ArtScape: The Arts Council's strategy of taking a very public approach to its campaign for the restoration of funding lost in last year's budget obviously paid off.
Spearheaded by new council chair Olive Braiden and director Patricia Quinn, the council's case has been made in a vigorous pre-Budget campaign that was taken to an Oireachtas Joint Committee, as well as in press briefings and unprecedented public meetings with the arts community. For the first time in its 52-year history, the council published details of its pre-Budget submission.
The council made a pitch for €53.7 million, so the €52.5 million secured by the Minister, John O'Donoghue, can be viewed as being "as good as its gets" in the current difficult economic situation (about which the council has been realistic in the language of its submissions). While the 19 per cent increase garnered from the Department of Finance indicates good work by O'Donoghue, it has to be remembered that it just about puts the funding programme envisaged in the ambitious Arts Plan 2002-2006 back on track - but a year behind schedule. Last year's allocation was roughly 22 per cent short of the target published in that plan.
Now it's over to the council, which is faced with the task of making disbursements that are seen as a fair and reasonable share-out of the allocation. Braiden has stated that one of the first tasks of the council will be "to look at the Arts Plan and prioritise as necessary". Tania Banotti, chief executive of the lobbying organisation, Theatre Forum, which represents about 200 performing arts groups, venues and festivals, commented that "the Arts Council might have got what it wanted, but it's not to say that the arts communities themselves aren't looking for more".
Most organisations are unlikely to react until they hear about the council's priorities and learn more, next month, about their own circumstances. The council has, however, warned that it will only be able to meet half of the demands made for next year.
Funding applications for 2004, already submitted to the council from around the country, amount to €60 million, with the likelihood that a further €12 million in grant aid will be sought by smaller festivals and individual artists over the coming months. A substantial increase, for example, has been sought by traditional arts organisations, an area in which there would be some expectation of extra funding in the wake of the sometimes bitter campaign by that sector for greater recognition for its role. Another demand on this year's Exchequer provision is an application from the circus sector, which was not, in the past, recognised as an art form.
In the coming weeks, Braiden is likely to be reminded of her revelation that the new council wants to be "as open as possible with the sector" in sharing details of how the council makes its decisions.
Theatrical vote
Few banners and posters have yet been hung in anticipation of the Northern elections in two weeks, and an eerie calmness prevails, writes Karen Fricker. This sense of apathy is the target of Tinderbox Theatre Company's unashamedly agit-prop Vote! Vote! Vote!, a presentation of 15 new five-minute plays which will be performed in Belfast, Newry and Derry in the coming week. "The Assembly is an acid test of what's happening here," explains Tinderbox's general manager Eamon Quinn. "We wanted to create a platform for the writers of Northern Ireland to respond to the first Assembly, and to bring up ideas that might not otherwise end up on the agenda."
Style and subject matter vary wildly, from the serious to the satirical: Daragh Carville's The Invention creates a new ending for Stewart Parker's Northern Star by having Henry Joy McCracken come back to life in today's Belfast; while Damian Gorman's Smear Campaign has the leaders of the Pro-Agreement parties announcing the only initiative that all can agree on - "More Comfortable Smear Testing for Women." Well-known Northern actor Dan Gordon both directs all the plays and contributed one of his own, which he describes as "confessional". "I had to admit how little I actually know about the Agreement. How many of us would have agreed to a confidentiality clause if we'd actually known it was included?" Four actors (Ian McElhinney, Peter Ballance, Helen Madden, and Emma Little) will perform all the plays in a semi-staged, music-hall format, and performances will be followed by an "Alternative Hustings" in which audience members will be encouraged to respond to what they've seen. Other writers participating include Carlo Gébler, Tim Loane, Glenn Patterson, and Christina Reid, and the production also includes plays from community groups, with whom Tinderbox will continue to work after the elections on November 26th.
Performances take place in Belfast on November 18th and 22nd, in Newry on November 19th and in Derry on November 20th. More information from Tinderbox on 04890-439313.
