Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan T.D., has announced approval of €766,000 in funding by Culture Ireland for the promotion of Irish arts worldwide. Almost €682,000 of the funding awarded will enable 115 Irish artists and arts organisations to present projects, covering circus, dance, film, literature, music, theatre and the visual arts in 38 different countries later this year and in 2019. The remaining awards, totalling over €84,000 are to support presentations by Irish artists and arts organisations as part of Culture Ireland GB18 Programme, a year-long programme of Irish arts in Great Britain, bringing the total for the support for this programme to €1.17m.
Announcing the awards Minister Madigan said “The importance of supporting Irish artists to present their work worldwide has recently been further endorsed by Government under the Global Ireland initiative which aims to double Ireland’s global footprint by 2025. Our artists have an ambition and talent which has ensured that Ireland is known on the international stage for our creativity and imagination. This has distinguished us globally and has also helped us to engage globally.”
Highlights of the projects being funded in this round include, a focus on Beckett in Mexico City in November 2018, Irish music, performance and film at NZ Irish Fest in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, New Zealand, November 2018, a spectacle presentation by Macnas at SXSW, Austin, Texas in March 2019, which coincides with a major annual showcase of Irish bands. Included in the theatre highlights are presentation by Dead Centre of Hamnet & Chekhov’s First Play at Hong Kong Arts Festival in March 2019 and an extensive US tour of They Called Her Vivaldi by Theatre Lovett from 12 February to 12 May 2019. The artist selected to represent Ireland at the Venice Biennale in 2019, Eva Rothschild, will exhibit at ACCA International, Melbourne, Australia, 28 September – 25 November 2018 and many of the major galleries are being supported to present the work of Irish visual artists at key art fairs. The strong offering of traditional and new Irish music includes tours of Europe, the US, South Africa and Australia and worldwide performances for International Uilleann Piping Day are being supported to take place in the Britain, the US, Argentina, Italy and New Zealand on 3 November 2018.
The Culture Ireland GB18 Programme, which seeks to renew the cultural and artistic links across Scotland, Wales and England through an enhanced programme of activity, has been expanded with the addition of The Abbey Theatre’s production of Two Pints by Roddy Doyle on tour to Newcastle Live and Sunderland and a tour by Stephen James Smith.
See www.cultureireland.ie for the full list of Summer grant round and details and updates of the Culture Ireland GB18 programme are available on www.cultureireland.ie/gb18
