Author Archives: SummerhallTV

Louise Welsh : Death is a Welcome Guest

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Louise Welsh recently published Death is a Welcome Guest, the second part in her Plague Times trilogy following last year’s A Lovely Way to Burn. Welsh believes good thrillers are a reflection of the times they are written in. ‘The thrillers I like best are well-observed, redolent of a particular place, fast-paced and political,’ she tells us.

At the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Welsh talked about the worlds she has been able to construct within her trilogy. ‘The trilogy follows the progress of a few survivors during a contemporary pandemic,’ she explains. ‘It’s a love letter to the times we live in. I walk around thinking how wonderful our flawed world is and imagining its collapse.’

David Sherry : One Million Years Of Laughter

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One Million Years of Laughter is a new series of performances and paintings finding humour in the contradictions that exist within commonplace actions and experiences. Using what is known about the early ‘Homo’ as the basis for this body of work Sherry looks at, even before the evolution of language, their use of laughter as a bonding mechanism.

Sherry throws the idea of acting the fool into a practical sphere. To think of early humans sitting around laughing is a source of comedy in itself, yet to this day, it has evolutionary benefits. Humour is often thought of in philosophical terms but its importance also lies in how we engender strong connections and manage our time efficiently.
Public performances have a long and poignant tradition and can be viewed as a gesture of social cohesion, expanding upon the relations and meanings of who we are. Sherry uses these moments to offer observations, reflections and laugher whilst his paintings work in conjunction, functioning as an anthropological thesis, looking at modern society from an archaic perspective, and rendering the banal with a fascinating hue.

NB. David Sherry will hold performances at Summerhall, and as part of Edinburgh Art Festival 2015 – three in St. Andrews Square.

One Million Years of Laughter is on in the Corner Gallery, Summerhall, until the 5th October 2015.

Theatre Royal Waterford : Programme

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We talk to Ben Barnes the artistic director of The Theatre Royal in Waterford about the venue and their upcoming events for the next few months.

The Theatre Royal, often referred to as “the peoples theatre”, has been the traditional venue for this creative activity down through the generations. As such it is the home for long established amateur societies and has hosted the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera since its inception in 1958.

The Theatre Royal, as the premiere venue in the South East of Ireland, plays host to the best national and international touring artists and companies and with the assistance of Waterford City Council and The Arts Council is increasingly seeking to mount its own productions for the people of the city and the region.

The 125th anniversary of Agatha Christie will be celebrated in the theatre on Friday 25 September with a screening of the 1945 adaptation of And Then There Were None as well as a talk by renowned expert Dr John Curran. A Night Of Musicals is the second in Ignite Productions 2015 performances on 10 & 12 Sept.

Hypnotist Adrian Knight makes a first visit on Friday 9 October and promises a blend of hypnosis, interaction and comedy. No strangers to the theatre, Les Miserables, presented by the South Eastern Theatre Group are on their 3rd sell out run at the end of that month too. One of the first events in the calendar is One Enchanted Evening starring Glenn Murphy. An almost sold out show, with guests Vanessa Whelan and Derek Ryan. Though panto tickets aren’t on sale until Tuesday 22 September, Jack and The Beanstalk is already a talking point around town. There will be plenty of matinee dates and family tickets to spoil the little ones.

This is only a small sample of the season’s events that will be happening and early booking offers are available on some events so check out the new brochure when it pops in your doorway in the next week or two. Lots of events are being added each day to the events page so check it out.
theatreroyal.ie

Andrew Carson : Pilgrim

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Pilgrim is an installation of new work by Andrew Carson developed as part of his time as Artist-In-Residence at Draíocht. Following on from his research into the use and effects of digital devices and social media as the modern ubiquitous means of contact, Andrew’s work is an exploration of social structures, systems, and methods of interaction.

