Summer ‘11
FREE – PLEASE TAKE ONE
Vol7 Iss 3
Mother and baby by R. Teeling
Robert Teeling is a newcomer to Wicklow Town, arriving in Ireland just 6 months ago. He is mainly a self-taught artist and, when living in South Africa, specialised in Wildlife and African art. Robert paints in acrylics and oils, and his versatility enables him to paint most subjects – seascapes, landscapes, portraits and murals. He is currently working on artworks featuring local people and places in Ireland. A member of Kilmantin Art Gallery, Wicklow Town, his paintings of local scenes are proving very popular. Check him out at www.robteelingart.com
SPACE INSIDE LIVE NIGHT - Tues 5 April ’11 @ 8pm Wicklow Sailing Club – Free Admission Colm Nolan
Frank Gallagher
Zoryanna
Editorial Hi all, After decades of watching TV and internet, it looks like we now have a burning need to get back to the real thing. Two new poetry/music sessions have sprung up in County Wicklow: one in Bray and the other in Greystones. Great to see people are still interested in ‘live’ performances. See Twitters for a list of these and other similar venues. If, like me, you have always been a bit vague on what exactly Aosdana is all about, our Feature article this month gives some insight into its workings – a club which arouses mixed reactions from artists.
This May, Wicklow Town will come alive with music, art exhibitions, dance, crafts and family entertainment, with over 40 events over four days. The Space Inside checks out what’s on offer.
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icklow Arts Festival takes place annually in May in the beautiful harbour setting of Wicklow Town. Now in its eighth year, the Festival has grown with the town to become an important cultural fixture in the calendar, with audience figures rising steadily each year. This year, the theme is a celebration of International Year of Forests, which will highlight the environmental resources that abound in the Garden of Ireland.
The Wicklow Arts Festival team is working hard on this year’s event. A brief taster of what’s on is shown opposite, but full details of the exciting programme are on their stunning new website.
Batchelor’s Walk The Festival has a wide-ranging arts programme which contains a strong element for kids, with a teen poetry challenge, a colouring competition, a storytime and various children’s workshops.
Once again, we have been awarded a grant from Wicklow Arts Office. However, we continue to need your support to ensure this journal is kept in print. We have a new page on our blog Donate Now, where you can make a donation for as little as €3. All you need is a credit card. We find it is better to make a donation after the pubs close – less traffic on the net!
Derek Landy talks about ‘Mortal Coil’, the fifth instalment of the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series, in the Grand Hotel.
During the weekend, the Artisan Food and Craft market on Bachelor’s Walk by the river, offers the stroller unusual crafts and demonstrations of heritage skills. This is also the site for the Festival Tent, the centre of activities over the weekend. You will find Niall de Burca and his unique style of storytelling there, Deadly Moons, an interactive art/science workshop, and Badger’s Birthday Puppet Show. Close by, the popular Chalk Attack is back, and everyone is invited to create temporary art on the footbridge. Don’t forget to bring your camera to capture the works of art.
It seems, after seven years, there are still people in Wicklow who don’t know we exist. Your mission, should you accept it, is to enlighten one such person every month, and keep the Space Inside Live. See you at our Live Night on Tuesday 5th April for another great evening of poetry, dance and music.
Carol Boland
WAF Stage A new addition to this year’s festivities is the WAF Stage. On Sunday, the stage will be at the heart of the action on Bachelors Walk with a great line up of acts promised. Music to spoken word, the acts include performances from Wicklow School of Music and Drama’s Rock School, and Let’s Sing, a lively Arklow-based choir. A continuous line of performers will take the stage through the day. During the week, the Festival Arts Trail and Art on the Railings will again brighten up the town. A new, impressive Festival website is now up, and events and gig are continually been added. To keep up-to-date with what’s happening at the Festival, subscribe to the Festival newsletters on their website : www.wicklowartsfestival.ie
Jimmy Deenihan, T.D. was appointed Minister of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs on the 9th March 2011. Opening an art exhibition at his Dept’s offices in Killarney, he said, ‘ I hope this exhibition will be the start of a great future of promoting art in public places and making art as accessible as possible to the widest audience – we have to remember that art is not exclusive, it is for all.’ And so say all of us.
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FEATURE
Aosdána – an archaic club for conferring honours or a lifeline for artists. Aosdána is a members’ only club that arouses strong opinions among Irish artists. Carol Boland takes a look at this unique institution and the controversy that continues to surround it.
