BLOOMSDAY: Plans are already being made for Bloomsday 2004, the 100th anniversary of one of the most famous days in literature, writes Belinda McKeon
From out of the din which ensued when James Joyce's Ulysses was published in 1922, a day for Dublin was quietly born: June 16th, 1904, the date of Leopold Bloom's wander around the city from Eccles Street back to the marital bed. Bloomsday had arrived, although decades of neglect and sheer ignorance were to come before its commemoration, now annual and international, could get underway. And, as next year's centenary of the original date approaches plans are afoot to make it a day to remember . But real obstacles to the full celebration of Joyce's memory may still exist. Many of these plans are subject to the approval of the Joyce Estate before they can go ahead; granted that, they then face a struggle for financial backing in a climate of widespread arts cuts .
However if enthusiasm was the only requirement , there would be no problem . Two large committees have already been formed to oversee the huge number of ideas and proposals emerging - one set up some months ago by the James Joyce Centre at North Great Georges Street in Dublin, the other announced earlier this week by the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, with an initial investment of €200,000. It's clear that the fictional nature of this centenary is no obstacle to a serious celebration.
One event confirmed for the centenary is the 19th annual academic Symposium of the International James Joyce Foundation, which will be held at Dublin Castle over the week of Bloomsday, bringing a huge cavalcade of Joycean scholars to town. Other projects on the drawing-board include two major exhibitions: one at the National Library, centring on the Library's collection of Joyce manuscripts, the other at the Royal Hibernian Academy, featuring major artists influenced by Joyce, such as Man Ray and Matisse. The Ulysses Project, a series of 18 short films based on the 18 episodes of the novel, is being developed by Blueprint Productions for screening on RTÉ, while at the Digital Hub in Dublin's inner city, a proposal for a multimedia Joyce museum is still at feasibility stage. At the Galway birthplace of Nora Barnacle plans are being made for as big a celebration as the one-up-one-down terraced house will allow.
One pertinent question is whether it should be celebrated as a tourist attraction or as a scholarly event . To the Minister it is "a shining example of how cultural tourism could be promoted for the benefit of the economy".
His 14 person committee includes poet Dennis O'Driscoll; Arts Policy consultant to the Minister, Fiach Mac Conghail; the CEO of Dublin Tourism, Frank McGee; and the Director of News at RTÉ, Ed Mulhall. Here, Joyceans of all hues argue for a Bloomsday to remember.