Pilgrim takes its cue from The Arecibo message, which was broadcasted into space from a radio telescope in Puerto Rico in 1974. Its transmission, sent by the scientific community led by Dr. Carl Sagan, was like a single prayer projected into the heavens, looking to connect with other beings. This message, consisting of binary radio frequencies, forms a basic image when translated visually. So far, a response has not been received.

Andrew’s work explores forms of contact through the use of prayer and ritual across cultures investigating our struggle to overcome both psychological and physical distances in human interaction.

Andrew is a Dublin based artist and graduated from DIT with a BA Fine Art in 2010. He has shown in solo and group exhibitions extensively around Ireland and also in the UK, Greece, Italy, Spain, Poland and Japan. In 2014 he was the recipient of the Foundation 14 Critics’ Choice Award, and took part in the Fingal County Council Resort Residency-Case Study 1 Portrane programme. His work is featured in private and OPW state collections.

FRI 18 SEP – SAT 17 OCT 2015 First Floor Gallery. Draiocht’s Galleries are open Monday to Saturday 10am-6pm. Admission is Free.

The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival : 23 – 25 October 2015

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Taking place in various venues in Cork City, the renowned, the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival features over 1,000 musicians in dozens of performances at 70 venues citywide with over 95% of music sessions free of entry charges – and is one of the jewels in the crown of Irish festivals.

The 2015 Festival features many of the top artists from the jazz and jazz-related world. The festival is also offering a top package of performance and educational opportunities aimed at school, college, community and university bands and ensembles from overseas.

Famous jazz stars and educators coming to Cork will deliver clinics and guest appearances free of charge – all part of the special Cork Jazz Festival experience.

For further details: guinnessjazzfestival.com/concerts/

Rachel Cusk : Outline

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In conversation with Ali Millar at the 2015 Edinburgh International Book Festival, Rachel Cusk introduces her new novel Outline, a novel the New York Times has described as ‘lethally intelligent’ and ‘a heartbreaking portrait of poise, sympathy and regret’.

Susanne Lund Pangrazio : Anthropocene

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Originally from Sweden, Susanne graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design with a Master of Fine Art in 2013. She also has a BA in Latin American Studies from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Universidad de Colima, Mexico, and has exhibited in Sweden, the UK and the USA.

The work for ‘Anthropocene’ was started at Arteles Creative Residency Programme in the Finnish countryside earlier this year, where Susanne spent a month in the vast Finnish forest investigating how humans relate to nature and to one another in different parts of the world.

The exhibition is in The Small Gallery, ARI, Aberdeen and will run from 17th September to 14th November

Cork Folk Festival : 1-4 October

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The Cork Folk Festival 2nd-5th October is an annual music event that takes place in Ireland’s southern capital, Cork.

The 36 year old festival is emerging as one of the most important folk & traditional music events in Ireland and has a growing reputation in Europe. Performances take place in concert halls, music venues, in 30 bars and on the Streets. It features concerts with international, cutting edge and established artists plus lectures, workshops, children’s events, and traditional set dancing. The event has a strong focus on local Cork City, Sliabh Luachra and Cuil Aodha music and song so prepare for plenty of polkas, slides and harrier ballads.

Marc Guinan : What is painting …?

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This exhibition at Draiocht presents outcomes from Guinan’s current investigation into materiality. The painted forms are created using pva and various other types of paint, like gloss, metal paint, emulsions, industrial grade paints and oil paint. Layers of paint are let dry over time and peeled from various surfaces like acetate and glass. The forms created allow the work to divert away from the canvas and ask the question, what is a traditional painting display? The forms are free from any background support with the work intending to be read as a naturally formed entity, which links back to Guinan’s interest in American minimalism and his belief in the importance of the autonomous object. The painted forms invite’s the viewer’s eye to travel along the monochrome surfaces and identify the stillness they may hold whilst enjoying the playful folds that give a hint of tradition. Guinan’s work also likes to highlight the material qualities of the paint that have developed whilst drying, resisting and setting within the boundaries he has set up.