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n ancient Ireland, the Aos Dána were the wise men, and occasionally women, of the Clan who included judges, priests, poets and historians. Today, membership of Aosdána is purely open to artists: be they musicians, novelists, poets, visual artists, chorographers or architects. Aosdána was set up in 1981 by Taoiseach Charles Haughey, on the suggestion of the writer, Anthony Cronin. The idea behind its formation was to honour artists who made an outstanding contribution to the arts in Ireland, and to financially assist members to devote their energies full time to their art.
playwright Hugh Leonard stated, ‘I am not a member by choice. And if I did ask to get in, they wouldn’t let me in . . . the whole thing seems unforgivably political . . . that thing of exclusivity and elitism I despise.’ For those who have been accepted into Aosdána the benefits are many. The poet Pearse Hutchinson has described his membership as ‘a miracle and godsend’ that allowed him to continue writing at a time when he might have had to give up. And composer Roger Doyle tells of the difference it made Artist Patrick Scott with to him. ‘I was elected to President Mary McAleese Aosdána in 1986. This gave me at Saoi ceremony in 2007 a small stipend from the Government each year, which enabled me to devote all my time to composing.’
The benefits Members of Aosdána are eligible to receive an annuity for a term of five years. This stipend is called a Cnuas, and is intended to allow recipients to work full time at The Toscairí. their art. Its value, in 2010, was €17,180 p.a. It may be Funded by the State through the Arts Council, which renewed for subsequent terms of five years, if the handles all of its administrative and financial artist shows that a work of merit has been produced arrangements, Aosdána’s members are currently during the previous term. limited to 250. Aside from these financial benefits, Membership to the club is by peer members may also be awarded titles. Current Toscairí nomination and not by application. The The Saoi – the wise one – is the Seóirse Bodley (Music) nominee must have created a significant highest honour that can be bestow Anthony Cronin (Literature) Theo Dorgan (Literature) body of work and be a native of, or resident upon a fellow member. The title is Gerard Mannix Flynn (Literature) for at least five years in Ireland. The awarded for ‘singular and sustained Dermot Healy (Literature) Brian Maguire (Visual Arts) distinction in the arts’. The President committee of Aosdána is the Toscaireacht, a Hugh Maxton (Literature) Nick Miller (Visual Arts) of Ireland confers the symbol of the group of ten members who are called Jane O'Leary (Music) office, the gold Torc, and no more Toscairí. When new members are Macdara Woods (Literature) than seven living members can be so proposed, the Toscairí have the task of honoured at one time. verifying that the nomination process has been complied with, and also that the candidate is willing to accept membership – something that cannot be taken for granted. To be or not to be Heated debates on this organization continue. The poet Brendan Kennelly, in an Irish Times article said, ‘On an unconscious or subconscious level I might feel compromised (by membership).’ In the same article,
It is Aosdána’s obligations under the Residential Redress Act 2002 that causes some artists a problem. But, recently, a motion was passed calling for clarification on sections relating to censorship. Also, a motion was passed unanimously that ‘Aosdána deplores some of the recent tax exemptions granted to the authors of books and calls for the introduction of new guidelines in accordance with the spirit of the Act.’ I wonder to whom they could possibly be referring.
What’s On Where
Events that caught the Space Inside’s eye
Where
Theatre
Music
The Moment
Francesco Turrisi's
Tall Tales Theatre Company
Morisca
Fri 8 & Sat 9 Apr 8pm
15 April 8.30pm
Fresh from success at the Bush Theatre in London, Moment is a thrilling new play by Deirdre Kinahan, one of Ireland's most celebrated new playwrights. On a seemingly ordinary evening an Irish family sit down to tea. The difference tonight is that Nial is home - back from prison having committed a dark crime many years earlier with some news to share and a conscience to clear. Fast, witty and frighteningly real, Moment takes you on journey through trauma wrapped up in tablecloths and teacake. Tickets: €18/€16 conc Mermaid Box Office T: 01 272 4030 www.mermaidartscentre.ie
Morisca is an Irish based ensemble whose members have a mutual interest in early classical, folk and world music. The core members of the ensemble have all studied in the Netherlands. Morisca is breaking the rules of classical music performance by engaging with audiences in ways usually reserved for traditional and contemporary artists. Pauline Graham (Voice) Laoise O’Brien (Wind) Francesco Turrisi (Percussion). Guest performer to be confirmed. Tickets: €15 / €14 T; 0402 38529 www.tinahely-courthouse.ie
Music
Music
12th Bray Jazz Festival 30 April – 2 May
RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra ‘Horizons’
Bray Jazz Festival is back on the May Bank Holiday weekend.
