Creativity - IDA Ireland

More documents

Recommendations

Info

» ARTS & CULTURE ENGAGEMENT FROM THE TOP According to Downes, engagement in the Imagine Ireland programme has been very strong across Government. “I think the Global Economic Forum at Farmleigh at a really interesting moment definitely focused on this area and that we were only scratching the surface in terms of the impact Ireland’s culture could play as one of the strongest cards we have in our global reputation. “This project is the first to really try to explore that and scope it out and see what impact we can have. The same way Gabriel Byrne taking up this new role of Cultural Ambassador for Ireland was a way of saying, ‘Can we imagine some new way of drawing in Irish artists and indeed the global Irish diaspora to join in this collective process of reimagining Ireland?’. I think that model of cultural ambassador is very unusual and one that probably other countries and perhaps other sectors have taken notice of and are looking at.” Downes notes that the face of Ireland in America has changed in recent years. “Obviously the pattern of emigration has changed so much so we can’t take for granted the scale of either first generation or of subsequent generation Irish in the States,” he says. “The nature of their awareness and their engagement with Ireland is different to what it was in the past. “We need to create new connections with Irish-America, but also connect with Americans who have had no connection whatsoever with Ireland, but are open to something that is excellent, exciting, different, contemporary and so on, and just to build those new communities of interest across the United States, some of which will have a cultural cast, some of which may have a business-related or environmental or other character. “Behind Imagine Ireland is a long awareness and a reflection on the changing nature of Irish cultural identity in the States and how we need to try to recognise where that is, try to engage with it in a creative way and renew it.” Different voices Belinda McKeon is curating the literature strand of Imagine Ireland and has devised a programme that includes around 100 writers and will involve venues in up to 20 states in the course of the year. “We’re really reaching out right across the spectrum in terms of the mixture of established and emerging writers and also in terms of reaching out to different audiences for literature,” she says. “And we’re going to venues that are not just in the main cities. “There have also been really strong influences and interconnections between Irish and American writing. My aim has to been to build on that, but also to create new audiences for Irish work, to help make American readers and audiences of literature aware of the exciting new things and also to create opportunities and relationships for Irish writers with festivals and venues in the US. “This year, as a result of Imagine Ireland, dozens of festivals and venues are programming Irish writers for the first time, and my great hope is that going forward, that looking towards Ireland and its contemporary literature scene will continue.” Irish writers are already playing a bit part in the literary scene and literary events in the US, McKeon points out. “But when audiences here [in America] think of Irish writing, I think they think of a few key very high-profile people. My objective as literary curator has been to help audiences to see that there’s so much else going on and that there’s some really exciting new work and writers and that mid-career writers are doing brilliant work. She believes the initiative is helping to change perceptions of Ireland by providing a platform to such a wide range of perspectives and voices. “Audiences are being brought in to many different imaginative versions of Irishness and Ireland. Every time an audience is moved at a reading or gains something enriching or entertaining through an encounter with an Irish writer, I do believe that they come to think about Ireland differently and that they continue to think about Ireland and take another look at it. “I do think there is a direct pay off in terms of perceptions and the image of the country and a sense of how much energy is there and the diverseness of perspective. “If you’re in a position to bring up to 100 hugely imaginative artists to a country, I think that says something about the level of creativity and innovation in the country outside of literature.” 70 INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW Issue 2 Spring/Summer 2011