Marc Guinan’s 14-year construction background continually enhances his process-based practice, which is grounded in painting and mainly focused through a Post Minimalist lens. This is enhanced by his recent completion of a Hons Degree BA Fine Art studies at the DIT this year. He has also been accepted for an MA in Art, Research Collaboration in IADT in September where he intends to further venture into the limitless world of materiality in painting. He is currently creating experimental and sculptural forms with paint and it is his intention to stretch the boundaries of conventional thinking about painting as a medium. Always exploring colour and texture, he invite’s a dialogue of provocation through proportion, form and fracture and question’s traditional ideas around the exhibition space and its relationship to painting. His work explores the traditional limits of the physical properties of paint, pushing the boundaries between the medium, composition and modes of application whilst acknowledging the installation of the forms to be as important as the creation.

Draiocht’s Galleries are open Monday to Saturday 10am-6pm. Admission is Free.

DON’T MISS: Artist Talk – Marc Guinan in conversation with Maeve Connolly, 03 October 1-2pm.

Cork International Short Story Festival : 22 – 26 September, 2015

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Patrick Cotter introduces this year’s Cork International Short Story Festival (formerly the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Festival) featuring: readings, public interviews and seminars.

The 16th annual Cork International Story Festival will take place on 22 – 26 September, 2015 at Triskel Christchurch and at various locations throughout the city.

For further details: corkshortstory.net/index.html

Herring Tales : Donald S. Murray

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“How the silver darlings shaped human Taste”

An interview at the Shetland Library, with Donald S. Murray, author, poet and educator. Murray is a Hebridean by birth now resident in the Shetland Isles where he works and writes in collaboration with Doug Robertson who did the illustration. Taking a fresh look at the importance of the humble herring in the diverse cultures and communities in Europe and further afield, the writing is infused with a wealth of humour infused story telling, in the quirky, slightly irreverent tone which has become his trademark and follows from his earlier published work such as The Guga Stone, Small expectations et al.

A highlight of the evening was the appreciation of the rather arcane Hebridean delicacy the “Guga” a cured young gannet enjoyed in the Hebridean archipeligo from time immemorial, eliciting surprise and curiosity which Donald intends to offer for tasting this week at the Shetland museum at an event in aid of international refugees.

Edinburgh Printmakers: Abstraction from Architecture

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Three contemporary artists talk about their new and recent works shown at the ‘Abstraction from Architecture’ Exhibition at the Edinburgh Printmakers Gallery.

Abstraction from Architecture features work by artists who display an interest in architectural structures, surfaces, materials and forms. Working between printmaking, drawing, sculpture and installation, each artist’s work is an intimate and often personal exploration of these interests, as they begin to make sense and be attentive to the ways in which man-made structural forms can affect the way we function, and shape the way we see and experience space.

Abstraction from Architecture
Artists: George Charman, Carla Scott Fullerton, Andrew McKenzie and Bronwen Sleigh
12 September – 24 October 2015
edinburghprintmakers.co.uk/exhibitions/Abstraction-from-Architecture

International Year of Soil (IYS) Exhibition

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There are more living things in a tablespoon of soil than there are people on Earth. Without soils there would be no terrestrial life. And yet we fail to realise the vital importance of soil for sustaining life. Without soils there would be no life on Earth.

The UN declared 2015 the International Year of Soils (IYS) to raise awareness among civil society and decision makers about the profound importance of soil for human life, in matters such as food security, climate change adaptation and mitigation, ecosystem services, poverty alleviation and sustainable development.

The exhibition at Summerhall will mark the UN International Year of Soils and provide a creative platform for showcasing Scotland’s active engagement with the Earth’s tender skin, using the best available scientific information and building on all dimensions of sustainable development.

