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IF AMERICA WAS IN ANY DOUBT THAT IRELAND’S
CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION IS AT THE VERY TOP
OF ITS GAME, an ambitious year-long cultural initiative
that is bringing over 300 Irish theatre, literature, dance, music,
film and visual arts events, and a cast of 1,000 artists and ensembles
to more than 40 US states during 2011, should brush
those reservations firmly aside.
The overt aim of the Imagine Ireland project may be to showcase
the country’s creativity from an artistic perspective, but
the Irish Government makes no bones about the fact the initiative
is also about creating and renewing connections with this
vital market, both for the arts and for Irish business, and about
changing perceptions about Irish innovation in all areas of endeavour.
Imagine Ireland is a Government-supported project that is
being co-ordinated by Culture Ireland, the six-year old organisation
dedicated to promoting Irish arts internationally. According
to Eugene Downes, chief executive of Culture Ireland,
the US market has been a critical area of focus for his organisation
from the outset.
“It’s been one where Irish artists have met with great success,
but also vast tracts of the country would have been relatively
untouched, certainly by more contemporary Irish arts of different
kinds,” he says. “Even in the great cultural centres, there
would in many years be surprisingly little contemporary Irish
work in leading venues. We felt there was a real challenge there
to up our game collectively and to reopen connections with
major institutions.
“We felt there would be value in choosing a moment to try to
get something that would have real critical mass and that would
be able, as a special separately branded platform, to communicate
a particular set of messages.”
This idea coincided with a Government review process which
took place in late 2008/early 2009 and examined the whole Ireland
US relationship.
“The review was launched in March 2009 and had a major
chapter on culture: the role of culture and the power that arts
and culture have in renewing that Irish-American relationship
and how that can reenergise other parts of the relationship as
well,” he continues.
A recommendation to organise a high-profile cultural initiative
in 2011 was approved by Government. “That gave us the
starting gun officially to be able to move ahead and plan with a
definite timeframe,” says Downes. “Since 2009, we’ve been
steadily putting the plan together. It is a very ambitious undertaking
and the largest promotion of Irish arts ever abroad.”
Imagine Ireland has received a one-off investment of €4m. In
addition, up to €1m of Culture Ireland’s regular core budget of
€4m will be spent on Imagine Ireland-related programmes as
part of its normal US spend.
The Imagine Ireland programme covers a full spectrum
across the art forms. “To exclude any art form would be to
weaken the thrust of the whole effort. Being able to present a
360 degree of contemporary Irish creativity, culture and innovation,
I think is more powerful than any snapshot of an individual
area.”
Details of the programme were announced in January by Ireland’s
newly appointed Cultural Ambassador Gabriel Byrne.
The artists involved range from the established – Colm McCann,
Anne Enright, the Abbey Theatre, Paddy Moloney and The
Chieftains, Colm Tóbín and Roddy Doyle are just a handful of
the big names involved – to more emerging talents.
One of the programme’s aspirations has been to highlight the
fact that Ireland's tradition of creativity and innovation in the
arts continues. “Joyce and Beckett were absolutely at the cutting
edge of redefining their art form,” explains Downes. “As innovators,
one couldn’t possibly find better symbols of Ireland’s
cutting edge, imaginative power in whatever sector. Equally, it’s
fantastic to be able to introduce to America, through Imagine
Ireland, younger Irish artists, musicians and writers.”
The geographical scope of the project extends beyond the
centres where Irish art and indeed people have traditional connections.
“We wanted to try to reach into states that would
have seen very little work, to try to pioneer new trails that
Irish artists would then be able to build on and that we’d be
able to build on with them and that other agencies can connect
into.”
CONVERGENCE
In certain events, Culture Ireland is working with other agencies
to explore the convergence of art, design and technology. A
good example is the South by Southwest festival which takes
place each March in Austin, Texas. “We’ve worked for a number
of years with the music part of South by Southwest. This
year for the first time the Irish Film Board came in to promote
Irish film at the film strand of the event and Enterprise Ireland
came on board to promote Irish interactive technologies and
digital technology in digital media in the interactive part.
“South by Southwest is a platform that gives us a glimpse of
the power that bringing art, digital media and cultural content
together with the technological platforms can distribute, and
how interactive technology, particularly engaging with cultural
content, is opening up all kinds of routes that we wouldn’t have
imagined.
“We’re clearly a global leader in the field of live music, and
equally obviously a leader in the field of ICT. So there’s an obvious
opportunity there to match that cultural content with the
technology platforms.”
According to Downes, a number of other events in the autumn
part of Imagine Ireland will further showcase and explore the
value and the benefit of the whole art, cultural content, digital
media and technology convergence.
Issue 2 Spring/Summer 2011 INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW 67