ArtScape: One effect of the stellar laser-projected images at the launch of Cork European Capital of Culture 2005 last Wednesday is the feeling that next January Cork is going to wake up to find itself famous, writes Mary Leland.
The year has residencies built into it like a scaffolding on which the future will be constructed; artists of all kinds who spend time in the city will bolster their tenancy through workshops and masterclasses and demonstrations and publications.
In this way both the public and the artistic community will engage not only in their self-generated projects but more intimately or directly with practitioners in different media and from different countries and cultures.
The potential lasting value of such an approach has been recognised by the Cork Chapter of Credit Unions which is to host residencies, branch by branch, throughout the city and county. This was one of the first organisations to weigh in with a sponsorship - way ahead of AIB, for example, which was welcomed as a sponsor on Wednesday, although typically enough there were no details of the amounts involved apart from 2005 Director John Kennedy's assurance that the banking group had promised "a six-figure sum".
That, however, is a straight commercial arrangement, whereas the credit union's deal is a partnership through which the 2005 company will match the funds provided by each of the 24 hospitable branches.
And one of the major talking-points of the programme so far (there are 90 more items to come) is the length and scope of the John Berger contribution: this three-month residency in a house to be donated by the city council for the use of creative guests includes an exhibition, a lecture and a publication, all of which have been arranged in collaboration with Jim Savage and John Quinlan of the Vanguard Gallery as a commission from the 2005 company. It's an investment in fame.
Far-reaching Festival
The West Cork Chamber Music Festival is one of the few Irish musical institutions which looks beyond national borders when commissioning new work, writes Michael Dervan.
This year's programme, which runs from Saturday, June 26th until Sunday, July 4th, finds the festival once again looking eastwards, this time to the Berlin-based Azerbaijani composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, whose newly-commissioned Piano Trio will be premièred on Tuesday, June 29th. The festival also includes a performance by the Callino Quartet of her Mugam Sajahi (a work written for the Kronos Quartet), and this year's second festival commission has also gone to a woman, Galway-based Jane O'Leary, whose new string quartet will be premièred on Sunday, June 27th.
As part of the cultural programme for Ireland's EU Presidency, the visiting Vilnius String Quartet will play works from Latvia (by Peteris Vasks), Lithuania (Onute Narbutaite and Mikalojus Ciurlionis), Estonia (Arvo Pärt), and the Czech Republic (Janácek). Janácek, who was born 150 years ago this year, will also be commemorated through a performance of The Diary of One Who Vanished in the translation by Seamus Heaney, and the centenary of the death of Dvorák, will also be marked.
The biggest musical celebration, however, is of Shostakovich. As well as a number of chamber works, his four rarely-heard song cycles for bass voice will be sung by Fyodor Kuznetsov. The festival will also introduce Irish audiences to the music of leading Ukrainian composer, Valentin Silvestrov, whose Post Scriptum for violin and piano will be played by Viviane Hagner and Finghin Collins.
The programme includes a plethora of works large and small by the great masters, and this year's roster of artists also includes the Leipzig, RTÉ Vanbrugh, Callino and St Petersburg String Quartets, the Altenberg Piano Trio, the Galliard Wind Quintet, mezzo soprano Cristina Zavalloni (soloist in James MacMillan's Raising Sparks), cellist Sonia Wieder-Atherton, clarinettist Romain Guyot, horn-player Steven Stirling and pianist Artur Pizarro.
Full details of the festival programme of up to five concerts a day can be had from West Cork Music on 027-52788, or on www.westcorkmusic.ie
Funds for wider screening
Those interested bringing art house cinema to a wider audience can apply for funding provided through a joint venture involving the Cultural Cinema Consortium, the Arts Council and the Irish Film Board.
Cultural Cinema Consortium was established in 2001 to expand the range of cinema in the Republic and provide audiences with greater access to world cinema, indigenous film-making and classic films. But also "to foster an attractive investment environment for art house film infrastructure".
Last July, under Phase One of the Consortium's capital investment scheme, it awarded funding valued at €750,000 each to Kino in Cork and Belltable's Filmhouse in Limerick. Funding was also awarded to Access Cinema (€127,690) towards the purchase of DVD equipment for six member societies, and Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford was awarded €15,000 for stereo sound equipment.