3rd September – 2nd October 2015 at Summerhall

Exhibition curated by CIFAL Scotland

 

Dobz O’Brian : National Sculpture Factory

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David O’Brien, the Programme Manager at the National Sculpture Factory in Cork talks to us about the importance of the National Sculpture Factory, the way it supports artists and their upcoming exhibitions.

The National Sculpture Factory (NSF) is an organisation which provides and promotes a supportive and enabling environment for the making of art and the realisation of creative projects. The NSF actively supports artists and their practice through residencies, lecture programmes, cultural exchanges, masterclasses and professional development workshops. Watch our video to learn more!

http://nationalsculpturefactory.com

Garter Lane Arts Centre : Ainmhithe

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“Ainmhithe” is a series of drawings and paintings, watercolour, ink and pencil on paper. They are based on Irish animals, both living and extinct. The series engages with Irish history, mythology and its identity, through the creatures that have inhabited it (for instance, the extinction of elk and wolves, and the mythology and superstitions surrounding animals such as ravens).

The artist Ronan O’Reilly is a visual artist from Kildare, Ireland. Born in 1993, he is currently studying for a Bachelor of Fine Art in Dublin Institute of Technology. He has exhibited in group shows in Ireland, Greece, Spain and Holland. Specializing in painting and drawing, he currently lives and works in Dublin.

Rona’s work is primarily concerned with the dialogue between the conscious and the unconscious mind. He make paintings and drawings that explore the personal and collective unconscious, using symbols and imagery from a broad range of sources including mysticism, spiritual practices, ancient cultures and his own dreams. The artworks serve to create a liminal space that contains real and imaginary, past and present. They seek our base fantasies and drives, dealing with subject matter such as the uncanny, mythology, archetypes and the natural world.

We hope you will enjoy the exhibition “Ainmhithe” on until 24th September at the Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford.

Garter Lane Arts Centre : What Lies Beneath

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Dr Maeve Doyle likes to draw anatomically accurate images which are adapted/altered slightly to convey a message – ‘Anatomy with a twist, with an injection of life and fun’. Many of the drawings in the exhibition are from the collection of work she did for Modern Medicine Ireland. Dr Doyle created illustrations for the cover of the journal for over ten years. The drawings show ‘what lies beneath’ both in anatomical terms and when there is a disease process occurring. The illustrations ‘tell a story’ or ‘convey a message’ e.g. in the image of the heart, the cross-section of the heart is portrayed as an ash-tray to demonstrate the link between smoking and heart disease.

The exhibition also includes some simple black and white drawings illustrating surgical anatomy and surgical technique. Many of these drawings were requested by colleagues and were used as teaching aids.

We hope you will enjoy the exhibition – Human Anatomy with an injection of life, fun, and a touch of mischief!

Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford

Chamber Choir Ireland

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An interview with Paul Hillier and Alan Leech of Chamber Choir Ireland filmed at the Kilkenny Festival and ahead of the Choir’s upcoming tour of Ireland in November and December 2015.

The Choir is the country’s flagship choral ensemble and national chamber choir under the internationally celebrated and multi-award-winning choral conductor Paul Hillier as Artistic Director. The Choir is known for its unique approach to programming and has gained a reputation for the high artistic quality of its performances. The Choir remains a thriving force on a very active choral scene both at home and abroad.

The Choir has a strong commitment to touring in Ireland and continues to develop its touring network in order to present high quality choral concerts to audiences all around the country. chamberchoirireland.com

Cork County : Culture Night

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Culture Night is an annual all-island public event that celebrates culture, creativity and the arts. This year, it will take place on Friday 18th September 2015. On Culture Night, arts and cultural organisations and venues of all shapes and sizes, including the National Cultural Institutions, extend their opening hours to allow for increased access to the public. Special and unique events and workshops are specifically programmed at participating locations and everything is available free of charge.

culturenightcork.ie

Andrew Cockburn : Kill Chain

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As the methods of warfare get more brutal, subtlety and secrecy become valid tools in overpowering enemy forces. For his book Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins, Andrew Cockburn, the Washington editor of Harper’s, has been quietly researching the US policy on drones. Despite the lack of evidence for their effectiveness in both Afghanistan and Iraq, these high-tech assassins have become a crucial weapon in Obama’s wars.

