts it on a par with the American Film Institute and the British Film Institute."
Mulqueen acknowledges that this last thought was in his mind, and he is not complacent about the recognition the IFC has built up: "Changing the name of the IFC is the only aspect of it all that is a commercial risk. It has a real identity as a cultural centre and we hope that we won't lose any customers. I'm sure we won't."
Review hits right note
What is behind the publication of the Arts Council's first Annual Review, asks Belinda McKeown. Up to now, annual grant-aided activities have been reviewed within the pages of the Annual Report, along with the audited accounts of the council. But there's scarcely a euro sign in sight in the review of 2002, praised, at its launch this week, as "handsome" by the Minister for Arts, John O'Donoghue. He was clearly charmed by the review's generous county-by-county coverage of council-funded cultural activities, and by the colour-coded maps illustrating how much healthier we were, in terms of events and facilities, just 12 months ago. The director of the Arts Council, Patricia Quinn, explained the aim was to "help" the Minister, as the preparation process for the 2004 Public Expenditure Estimates approaches, by showing how far even relatively small grants could go.
The cynic might say that, in the wake of recent accusations of its irrelevance to the sector, this is the publication of an Arts Council on the defensive, straining to prove its visibility. Or that, with its separation of activity from investment, the review represents a further step in the council's drive to restructure itself into a developmental rather than merely a funding agency. Time will tell. But the geographical structure of this review certainly seems geared to press all the right buttons for a Minister with obvious sympathy for arts in the regions, rather than in large institutions. And, given what seemed quite pointed praise from the Minister, at Wednesday's launch, for the work of local authority arts officers in promoting and supporting the arts, it may not have come a moment too soon.
One feature of the review which is less likely to sway O'Donoghue, however, is the opening section, which gives concrete examples of how each of the six objectives of the Arts Plan was met during 2002.
Inside sources say the plan, which looks ludicrously expensive in a changed economic climate, is due an overhaul, possibly in the form of Departmental objectives, once the figures for 2004 have been finalised.
Sending the Bill
The proposed amendments to the Arts Bill, all 58 of them, were finally expended with in the Dáil this week, when the report stage of the Bill was passed. It's not done and dusted yet, however; the objections which fuelled six hours of debate on Wednesday are bound to reappear when the Bill goes to the Seanad in the next couple of weeks. It is likely there are yet more impassioned arguments for the arm's length principle granting independence to the Arts Council, the obligation of local authorities to finance the arts, the need for regional representation on the new Arts Council, and for those special committees established by the Minister for Arts, John O'Donoghue, as a replacement for the controversial standing committees of Section 21 of the original Bill to focus, "with reasonable frequency" as Fine Gael's Jimmy Deenihan put it on Wednesday, on the traditional arts.
At this stage, however, objectors to the Bill can do little more than go through the motions; O'Donoghue has made clear none of these issues will be legislated for in the Bill. He has indicated, however, that, as instances of "good custom and practice", they will not be excluded from possibility, with traditional arts among the first issues earmarked for consideration by a special committee, and significant regional representation on the new Arts Council also highly probable. Trust me, then, was ultimately the Minister's message to the Opposition on Wednesday. And indeed, with Labour's Michael D. Higgins taking the opportunity to extend warm wishes to O'Donoghue on his work as Minister, and other speakers thanking him for adopting some of the amendments they suggested at committee stage, it was a day of surprising amicability. The question is, will relations between the Minister and the Arts Council, under the provisions of this new Bill, be quite so amicable?
Jazz in July
Renowned trumpeter Dave Douglas will be among the headliners for a six-day festival celebrating jazz and ethnic music, due to begin in Dublin on Tuesday, July 1st, writes Ray Comiskey. He will be part of a very savoury quintet which includes tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake, the brilliantly exploratory pianist, Uri Caine, bassist James Genus and drummer Clarence Penn. They will share a mouth-watering bill with the outstanding Vietnamese guitarist, Nguyen Le's Franco-Vietnamese group, Dragonfly, co-led with Huong Thanh.
