Feature An Áit Eile
“We want to fundamentally change how people produce and interact with culture in Galway.”
all kinds from Galway. Chris Cullen, who is involved with Block T and had been doing a lot work around the idea of co-operatives in the arts, came on board and the three of us even� tually decided to stop talking about it and look into making An Ait Eile a reality. At the start it was all quite naïve”. But that naivety is what provides a spark, allows an idea to expand initially. An Áit Eile – The Other Place – aims to provide an alterna� tive to the privately owned venue scene, or to the council supported arts system which can so often seem unwelcoming, cold and elitist. It will instead provide a springboard from which artists can work using the equipment and materials provided, a physical and online base from which products can be bought and sold, a community driven home which makes a point of being welcoming to all. As the team grew then to include Louise Spokes and Thomas Stewart, it became time to act upon these ideas, to achieve the support required for this concept of a broad, artistic community to be realised with the resources to create, to sell, to grow and to promote. “It’s become something bigger than we ini� tially thought. Working with Galway 2020 has encouraged us to think big. In Europe most cities have something like this to a degree, so there’s no reason why Galway shouldn’t, but
most of all we want to maintain the grassroots element, the collaborative drive.” The nexus of An Áit Eile would be in a space, a centre where that sense of community would be based and nourished, a place that would welcome and encourage individuals from all disciplines. “Originally we had a small inde� pendent centre in mind and that was it, basi� cally a small venue with rehearsal rooms and maybe some art studios, but it has expanded massively from that. We’re looking to provide a coffee shop, marketplace, venue, a complete audio/visual production suite with a recording studio, rehearsal rooms and green screens, an art and design hub with shared studio space, a wellness centre and a grow space... we want to provide an affordable space where people can be inspired, create, perform and sell their craft. There’s so much talent here, we want to provide a platform for that to flourish.” People can be laughed at for romanticising a place, an idea. But so often when people hear about Galway and the west it is this rugged, edge of Europe, romantic image that attracts them to it. Its cultural history, its bohemian reputation and its poetic mysticism draw peo� ple from across the world to Galway so that they may absorb inspiration from it. Yet when people do arrive it is so often the case that they become lost without a welcoming space or clear community of likeminded people to embrace them. What Boland and An Áit Eile seem ultimately driven toward is turning the romance at Galway’s core from an idea into a reality. Because all it takes is dedication and the right team to do that. And why is it so strange to imagine such a place?“ Galway could be a paradise. I mean, it’s al� ready a nice place to live. But with a few funda� mental changes it could become a trendsetter, an example of how a small city can nurture its creative communities and become a place where everyone can be involved in and benefit from culture. Other groups, like Transition
March/April 2016
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