To learn more about these important issues and Kill Chain watch our video interview with Andrew Cockburn at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Jack Klaff : Martha Gellhorn

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The work and life of Martha Gellhorn, the great war correspondent who covered practically every trouble-spot on earth for six decades, including the Spanish Civil War, D-Day, Dachau, Viet Nam, Greenham Common, El Salvador and Mandela’s inauguration. Gellhorn’s main message was, ‘War 
happens to PEOPLE.’

She married Hemingway, learned from him and then, journalistically, outstripped him. Presidents, geniuses and generals sought her friendship, but she never lost the common touch. Scores of today’s foremost journalists were cheered on, championed and
 inspired by her.

Jack Klaff recalls his own encounters with Gellhorn in a piece at the Summerhall Fringe Festival 2015 interweaving her wildest and wittiest stories with her unmatchable war reports.

Rachael Gilbourne : El Lissitzky

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On the approach of the centenary of Ireland’s Easter Rising and the subsequent establishment of the new Republic, IMMA is pleased to announce the exhibition, El Lissitzky: The Artist and the State. This exhibition reflects on the artistic and cultural community who gave voice to a new image for the emerging state and a visual language for its politics. It places this local reflection within a broader global consideration of the role of artists in the imagination of emergent states of the early 20th century, and acts as a contemporary exploration of the task of the artist in relation to civil society.

Other artists featured: Rossella Biscotti, Maud Gonne, Núria Güell, Alice Milligan, Sarah Pierce & Hito Steyerl

El Lissitzky : The Artist and the State is on until the 18 October 2015, at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.

Emily O’Flynn : IRL In Real Life

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IRL: In Real Life

This exhibition brings together 7 internationally based artists. Through their work, they investigate the transmutation of art which takes the internet as its source, to the materialisation of work in real life.

With the proliferation of a global Internet culture and the rise of digital art the Internet has become an ever expanding source of data, inspiration and a tool for the creation of art for an entire generation of artists.

This exhibition aims to investigate the many ways these artists interpret our relationship to objects and images inspired by the infinitely variable culture of the net.

Exhibiting artists: Niamh Riordan, Darren Caffery, Lee Welch, Ian Griffin, Liing Heaney, Leonard Traynor, Emily O’Flynn.

facebook.com/events/136055180066218 | sample-studios.com

Jack Klaff : Martha Gellhorn

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The work and life of Martha Gellhorn, the great war correspondent who covered practically every trouble-spot on earth for six decades, including the Spanish Civil War, D-Day, Dachau, Viet Nam, Greenham Common, El Salvador and Mandela’s inauguration. Gellhorn’s main message was, ‘War 
happens to PEOPLE.’

She married Hemingway, learned from him and then, journalistically, outstripped him. Presidents, geniuses and generals sought her friendship, but she never lost the common touch. Scores of today’s foremost journalists were cheered on, championed and
 inspired by her.

Jack Klaff recalls his own encounters with Gellhorn in a piece at the Summerhall Fringe Festival 2015 interweaving her wildest and wittiest stories with her unmatchable war reports.

Michael Twomey : The Outgoing Tide

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Michael Twomey, the lead actor in The Outgoing Tide talks to us about his upcoming performance in this exciting play presented by Everyman Theatre Company.

The Outgoing Tide is an engrossing and powerful drama about a typical American family. Written with a light touch and with many flashes of humour, it tells how a father and mother are enjoying retirement at their holiday home by Chesapeake Bay, when they are visited by their businessman son.

His visit prompts an announcement by his father about an unorthodox plan he has hatched to secure the family’s future, but meets with resistance from his wife and son, who have plans of their own. As winter approaches, the three must quickly come to an understanding about his shocking proposition – before the tides goes out.

