ArtScape/Deirdre Falvey: One of the few surprises in the Cabinet reshuffle this week was that John O'Donoghue remained as Minister for Arts.
There had been speculation that he would be moving on and, indeed, he may have thought, or even hoped, that would happen. Earlier this week at the Arts Council offices in Merrion Square, the report commissioned by O'Donoghue, Towards a Policy for the Traditional Arts, was presented to him in what a lot of people there may have assumed would be his last public engagement as Minister for Arts.
There was quite a celebratory aspect to the event, with lots of musicians in attendance, from Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh to Paul Brady to Sean Keane - some of whom played. There was a vibe that the report was significant both in terms of recognising the role and status of Irish traditional arts, which was long overdue, and in pointing the way forward, with 46 recommendations, including one that the traditional arts should feature among the forms best funded by the Arts Council within three to five years. The proposals have been endorsed by the Arts Council. (See next Tuesday's Arts page for analysis and reaction to the report.)
O'Donoghue pledged to tackle the issue - which seems fraught with infighting and competing interests - at an early stage in his tenure, later appointing a sub- committee and commissioning the report in December 2003, so it seemed apposite that it was delivered on Tuesday, on the eve of the reshuffle. And possibly because he's a Kerryman, with a real sense of where he's from, this is also an area in which he has an interest in a broad sense. The traditional arts, he has said, "are born of tradition, of folklore, of our history, and reflect the character of a people in what is almost an elemental way. However, they are also sophisticated, complex, rich, and as difficult to master as any artforms in existence anywhere".
He lingered after Tuesday's speeches, chatting and posing for photographs, and the occasion felt like a farewell. In her speech, Arts Council chairwoman Olive Braiden, an O'Donoghue appointee, said she felt everybody in the arts community wanted the minister to remain with the brief, but that if he had to go, it would be in the best entertainment tradition, an exit "with everyone wanting you to stay". It was a strong endorsement, echoed privately by others at the event. Thinking back a couple of years, when many were dumbfounded at his appointment, it was an almost unimaginable scenario.
Yet O'Donoghue, while not claiming an interest or knowledge that he doesn't have, proved himself open to listening and mastering the brief. He appointed a new Arts Council, shepherded through a new Arts Act, halted the disastrous drop in Government arts funding, and made a start on a new way forward for the traditional arts. His political experience and weight at Cabinet have also been beneficial. The tiresome, much-mocked Fianna Fáil slogan, "a lot done, more to do", actually has some validity in his case.
So people who a couple of years ago might have rolled their eyes at his appointment were this week hoping he might remain. (His performance as Arts Minister was a pull; the hopeless lot that Bertie Ahern had to choose from as alternatives was a push factor.)
And what of O'Donoghue himself? He declined on Tuesday to say how he felt about the possibility of being moved and, loyalist that he is, said he would "leave him at it". But earlier in his speech he had mentioned that "I will endeavour to argue the case for increased funding for the arts in the current estimates", which was interesting coming from a man who might be leaving the job.
After the reshuffle, some pundits suggested he might have been hoping for a a move, but O'Donoghue said he was "not in the slightest disappointed. Absolutely delighted. Arts, sport and tourism is at the heart of Ireland and I like being at the heart of Ireland".
Dissent at the Crawford
The change in status of the Crawford Gallery in Cork from a local Vocational Education Committee (VEC) facility to a national institution is imminent - the formal date is January 2005 - but is not proceeding without ripples of dissent, writes Mary Leland. This was brought home to guests at the formal opening at the gallery recently of the retrospective exhibition of the work of Marshall C. Hutson, when director Peter Murray had to announce the non-opening, literally, of the exhibition space. The Crawford's two caretakers are respected agents of the institution, patrolling the entrance hall and running the small shop and, so far as the public is concerned, generally facilitating ancillary events. But the organisational changes imposed by the gallery's new status may not suit them, especially in the allocation of overtime, and the Hutson event was chosen as the one at which a protest should be made.
The upgrading consequent on the new designation of the gallery is good news for everyone else in terms of employment, based as it is on the Rochford Report prepared for the VEC and allowing for a significant improvement in conditions. The exhibition and education officers, for example, now have full-time permanent positions, which means the gallery need no longer depend so heavily on FÁS schemes or art-student assistance when mounting events. Four new gallery attendants are to be taken on, in addition to the two existing caretakers, whose role had not been fully taken into account in the report. So what Murray described as "a small but painful episode" occurred: as guests assembled in the sculpture gallery for the opening speeches it was discovered that the keys for the exhibition hall were not forthcoming.
Marshall Hutson RHA had been a teacher and, for 30 years or so, vice-principal at what was then the Crawford School of Art, while also exhibiting as a painter and sculptor. He had been retired long before his death in 2000, but remained a significant influence in the visual arts world in Cork.
Rather than initiate what could have been a stand-off before a gathering which included the late artist's son, Laurence, and daughter, Cherry, Peter Murray decided to let the protest run its course, which it did for an hour and a half. Since then, meetings on behalf of the caretakers have been taking place between the VEC's personnel officer and SIPTU, while the exhibition has been running without disruption at the gallery, where it continues until October 9th.
Opening up Tinderbox
Since it was founded in 1988, Belfast's Tinderbox theatre company has pledged itself to developing, commissioning and producing new plays by emerging and established playwrights, writes Jane Coyle. Over the years, its annual April Sundays showcase has proved an effective seeding ground, from which plays such as Darragh Carville's Language Roulette, John McClelland's Into the Heartland and Ken Bourke's Galloping Buck Jones were developed to full production.
The arrival a year ago of writer/ director Mick Duke as artistic director has upped the ante even further. Duke's own play, Revenge, premiered by the company in March, has just received two nominations in the London-based TMA Awards - for best new play and best supporting actress (Barbara Adair).
Now Tinderbox has made another important appointment, with Swedish dramaturg Hanna Slattne joining the company as its first literary manager. She is the founder of Dramaturgs Network, an organisation supporting new writing in the UK. She has worked widely on a one-to-one basis with playwrights, run workshops and linked up with writers and directors as a production dramaturg.
"Having a full-time literary manager will create greater access to Tinderbox for writers wanting to develop their skill in writing for the theatre," she said. "I am very much looking forward to getting to know writers and their work, so that together we make an open, creative environment for sharing ideas, skills and experiences. This is a a great opportunity to come into an established company with a great track record for newwriting."
Cork symphonies
The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra takes up residency in Cork this month (October 11th-15th), in partnership with Cork County Council and West Cork Music and with an educational strand supported by the LEADER programme. Using Skibbereen, Schull, Bantry, Mallow and Fermoy as base points, the residency - under guest conductors David Brophy and James Cavanagh - involves educational workshops, a schools concert and public performances. In Bantry and Mallow, on October 12th and 13th, the orchestra will perform a programme inspired by themes of exploration, sea voyages and new horizons, including Mendelssohn's The Hebrides, Shaun Davey's The Brendan Voyage (with soloist Liam O'Flynn) and Dvorák's New World Symphony.