The major attractions don't end there. Bassist/composer Ronan Guilfoyle will unveil a new composition for double trio, Simulacrum, to be performed by himself, Ernst Reijseger, Tanya Kalmanovitch, Dominic Pifarely, Mats Holtne and Sean Carpio. The piece will be preceded by solo and duo performances.
Also coming is the Orchestre de Contrabasses, a sextet of basses led by Jean Phillipe Viret, embracing jazz, chamber and funk; part of the bill with them is our own Catapult Dance Company, performing three pieces to the music of bop legend Bud Powell. And from London, leading his own trio, will be Jamie Cullum, a pianist/singer reminiscent of Nat Cole - guesting with him will be tenor saxophonist Richie Buckley - and emerging young tenor saxophonist Jamie Anderson, who will be backed by an Irish rhythm section. Other Irish festival elements include iFive, a quintet led by saxophonist Michael Buckley, and Fuzzy Logic, a band of talented young musicians led by Dylan Rynhart.
The festival will close on Sunday, July 6th with Joyce, from Brazil and Teofilo Chantre, from Cape Verde. Details from The Improvised Music Company, tel: 01-8779001 or email: imcadmin@eircom.net
Take note
RTÉ has announced details of the 2003-4 season of subscription concerts by the National Symphony Orchestra. The series of 26 programmes will open at the National Concert Hall on Friday, September 19th (Rimsky-Korsakov, Falla and Tchaikovsky under principal guest conductor William Eddins), and end on Saturday, May 22nd, with the second of two concert performances of Beethoven's Fidelio under principal conductor Gerhard Markson.
The season's major programming strands are the seven symphonies of Prokofiev (spread out between September 26th and January 30th), the five piano concertos of Beethoven (played by Peter Donohoe, Philip Martin, Gerhard Oppitz, Freddy Kempf and Hugh Tinney between January 9th and March 19th), and the four symphonies of Schumann, all conducted by Gerhard Markson, on successive Fridays between April 23rd and May 14th. There's also a performance of Berlioz's dramatic cantata, La damnation de Faust, with mezzo soprano Ann Murray among the soloists, on December 5th.
The Schumann cycle sees two new Schumann-related commissions (from Reinhard Febel and Seóirse Bodley), and there are also new RTÉ commissions from Raymond Deane (a Violin Concerto on October 24th), Philip Martin (Mystic Nativity on November 7th), and Stephen Gardner (a Concerto for Orchestra on February 6th). The only other works by living composers are Kevin O'Connell's North (November 21st) and Thomas Adès's . . . but all shall be well (March 19th).
Other developments in the season include a residency in Donegal, William Eddins's first appearances outside Dublin, the first subscription concert by the orchestra's assistant conductor David Brophy (in a programme including Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, new venues on the orchestra's Irish Times tours (Mullingar in November and Castlebar in March), and a new name - the orchestra is now formally known as the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra.
Ticket prices for individual concerts range from €8 to €22, and there are 11 different subscription packages, offering discounts of up to 35 per cent. Booking and details from the National Concert Hall on 01-417 0000, www.nch.ie
Diversity in dance
Tourism figures may be down this year but Dance History on Shannon's Shore has done its bit to boost visitors to Limerick next weekend. The evocative title belongs to the annual conference of the Society of Dance History Scholars, which for the first time in 26 years takes place outside the US - at the Irish World Music Centre at the University of Limerick. With the growth in dance scholarship over the past two decades, the conference is a coup for ethnochoreologist Dr Catherine Foley and her committee.
Almost 50 papers will be presented in 27 sessions from Friday morning to Sunday afternoon by renowned scholars such as Lynn Garafola, Stephanie Jordan, Susan Manning and Carol-Lynne Moore. They will tackle subjects including ethnic dance ("Dance and the architecture of the Hindu Temple"), ballet ("Ashton and the Second World War"), modern ("The work of Meredith Monk") and the unclassifiable such as Roger Copeland's intriguingly titled "The Best Dance is when People Die in Movies". Registration can take place on site. Information from Dr Catherine Foley at 061-202922 or catherine.e.foley@ul.ie