10 May
Brazilian bandolim virtuoso Hamilton de Holanda teams up with fellow countryman Andre Mehmari as one of the headliners at this year's Bray Jazz Festival. Programme features concerts, recitals, late night club gigs, jazz trail shows and matinee performances. www.brayjazz.com
Visual Arts 'Bye Bye Bog' Exhibition by Willie Redmond Tues 12 April to Sun 24 April Signal Arts Centre, Bray www.signalartscentre.ie
1.05 pm Featured composer: Philip Hammond The fourth of the Horizons series free lunchtime concerts features composer Philip Hammond with a celebration of works to celebrate his 60th birthday. The programme includes Waterfront Fanfares, Die ersten Blumen, Concertino for Flute and Strings as well as '…while the sun shines' (in memoriam H.H.H.) and '...the starry dynamo in the machinery of night...'.
MAIN AUDITORIUM Roy Holmes piano Gavin Maloney conductor www.nch.ie
Live Night Join us around a log fire at Wicklow Sailing Club for a local FREE night out with excellent poetry, music and dance Doors Open 8pm Tuesday 5 April 2011 Frank Gallagher Frank Gallagher is a singer and a regular acoustic and a slide guitarist. He has been playing blues and jazz in Ireland and in Europe since the 1970s. Over the years, he has performed regularly with the likes of Don Baker, Red Peters and Johnny Norris, to mention just a few. In the 1980s, he formed the Jitterbug Jug Band with Gerry Clarke. Since that time he has mainly performed solo or in small groups with Gerry Clarke. Frank has also lectured and written about blues and jazz, both in Ireland and abroad. He is co-founder and the chairman for many years of The Courthouse Arts Centre in Tinahely.
Tuesday 3 May 2011 Liz O Riordan & Pat Connery We welcome for the first time to the Space Inside, a musical duo who brings us newlycomposed, traditional Irish and classical music and song. Pat Connery is a singer and plays uilleann pipes, concertina and guitar. Liz O’Riordan is a composer, singer and pianist who is inspired by language and poetry. She arranges beautiful harmony for well-known Irish songs, and has composed musical settings of her own and other people’s poetry. She also plays fiddle and bodhran. www.patconnerylizoriordan.com
The Zoryanna
Conor O’Donnell
The Zoryanna are a Dublinbased Tribal and Modern bellydance troupe.
Hailing from Wicklow Town, Conor comes from a musical family. He’s toured the states several times with various acts and plays a lot of shows now with his current band, The Big Muddy.
With members from all four corners of the world, The Zoryanna has developed their only style of Improvised Tribal Bellydance. They also mix-and-match many other styles into their dance. The group love to experiment and create, and every time they take to the stage you can expect to be surprised and mesmerized. www.thezoryanna.net
Colm Nolan Colm runs workshops with diverse groups, from Yoga classes to special needs, schools and businesses. He explores the voice and connects with the deeper, authentic self. His unusual sessions find audiences joining in with vocal exercises, releasing inhibitions, and tuning the voice by singing Indian and Sanskrit words. He also offers his unique performances at intimate gatherings and festivals around the country. E: nolancolm@gmail.com Tel: 087 6836688
He also is the visionary founder of one of Ireland’s hottest music festivals, the Americana Roots Weekend in Greystones, on the June bank holiday. Conor will give us his lively version of songs by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. Would you like to perform at a Live Night? Then email spaceinside@hotmail.com or phone 0851138367. Donated raffle prizes keep Live Nights free and are gratefully received. Check us out at www.thespaceinside.blogspot.com
REVIEWS Daydreams & Nightmares Those Dancing Days
The Ice Princess Camilla Lackberg
Scandi-licious Sophomores Early one morning, Erica Falck responds to the cries from her elderly neighbour and friend, Alex, to find her dead in the bathtub. Her wrists slashed, her body frozen in an ice cold bath, it seems that she has taken her own life.
Those Dancing Days are an indie pop band from Stockholm. Michael Tinsley reviews their latest album. When Those Dancing Days first hit the blogosphere in 2007, they were fresh-faced Swedish schoolgirls pedalling cute indie-pop. Now, with their second album Daydreams & Nightmares, they are all grown-up.