ARTS & CULTURE » A complex portrayal Above: John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara in The Quiet Man Below: Maureen O’Hara One of the highlights of the film strand of Imagine Ireland has been ‘Revisiting The Quiet Man – Ireland on Film’, curated by Gabriel Byrne and presented by The Museum of Modern Art and the Irish Film Institute (IFI), which ran from 20 May to 30 May and involved 14 films and 21 screenings. “It’s something Gabriel has been mulling over for a long while,” explains Sarah Glennie, director of the IFI. “It’s about questions about Irish identity on film and representations of Ireland within Hollywood and the comparisons then with more indigenous film-making here and how Ireland’s history has been dealt with by Irish film makers. “The Quiet Man is a very iconic film that is very much about the emigrant experience and the emigrant returning home, a lot of which is a theme underlying Imagine Ireland. Using The Quiet Man as a starting point, we’ve worked with him to select a number of titles, all feature films, that Gabriel feels really articulate these themes about home, about exile, about Irish history, a sense of Irish identity, politics, religion, all of the things he sees as very much central to The Quiet Man.” The IFI has also been involved with a 13-week documentary film programme running at the New York Public Library. “Within that programme we’ve been able to communicate a really multifaceted and very complex portrayal of Irish society in a very effective and moderately easy way. We very much tried to present the reality versus the imagined.” Glennie firmly believes in the wider benefits for Ireland of highlighting Irish creativity. “I was talking to Tim O’Connor who is the previous Consulate in New York. On his arrival there he was very focused on Wall Street and he saw that as his main task. But he realised very early on that much of Ireland’s reputation rested within Broadway and the cultural sphere and really the way into Wall Street was through that cultural recognition. “The great thing about Imagine Ireland is it allows us open up to a range of art forms,” she continues. “It’s such a strong message about Ireland and it’s more than ‘Doesn’t it look nice and wouldn’t it be a great place to visit’. It’s about a sophisticated, dynamic, very diverse culture. “The focus within Imagine Ireland and within our programme on contemporary culture is very important because that signals that it isn’t just about Joyce and Beckett and the past and that there’s a huge amount of very exciting and very dynamic creativity coming out of Ireland now and I think that signals a huge amount about the potential of the country in the future. And I think in America that’s really understood.” ‘It’s something entirely on its own terms, something that’s not propagandistic, but is actually communicating in quite a complex sense what Ireland is about’ Issue 2 Spring/Summer 2011 INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW 71
Page 1:
INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW IN ASSOCI
Page 4 and 5:
» CREATIVE ECONOMY Mother of Inven
Page 6 and 7:
» CREATIVE ECONOMY ‘Brainstormin
Page 8 and 9:
» IN BRIEF In brief NDPTOUPATHLONE
Page 10 and 11:
» IN BRIEF FIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS
Page 12 and 13:
» IN BRIEF AMGEN TO BUY PFIZER’S
Page 14 and 15:
» IINDUSTRY FOCUS ‘In certain ar
Page 16 and 17:
» IINDUSTRY FOCUS ‘This is a rea
Page 18 and 19:
» LIFE SCIENCES Award-winning univ
Page 20 and 21: » COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE ‘In many
Page 22 and 23: » COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE by the fac
Page 24 and 25: » THE IRISH MIND A passionate Euro
Page 26 and 27: » THE IRISH MIND ‘Inawayyou can
Page 28 and 29: » RESEARCH Tyndall National Instit
Page 30 and 31: » RESEARCH That Tyndall has been s
Page 32 and 33: » INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Renowned i
Page 34 and 35: » INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Mark 1 eye
Page 36 and 37: » FREEZEFRAME » MICRO NAZCA By Ja
Page 38 and 39: » FREEZEFRAME » CONCRETE CHRYSALI
Page 40 and 41: » FREEZEFRAME » REACHING FOR HEAV
Page 42 and 43: » FREEZEFRAME » CLIMATE CHANGE -
Page 44 and 45: » SMART IRELAND Gene ‘We are inv
Page 46 and 47: » SMART IRELAND for the first time
Page 48 and 49: » DIGITAL WORLD ‘The cloud is a
Page 50 and 51: » DIGITAL WORLD we put in place a
Page 52 and 53: » DIGITAL WORLD Bell Labs' Dr Fran
Page 54 and 55: » DIGITAL WORLD ‘It makes you pr
Page 56 and 57: » MANAGEMENT INNOVATION ‘Part of
Page 58 and 59: » MANAGEMENT INNOVATION TACKLING T
Page 60 and 61: » INTERVIEW Gearing up for sustain
Page 62 and 63: » INTERVIEW In his role, Wienholt
Page 64 and 65: » INTERVIEW DIFFERENT STROKES Whil
Page 66 and 67: » ARTS & CULTURE ‘Being able to
Page 68 and 69: » ARTS & CULTURE MEDIA IMPACT Down
Page 72 and 73: » IRELAND INDIA LINKS INDIA is now
Page 74 and 75: » IRELAND INDIA LINKS The IIBA is
Page 76 and 77: » INDIA IRELAND LINKS A little lux
Page 78: » INDIA IRELAND LINKS with,” exp
show all

Creativity - IDA Ireland

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?