Category: Event announcements

Douglas Hyde Conference on Creativity – 15/16 October 2010

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the man himself

Just received notice of an interesting conference taking place in Roscommon in October– the Douglas Hyde Conference 2010, entitled :Inside Creativity: Education, Innovation, Economy, Society’.

Sessions include ‘Creativity in Education’, ‘Innovation: the Application of Creativity’, ‘Economics of the Creative Sector’, and ‘Value of Creativity in Society’. From the arts & cultural contingent, the lineup includes Tania Banotti, Sarah Browne, Theo Dorgan, Martin Drury, Michael John Gorman, Joe Hallgarten, Roy Johnston, Justin Knecht, Dermot McLaughlin, Arantxa Mendiharat, Kevin STolaricj and Paul Young.

Lots of buzzwords floating around the conference programme which mirror larger social discourse on the arts and the notion of ‘applied’ creativity; let’s hope the participants are able to give shape to what is often an amorphous discussion! Check out the conference website for booking details.

iPhones/Droids at the ready: CMC’s Music Trail in our fair city

Three cheers for the Contemporary Music Centre’s innovative new Music Trail, which will be launched in a few days’ time, and run from 21 August-1 September!

The Outdoor Music Trail features works by different Irish composers playing in five outdoor locations; an inner trail with three locations playing music outdoors daily from 1pm to 4pm and an extended trail incorporating the first three locations, plus two additional locations which can be followed and listened to with a smartphone. The extended trail employs the very latest in location-based, augmented reality technology and is available by downloading the free Layar app for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and Android devices.

Sounds intriguing, especially the ability to stream the music at any point during the Trail’s run… will have to go check out the ‘live’ versions between 1-4 as well.

The Music Trail is also the first event to be launched under the leadership of the CMC’s new director Evonne Ferguson, who no doubt will continue the CMC’s tradition of fine programming and commitment to contemporary music.

National Campaign for the Arts – upcoming Day of Action

September 17th is the day to take part in the National Campaign For the Arts’  Day of Action— meetings will be taking place all over the country with local representatives and arts workers, to advocate for the ongoing support of the arts. As part of the effort, the NCFA has also produced a promotional video:

Here’s also a link to a recent interview on Morning Ireland. Lots more info is available on the NCFA site, but here’s a recap of the Campaign’s main objectives:

There is now a broad consensus that the arts will play a dynamic part in Ireland’s economic and social recovery. To maintain their role as a significant driver of employment, cultural tourism, the creative industries, our collective wellbeing and international reputation, NCFA asks that the next budget will:

(1) Maintain current levels of funding to the statutory agencies for the arts, including Irish Film Board, Culture Ireland and in particular The Arts Council, whose investment in the development of Irish artists generates the cultural assets that are central to our future.

(2) Make significant new funding available to the arts and culture sector to build on its cultural tourism potential, through the creation of a dedicated cultural tourism fund.

(3) Protect local authority arts funding and its essential role in the cultural diversity, social cohesion, economic impact, participation and identity of communities and regions.

Heritage Week 2009

heritage_week

Last Sunday (August 22nd) marked the beginning of Heritage Week 2009, and the great series of events and open houses taking place around the country. There’s hundreds of activities happening over the coming week– worth taking a look at the comprehensive listing on the Heritage Council’s dedicated site.

‘Arts Audiences’ new site launch & upcoming web 2.0 event

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arts_audiences

The Arts Council, in collaboration with Temple Bar Cultural Trust, has rolled out a new site focused on Irish arts audience development, www.artsaudiences.ie.  Here’s the skinny on their rationale for the initiative:

  1. Attendance and consumption; attendance for some artforms is falling; we need to increase the frequency with which people come to, for instance, our venue or festival and we need to keep people coming back year-on-year.
  2. Customer service and experience; customers care about more than just the show or event and we need to see what we can do to make sure their experiences are good ones
  3. Working together; arts organisations should collaborate more to speak to and attract audiences
  4. New media; All of us need to know more, to help us take advantage of the opportunities which a new media landscape have brought. We recognise that organisations operate at different levels of online activity and will strive to reflect this as we address this.
  5. Information; we need to address the gaps in our information about audiences – who they are and how they behave. Figuring out what we need to know is a key step in figuring out what to do.

(see the full manifesto here.)

Plans so far include:

  • A low-tech no-cost project where arts organisations will recommend each others work and we will report on what worked and what didn’t
  • A large-scale national promotion of the performing arts for a period of time in the autumn

Future plans include online resource material, and new training & mentoring programmes.

More imminent, however, is a series of one-day workshops on Web 2.0 and audience development to be offered in Dublin, Galway and Cork in September. They’re looking for registration ASAP, unless the slots have been filled already… it’s only €45 for a full day session, and looks to be a promising build on the excellent Arts Council-sponsored New Media & the Arts conference held last November.

  1. Attendance and consumption; attendance for some artforms is falling; we need to increase the frequency with which people come to, for instance, our venue or festival and we need to keep people coming back year-on-year.
  2. Customer service and experience; customers care about more than just the show or event and we need to see what we can do to make sure their experiences are good ones
  3. Working together; arts organisations should collaborate more to speak to and attract audiences
  4. New media; All of us need to know more, to help us take advantage of the opportunities which a new media landscape have brought. We recognise that organisations operate at different levels of online activity and will strive to reflect this as we address this.
  5. Information; we need to address the gaps in our information about audiences – who they are and how they behave. Figuring out what we need to know is a key step in figuring out what to do.