"THE mind altering, alters all", is the motto that has informed Clifden Community Arts Week and inspired Brendan Flynn to organise the first festival in the Clifden Community school 18 years ago.
It is this commitment to the process of change and growth inherent in the notion of learning that has enabled the festival to remain based in a school while spreading out into the hinterland. For 18 years the secondary pupils of this part of Connemara have had access, in their classrooms, to some of the finest creative artists this country has to offer. They have seen the work of local musician, boatbuilder and blacksmith valued in the festival programme alongside some of the best known musicians and writers. It is this aspect of arts week particularly in recent years, that represents the most mind altering possibilities of all.
This year's programme is vast and varied and a logistical nightmare. Yet the 60 members of the Wexford Male Voice Choir will make the five hour journey to Clifden. Theatre Omnibus will perform several different shows and develop a presentation with the transition year students, primary school children from Letterfrack to Roundstone will read their own poems in the library and Michael Coady will work with the pupils as writer in residence. That is only a taste of the school events.
For the community at large, highlights include a reading by Paul Durcan, which was scheduled for yesterday, the Sean Nos and poetry night on September 26th with the great Connemara singer, Johnny Mhairtin Learrai, the poet Michael Hartnett and several other musicians and singers. Music and poetry also promise a sublime evening on September 28th when Michael Longley joins Prism, Ireland's newest chamber ensemble in the Church of Ireland. Paul Durcan will read.
Richard Hayter presents his celebrated Shakespearian show "Ages of Man" tomorrow and the excellent Theatre Omnibus present a stunning selection of shows throughout the festival. If you want traditional music, there's De Danann, Mairtin O'Connor and Jim Mullen. There's jazz from Dixieland Jazz and Les Folies from France. If you fancy a night on the delta, Guys and Dolls will oblige and Sinead Lohan performs in the leisure centre on September 26th.
In this maelstrom of activity one event with a modest title caught my eye - Poems I learned at School - Brother Oswald. This too is a highlight.
Meanwhile, Plearaca Chonamara continues until this weekend with the trip to Inis Oirr by traditional sailing boats today, as well as a currach marathon and music from Shaskeen and the Maimin Cajun Band. The races, concerts, exhibitions and sporting events of Plearaca take place throughout the Connemara Gaeltacht.