This play will bring sensitive observation and minor-key humour to painful situations that many of us will recognize from our own families and its poignant conclusion will have resonance for many of us.

BY BRUCE GRAHAM
STARRING MICHAEL TWOMEY (CHA & MIAH ),BERNA GORDON & IAN McGUIRK
DIRECTED BY KILLIAN COLLINS
EVERYMAN THEATRE, CORK

DATE AND TIME | WED 9 – THU 17 SEPT, 8PM (EXCL. SUN 13 SEPT)

Rachael Gilbourne : El Lissitzky

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On the approach of the centenary of Ireland’s Easter Rising and the subsequent establishment of the new Republic, IMMA is pleased to announce the exhibition, El Lissitzky: The Artist and the State. This exhibition reflects on the artistic and cultural community who gave voice to a new image for the emerging state and a visual language for its politics. It places this local reflection within a broader global consideration of the role of artists in the imagination of emergent states of the early 20th century, and acts as a contemporary exploration of the task of the artist in relation to civil society.

Other artists featured: Rossella Biscotti, Maud Gonne, Núria Güell, Alice Milligan, Sarah Pierce & Hito Steyerl

El Lissitzky : The Artist and the State is on until the 18 October 2015, at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin.

Mark Thomas : Trespass Work in Progress

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Mark Thomas explores the importance of public spaces, how we work and relate to each other in his Edinburgh Fringe play, ‘Trespass Work in Progress’.

Trespass carries on from where Mark’s previous show 100 Acts of Minor Dissent left off. Mark asks the question: If the ramblers of the 1930s were here now what would they do to open up the cities? How do we turn the skyscrapers and corporate squares into our playgrounds?

Mark sets out to try and carve a small space in the urban world where mischief and random chance can lurk. No one knows where this show is going to end up so join Mark at the start of the project.

Colin Sanderson : Artiscience

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Artiscience, n., 1. the theory and practice of integrating art(s) and science(s), 2. knowledge of relations between the arts and sciences

Hence, artiscient, adj., exhibiting or practicing artiscience

Explore the Artiscience Library at Summerhall. The library, collated by Colin Sanderson, contains around 25,000 books on art and science and is available as a reading room and for research and residency work. The collection of books and other items in the Artiscience Library at Summerhall are devoted to historical and contemporary relations between the arts and sciences, in all senses of those terms, and from pre-history to the present day. Some foreign language materials are also available. The Library is available to Readers on a daily basis by appointment.

Anna Macleod : Staid na Talún – A State of Land

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In her exhibition at Leitrim Sculpture Centre Anna Macleod uses a variety of methods, strategies and processes to mediate complex ideas associated with contemporary, historical and cultural readings of land use and resources. As a ‘citizen artist’ Anna generates a discource about aspects of land management and the sets of value placed on resources contained within landscapes.

This project also focuses on socio political and cultural issues surrounding water, looking at local and global resonances of access, management, control and consumption of this finite substance as a global commons.

O’Bheal : Weekly Poetry Night in Cork

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WELCOME TO Ó BHÉAL – FÁILTE GO DTÍ Ó BHÉAL

Welcome to Ó Bhéal, Cork’s weekly poetry event. Featuring guest poets, a poetry challenge and later open-mic, Ó Bhéal has become a prominent, thriving feature in the cultural landscape of the Cork arts community.

Ó Bhéal (Irish for ‘by word of mouth’) creates an original platform for established and non-established poets alike, allowing the public consistent access to contemporary poetry. Many as a result have engaged with the art form for the first time, and a number of these have remained actively writing and seeing their works accepted into print.

The event is held on Mondays at 9.30 pm, upstairs in The Hayloft bar, above The Long Valley, one of Cork’s favourite and most iconic poetry venues. It is inclusive of all poetry styles and adult demographics. Do come along and experience some contemporary poetry in a friendly setting.