Erica, a writer, conceives a memoir about the beautiful but remote Alex, one that will answer questions about their lost friendship. But, as she delves deeper, she starts to uncover some disturbing facts. And while her interest grows to an obsession, local detective Patrik Hedstrom is following his own suspicions about the case. It is only when they start working together that the truth begins to emerge about the small town with its deeply disturbing past.
When reviewing this album, I came across a bit of a problem: last year they released the track Fuckaris as a taster. It is a phenomenal pounding, two-fingers-up kind of song, complete with a catchy chorus and squalls of feedback. But, I haven’t found anything else to match it. That’s not to say the rest of the album is aural dandruff. Indeed, Cissi Efraimsson’s snare-rolls & tom-thumping are worth the admission fee alone - see opener Reaching Forward, if you don’t believe me. Also worth a mention are, I’ll Be Yours, with its ebullient refrain & giggley-girl backing vocals, and hand-clapping ‘take me I’m yours’ chorus of Keep Me In Your Pockets. The album closer, One Day Forever, is a yearning duet featuring The Maccabees’ Orlando Weeks.
This is the first of four novels translated into English by the Swedish crime thriller writer. If you mixed Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo you’d get Camilla Lackberg, so if you like Swedish crime thrillers, you’ll love this!
Hilary €1 off from Bridge Street Books with Hilary’s review
So there you go: Those Dancing Days, Great Look, Beautiful Hair, and quite a few top fuller and thicker tunes for good measure.
Bridge Street Books, Bridge Street, Wicklow. ph: + 353(0)404 62240 www.bridgestreetbooks.ie
E-books – What’s it all about?
E-books are usually read on dedicated devices known as e-Readers. Personal computers and some cell phones can also be used to read e-books. Apple released the iPad with an e-book application called iBooks. Between April 2010 and October, Apple sold 7 million iPads. Amazon.com reported that its ebook sales outnumbered sales of hardcover books for the first time ever during the second quarter of 2010. One drawback of the e-book is that, while a printed book remains readable for many years, an e-book may need to be converted to a new carrier or file type in the future.
E-books are in the news, but what exactly are they? An e-book is an electronic book where the text and images are published in digital form and are readable on computers. It can be an electronic version of a conventional printed book, or can exist without any previously printed version.
This is a whole new world for publishers and purchasers of books. We will come back to e-books and e-publishing again in a later edition.
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Twitters Concert Series for April
New Cabaret Sessions in Wicklow
This April, County Wicklow churches will host a new concert series, Sacred Spaces: Sacred Sounds. The concerts will feature three well-known Wicklow musicians: Eamon Sweeney, Eamon Sweeney Rachel Factor and Redmond O’Toole. Concerts will take place on three consecutive Sundays in Lent in Calary Church, Roundwood, St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Bray, and Killiskey Church, Ashford.
The surge in poetry/music sessions over the last few years has been something of note. Inspired by the growing popularity of these cabaret-style nights, the Hotspot Café in Greystones has launched its own performing arts nights called the Speakeasy Sessions. The cabaret kicks off at 9pm and tickets are €5 euro at the door. Check out www.thehotspot.ie for date of the next Friday night session. Zeitgeist is another new cabaret-style evening, showcasing spoken word, theatre, art and music. Run in the Harbour Bar, Bray, detailsof the next session are on their Facebook.
Music will be from the Irish & Baroque traditions, including works by J.S. Bach, Turlough O’Carolan, Louis Couperin and Domenico Scarlatti. Calary April 3rd: Eamon Sweeney April 10th: Redmond O'Toole April 17th: Rachel Factor
Dublin, of course, is teeming with such sessions. Here are some for your diary: The Glor Sessions in the International Bar on Georges Street are on every Monday night. The Last Wednesday series in the Twisted Pepper in Middle Abbey St is on the last Wednesday of the month, an exclusively spoken word evening. Also on each last Wednesday, there is the Brownbread Mixtape night, upstairs in the Stag's Head pub (off Dame St). This is a very lively night with a mix of poetry, music and comedy. On the last Tuesday of each month in the Cobblestone Bar in Smithfield there is the Tongue Box - mainly spoken word with some music. The Irish Writer's Centre now has a night in its premises in Parnell Square on a Sunday night once a month - it's called The Floorshow and the next one is on 27 March. Nighthawks is another monthly event held in the Cobalt Cafe on North Great Georges St. It is held on Saturday nights and is run along the lines of the Glor and Brownbread Mixtape.
