New Director at An Chomhairle Ealaíon / Art and Galway – are you ready? (Tuesday 29 June 2004)

Mary Cloake appointed as the new Director of the Arts Council (Tuesday 29 June 2004)

compiled by Susan Hunt

The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon announced yesterday that Mary Cloake (who has been working for the Arts Council since 1993) is to be their newest Director.

The Chair of the Council, Olive Braiden, said of her appointment:

We are delighted. Mary's deep knowledge of, and interest in ,the arts; her understanding of the needs of artists and arts organisations will be wonderful assets to her in her new role.

Cloake herself said of the arts in Ireland and her new position:

There is extraordinary work ongoing in the arts in Ireland. There is talent and ambition, which must be fostered and realised. The challenge is to create a changed role for the Arts Council, which will ensure that we seize the opportunity to respond.

Good Luck Mary!!!

Countdown to the Galway Arts Festival...

compiled by Emily RIdge

It's that time of year again. Preparations are underway for what is regarded as the highlight of the year in Galway and also an important fortnight in the national cultural calendar. There is something for everyone in the Galway Arts Festival. Events range from the dramatic to the literary, from the musical to the comic, culminating in the celebrated Macnas parade. Entitled 'Betty Big shoes' this year, the parade promises to be nothing short of a colourful extravaganza; a street party to which everyone is invited. The visual aspect of the festival is an essential component and the fortnight passes in a colourful blur, much like a Spanish 'fiesta'. It is worth noting that there is a historical affinity between the Spaniards and the Galwegians and these vibrant summer festivites do much to reinforce this affinity.

The general diversity of the festival this year filters through to the visual arts. Artists, of various disciplines and working in a variety of different fields, will be exhibiting in museums across the city. The 2004 poster was designed by Philip Lindey.

The Galway Arts Centre is very much at the heart of the Galway visual-arts scene and will display the works of three artists during the festival; Nora Maycock, Wanda Yu-Ying and Sharon O'Malley. Maycock and Yu-Ying take part in a joint exhibition, Inside-out, which explores the theme of identity, while O'Malley is concerned with the links between Classical Greek, Celtic, Pagan and Religious imagery.

Nora Maycock: from the Inside-Out exhibition

The Galway Arts Centre is also indirectly involved in another project. Brian Bourke is exhibiting in the Norman Villa Gallery in Salthill but these works were created during a five-week residency in the Galway Arts Centre. He is joined in this exhibition by Jay Murphy, whose paintings are inspired by Galway city as a landscape and also by the people that occupy that particular space.

Wanda Yu-Ying: image from the Inside-Out exhibition

On a different vein, escape from the urban space has long been an artistic fantasy and Jimmy Lawlor sets his work in the Irish countryside. However, his surreal images subvert certain romantic and idealistic notions of rural Ireland.

A surreal view of the countryside...Jimmy Lawlor. Image held here.

Seán McSweeney's landscapes are of a more realistic nature and can be viewed in Kenny's bookshop. Meanwhile, Sinéad Aldridge and Cian Donnelly are taking part in a joint exhibition of abstract work in the National University of Ireland, Galway.

On a lighter note, the well-known cartoonist Tom Matthews is showing his recent work for the Irish Times and Hotpress at Mulligan Record Shop. This exhibition is called A gander through the old CV and, similarly, Graham Knuttell is seen to 'gander' through his own life work in a retrospective show at the Bold Art Gallery.

''Gandering' through the old CV...image held here.

Graham Knuttell looks back over his career. Image held here.

Finally, the Austrian sculptor Erwin Wurm will present his installations on the streets of Galway during the festival. Each installation will exist for approximately a minute before collapsing. In this way, Wurm will play with the concepts of space and time in a light-hearted manner.

It is well worth venturing west of the Shannon this July. If you don't get the chance to visit the exhibitions outlined here, simply meander through the streets of the city and experience the 'buzz', a word that aptly describes the Galway Arts Festival atmosphere.

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For a full list of news items, click here.

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