Art and Market
Those bovine works of art seen during the summer grazing at various venues around Dublin - and which attracted the attention and handiwork of vandals before being moved to safer quarters - are on their way to the mart. All 69 of the CowParade cows will go before the hammer at a Cow Auction and Gala Ball in the Four Seasons Hotel, next Thursday. Since they were first released last summer, the cows have become familiar sights at a number of locations in Dublin city centre and in parks and shopping centres. Two Irish charities, The Simon Community and The Jack and Jill Foundation, will benefit from Thursday's auction. CowParade auctions have previously taken place abroad and there are a number of well-known international collectors, including Elton John and Oprah Winfrey, who if they want to add to their collections, can bid for John Rocha's Wagamoomoo, encrusted with 15,000 Waterford Crystal jewels, Kevin Sharkey's Moo-lah, covered with €20,000 of real Euro notes, Rolling Stone Ronnie Woods's Mumbai, hand-painted by the star and his wife, Radiohead's Restructured Burger, or work by Michael Flatley, Gavin Friday, Andrea Corr and Louise Kennedy. The CowParade hotline: 01-8540600. www.cowparade.net.
Choice verse
If you asked Bertie Ahern, Charlie McCreevy, Paul McGrath, Charlie Bird, Colin Farrell, Terry Wogan, or Daniel O'Donnell to recite a poem, which of our countless poets and bards would they turn to for a suitable work? These celebrities, along with a host of other politicians, stars and media personalities are reading "Ireland's best-loved poetry" as part of a imaginative fund-raising effort for Focus Ireland. The result of a project started in January, 2000, is an anthology/CD set which makes some intriguing matches between 100 well-known voices and 100 poems by Irish poets. Choices range from the Taoiseach's recitation of Pádraig Pearse's The Mother, a stirring rendition of The Boys of Barr na Sraide by Michael O'Muircheartaigh, to readings of more contemporary work (Seamus Heaney, Brendan Kennelly, Paul Muldoon, Paula Meehan) by Gay Byrne, Luka Bloom, Pierce Brosnan, Ian Dempsey, Gabriel Byrne, and Van Morrison. Most favoured poet is Yeats, read by six of the readers, including Andrea Corr and Senator Edward Kennedy. The Nobel prize winner is closely followed by another Nobel laureate, Seamus Heaney, who is chosen by four of the readers and who himself reads Yeats's What Then. One of the gems has to be a recording of Richard Harris reading his own poem, Christy Brown Came to Town. All in a good cause and a perfect Christmas stocking filler for poetry lovers.
Calling new playwrights
Entries for the P.J. O'Connor Awards 2004 - RTÉ Radio 1's competition for new playwrights - are now being accepted. The awards were established 21 years ago to encourage new writers of radio drama. The closing date is February 6th, 2004. As well as the professional production of their plays, there are several prizes: €3,000 (winner), €2,000 (runner-up) and €1,000 (second runner-up). The winners will be announced at a ceremony in RTÉ Radio in June 2004. A writers' workshop will also be provided for writers showing promise. Details of the competition and an entry form can be downloaded from www.rte.ie/radio1/events/pjawards/
Just the ticket
The National Concert Hall has done a double U-turn over the re-selling tickets for sold-out concerts, writes Michael Dervan. A month ago, the NCH was refusing to accept for re-sale tickets returned for its sold-out Cecilia Bartoli concert. This intransigence prompted a number of complaints, both private and public, including a letter published in The Irish Times. Regarding its refusal to handle returned tickets, the NCH maintained at the time that "best practice research indicates that this is a service not offered in other venues", "the administration costs involved in providing this service were extremely high", and the fact that patrons were annoyed when their returned tickets remained unsold. Best practice or not, the NCH has magnanimously bowed to pressure and restored the re-selling of returns for sold-out concerts. Marketing and PR manager Rosita Wolfe has indicated that the NCH will in future "take tickets back from customers for sold-out concerts. While we cannot guarantee that we will re-sell the tickets, we will make every effort through the use of waiting lists etc. The customer will get paid on the evening of the concert or alternatively their credit card is refunded or a cheque sent out. There is no charge to customers for this service."