Bray Redmond O'Toole April 3rd: Rachel Factor April 10th: Eamon Sweeney April 17th: Redmond O'Toole Ashford April 3rd: Redmond O'Toole April 10th: Rachel Factor April 17th: Eamon Sweeney Rachael Factor
Concerts run from 3.30 – 4.30pm tickets are : Individual concerts €15/€10 Series ticket (three concerts) €30/€20
For more information, email info@earlyguitarireland
Creative Writing Competitions Over The Edge New Writer of The Year Deadline: 3rd Aug 11 Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award Deadline: 22nd Jul 11
New Library for Gorey
Bridport Prize Deadline: 30th Jun 11
Gorey has a new public library which is set within the Civic Centre Plaza in the town. A state of the art building, the Gory Writers are hoping to take up the offer of a room there, for their writing sessions. You can find out more about their move on Gorey writers website : www. goreywriters.blogspot.com
Cork Literary Review Poetry Manuscript Deadline: 19th May 11 MAG Poetry Prize 2011 Deadline: 30th Apr 11 Source: poetryireland.ie/resources/competitions
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POET’S CORNER For none but one has my heart felt long, And she was just a friend of mine.
Rory O’Sullivan
I wish us more I choose to sleep in frost. A lonely mouth lustfully dry. For no cherished drop can cure my thirst, No taste of beauty from dashing eyes.
A girl who smelt like strawberries. She would pick fruit from blossoming trees. A girl with none but berries to give, But all she had she would share with me. And we would walk among dandelions, And blow rings in summer springs. And the moon would sparkle the springs at night, And the glow would fade into brighter light. So we may bath in the sun. And I’ll feel your heat against my chest. We can share the comfort of a morning sun, And leave our hidden wounds to rest.
None but her, and she was just a friend of mine. I remember heat from Paris. And she pronounced my name like a choirs lure. And we walked through passions glowing lights, As it lit the rain in stormy nights. And I wrapped her in a coat and smiled, And wished to walk another mile. To feel the heat upon her thighs, But I saw no beauty in her eyes.
But I only wish to rest with one, only one. For she is the sky And I am the sea. Where we touch will be unknown. When we met my heart was frozen tight, And she heated my chest with her soothing light. In that moment I melted for the first time, But in her eyes, she was just a friend of mine. Rory O’Sullivan
Boland Press and ‘Scaling the Heights’ launch at Signal Arts Centre, Bray
Cosmic Poetry A Wicklow Arts Festival Event Following the success of last year’s session, the Wicklow Writers bring their poems once again to the Cosmic Garden, and invite you to bring along yours too. Enjoy a cuppa before blast off, and bring a cushion. There may be some drumming, too!
Sun, 29 May at 11:15 An Tairseach Ecology Centre
L to R : Poet, Rosy Wilson, Jo Woods, Poetry Ireland & Carol Boland, Boland Press
left thro’ gates of Dominican Convent
Friends of The Space Inside 2010/11 Businesses: Yoga Sacred Space, National Fire Museum of Power (Wales) www.internalfire.com, Healthy Habits Café Wicklow, Maltfield Riding School Ballykeane Redcross. Groups: Wicklow Writers, Shed Poets. Individuals: Iris Brown, Helen Duffy, Jane Clarke, Avril Young, Charlie Burke, Mary Boland, The Graham Family, Socorro Murphy, Anne Cavanagh, J and E Whittaker, Gerry and Betty Sheridan, Edward Ryan, Martin Swords, James Boland, George & Meta Whittaker, Jean McGovern, Janet Smith, Martin Esseen, Liam Walsh. Space Inside Arts Journal is published monthly by volunteers: Editorial: Carol Boland, Anne Graham and Michael Tinsely. Submissions to spaceinside@hotmail.com. Live Nights are run by Carol Boland, Anne Graham, Pascal
The Space Inside is grateful to Wicklow Town Counci Wicklow County Arts Office, Wicklow Rural Partnership and Friends for making the journal and Live Nights a reality. Thi project was initially assisted by Wicklow Rural Partnership Ltd under the European Union LEADER +/National Developmen Plan 2000-2006.
Become our friend, please send €35 to Space Inside Grove Mill, Hollyfort, Co. Wexford, or bring it along on a Live Night. Or donate €3 (or more) online a thespaceinside.blogspot.com E: spaceinside@hotmail.com W: thespaceinside.blogspot.com
Published by Boland Pre