Under Phase Two, proposals are now invited from exhibitors/developers/local consortia for the creation of two/three screen dedicated cinema facilities for art house films in urban centres to commence building by end of 2005. The Consortium also seeks proposals for building refurbishment and technical equipment investment.
Guidelines and application forms from the Development Managers' Assistant, The Arts Council, Tel. 01-6180250. E-mail culturalcinema@artscouncil.ie. Website: www.artscouncil.ie. Applications required by noon on Friday, March 26th.
McPherson's ghost story
A new Conor McPherson play in the Gate Theatre is promised for this year's Dublin Theatre Festival. The Gate and The Royal Court will co-produce Shining City, McPherson's first work for the stage in three years.
Set in Dublin, Shining City is the story of a man who comes to a counsellor seeking help. He claims he has seen the ghost of his recently-deceased wife. However, what begins as merely an unusual encounter soon becomes a desperate struggle between the living and the dead - a struggle which will shape and define both men for the rest of their lives.
McPherson will direct the play which is yet to be cast. It will be presented on June 9th at the Royal Court in London where McPherson's Dublin Carol was the opening play in the newly-rebuilt theatre in February 2000. Shining City then comes to the Gate for the Dublin Theatre Festival, on October 28th.
Sponsorship awards
Businesses and arts organisations who wish to be considered for this year's Allianz Business2Arts Awards should submit their nominations by 26th March.
Sponsored by Allianz Ireland the awards are now in their 13th year. The awards will be presented by the Minister for Arts, John O'Donoghue, at a gala dinner at the end of May.
According to Business2Arts, Irish business "spends an estimated €34
million per annum on arts sponsorship".
"The key to a successful sponsorship between a business and an arts organisation is the development of a mutually beneficial relationship.
Sponsors are also increasingly exploring broader and deeper opportunities that reflect the heightened importance attached to societal enrichment that the arts can provide," says the organisation.
Entries will be accepted in six categories and entrants can submit nominations for more than one category. For further information, telephone 01-6725336.
St Patrick's jazz festival
Free jazz was a genre that had its heyday back in the 1960s, but some of Ireland's finest practitioners will provide jazz that is really free for anyone who wants to attend a series of performances, showcases and workshops in Temple Bar on Sunday, March 14th. OpenJazz 04 takes place in the Temple Bar Music Centre, as part of the St Patrick's Festival programme of free events for Dublin. Performances kick off at midday and will continue throughout the day, with appearances by artists including Ronan Guilfoyle's Tudo E Bem, Kai Big Band, Dopamine, Organics, Mike Neilsen and Ellen Demos, Conor Guilfoyle, Ellen Cranitch, Tommy Halferty, and Karl Ronan, as well as Australian saxophonist Jamie Oehlers and Argentinian guitarist Ariel Hernandez. Leading musicians will show how it's done in performance workshops featuring guitar, bass, drums, piano, saxophone, flute, voice, electronica, Latin percussion and more.
Production deadline
Artists and production companies have just a few days to make funding applications to CCAT Temple Bar as the closing date for the next round of applications is next Wednesday. CCAT (Cultural Co-operation And Touring) seeks to "improve cultural and artistic traffic" between the east of Ireland and western Wales. Performing arts tours, touring exhibitions, co-productions and networking events can be supported under the scheme. There is funding available for eight touring events, two networking events and 10 Go-See visits this year. CCAT also provides assistance for touring within the INTERREG regions of Ireland and Wales. The INTERREG zone includes Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Meath, South Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow and the western region of Wales - Anglesey, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Conwy, Gwynedd, Pembrokeshire, Ynys Môn and Denbighsire.
CCAT is part-funded by Ireland Wales INTERREG programme. The Irish element of the programme is managed by Temple Bar Properties Limited. CCAT invites applications from artists and arts organisations with a track record in dance, interdisciplinary work, literature, multi-media work, music, theatre and visual art. Application forms are available from the CCAT website, www.templebar.ie, or by calling 01-6772255.