Category: Heritage

IMA Annual Conference: The Way Forward: Sustainability and the Museum

This year’s Irish Museums Association annual conference (25-27th February 2011) is now accepting registrations (full disclosure: I’m on the organising committee)! Our theme this year is ‘The Way Forward: Sustainability and the Museum‘, and we’re delighted to be headed to Drogheda, where we’ll be hosted by the Droichead Arts Centre.

We’ve a great series of events lined up– as always, Fridays will feature a selection of members’ papers (see the call for papers here) and an interactive workshop (Annette Nugent leading the group for a session entitled ‘What can the museum sector offer the visitor, and how can museums grow their visitor base?’).

Saturday will see a full roster of speakers take the podium, including:

  • RACHEL MADAN (Greener Museums and author of Sustainable Museums: Strategies for the 21st Century)
  • EAMONN McENEANEY (Director, Waterford Museum of Treasures)
  • OLE WINTHER (Head of Museums Office, National Heritage Agency, Denmark)
  • SAMUEL JONES (Policy Fellow at the UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Head of Culture at DEMOS)
  • STUART McLAUGHLIN (Chief Executive, Business2Arts, Dublin)
  • IZABELLA CSORDÁS (Head of Visitor Services Department, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary)
  • GRAINNE MILLAR (Head of Cultural Development, Temple Bar Cultural Trust, Dublin)
  • DR HUGH MAGUIRE (Director, Hunt Museum, Limerick)

The Millmount Museum, Highlanes Gallery, Beaulieu House and Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre will all be welcoming conference delegates for special receptions and visits. We are offering a special 40% off concession rate this year as well.

Full details of the conference programme can be found on the IMA website. Hope to see you there!

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.

Irish Museums Association annual forum

IMA_Forum_2009

‘Blow Your Own Trumpet’ — IMA’s annual practitioners’ forum — is set to take place on Friday, 10 July from 10-4 pm at Daniel O’Connell House (58 Merrion Square South).

The day promises to be a very interesting one, with presentations from museum professionals around the country on recent initiatives in their institutions. It’s a great way to get a snapshot of what’s happening across Irish museums, and have an annual chinwag with others in the biz.

For a full line-up of presentations click here, or on the image above.

For further information or bookings contact the IMA Administrator, Carla Marrinan, at 01 4120939 or office@irishmuseums.org

Culture Night 2008: this Friday!

Just a reminder to all you vultures out there– the third annual Culture Night takes place this Friday, September 19th, from 5-11 pm. In Dublin more than 100 arts & cultural organisations will be staying open late, offering unique & fun programming for this evening only. Temple Bar Cultural Trust is the driving force behind the initiative, which includes special bus routes (map pdf) laid on to take vultures from spot to spot, and lots of outdoor performances and entertainment.

It’s not just Dublin getting all the action either:

Culture Night Cork: http://www.corkcity.ie/culturenight
Culture Night Limerick: http://www.limerickcity.ie
Culture Night Galway: http://www.galwaycity.ie

Last year’s event had a great buzz to it– wandering around the National Gallery at near 11 pm was a surreal highlight for me!– and it’s a great chance to check out (for free!) sites that normally require admission. I’ve got a few circled already… 🙂

Copies of the programme can be downloaded as a pdf here, or picked up in print copy from participating venues, the Suffolk St Dublin tourist office, or Temple Bar Cultural Information Centre at 12 East Essex Street (the latter two will be open 9am until 11pm on Culture Night).

Checking into the Mountjoy Hilton

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What’s next for the 19th century landmark Mountjoy Prison, now that it faces closure and the transferral of its inmates to a more modern facility? Heritage centre? Museum? Nope– the OPW has other plans in mind:

Mountjoy may provide jail break for tourists

The rooms might currently be a little on the small side – as are the windows – but Mountjoy could become one of the most exclusive places to stay in Dublin following a new proposal to turn the prison into a boutique hotel, writes Olivia Kelly .

Guests would be staying, at their own pleasure rather than the State’s, in the original late 19th-century institution, the main structure of which cannot be altered by order of the Office of Public Works (OPW), once the current residents move to the new prison due to open at Thornton Hall in north Dublin in 2011. (more…)