ARTS FESTIVAL 1974 - 2023 That was the week that was (1995)

BY GERRY MORAN

Boy did I enjoy Arts Week. Following are some memories that will linger a long, long time and that will be forever linked to the long, hot summer of 1995: the frenzied ute playing of Sabine Ducrot in St. John’s Priory at lunchtime, this beautiful French autist ooding this hallowed place of worship with wild, erotic, Eastern music. e Madrigal Singers beautiful recital at Sean Kenny’s and Conor Langton’s exhibition in Langtons. e two guys in ippers, opping up and down High Street. Bumping into P.J. Liston from Ballyragget, our entrant in e Culchie of Ireland contest. I tell PJ he’ll win hands down. ‘I’ll win’, says PJ, ‘if I have enough porter down.’ Tina May’s sultry rendition of e Look of Love in the jazzy atmosphere of the Newpark Hotel. Katie Donovan’s reading, polished and perfected like a piece of ne porcelain. e Samba Drums on the street, loved the festive, carnival atmosphere. Beckett’s ‘I’ll Go On’ in the Watergate, Barry McGovern at his brilliant best. Paintings in archways, on railings, in pubs, Kathleen Holohan’s and Phyl Cleere’s exhibition in Cleeres Bar, Derek Chapman’s reading from Hubert Butler’s works in Dubray. Outstanding. e crazy, ceramic horse that I fell in love with, and bought, at the e funfair in the Market Yard, the absolutely haunting Agnus Dei from Philip Edmundson’s Youth Choir in the other St. Johns. Pat Murphy’s enthusiasm and exuberance when opening Sonja Landeer’s ceramic exhibition in Rudolf Heltzel’s. e energy of the Kilkenny Youth eatre in their marvellous production of Maeve Ingoldsy’s Crabs in a Basket in the Watergate. And then something special – stumbling upon a Medieval Festival while visiting Joe Sweeney’s exhibition in Rothe House; the medieval songs and recitations from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales were enchanting. Having a pint with Engine Alley and Joe O’Connor’s reading in Cleeres – a laugh a minute although there had been humour in the same venue a few nights previous with Mike Watts, Margery Brady and yours truly.

Shaping Up for Ceramics Exhibition in the NRB, and the vase I purchased in S.O.S. Launching Charlotte Wilcox’s exhibition in my favourite art gallery (Charlotte’s kitchen) where you can smell the co ee. And smoke!

Dream in the Forest by classical guitarist David Russell in the Black Abbey and nally just when I thought it was all winding down up popped Jamaican poet ‘Binta’ Breeze in Cleeres who treated us to a fabulous performance incorporating verse and song, featuring a double bass, our own classical guitarist, Mark McGrath, and on the steel drums: Aubrey Bryan. at session in the theatre spilled out into the bar fusing with a seisiún already in progress featuring Gary Lynch, Frank O’Brien and Dave Primm. Caribbean and Irish music melding into a sparkling, spontaneous session that left you wondering if you were in Kilkenny or Kingston. at was around 5 p.m. At 11 p.m. the session was still in full swing and who was in the thick of it? Our own KB directing everything as only she can. is was the mother of all sessions. is was the famous craic - on ecstasy! And if a tourist ever asks you what the craic is, tell them: John Cleeres Bar, the last Sunday of Arts Week, 1995.