DECEMBER 2007

                                                        PRESS RELEASE

Culture Night Kilkenny

This December 7^th sees the launch of Culture Night Kilkenny. Initiated by Kilkenny’s art and craft galleries, the intention is to create an inclusive and engaging opportunity for people to view and enjoy the arts outside of normal opening hours. For many with a long working day and weekend commitments, there simply isn’t ample opportunity to engage with the vibrant art scene in Ireland’s smallest city. Planned as a frequent event Culture Night Kilkenny will see galleries such as The Blackbird Gallery, The Butler Gallery, The National Craft Gallery, Hazel Williams and Kilkenny County Council Arts Office, Kilkenny Design Centre alongside renowned crafts centers such as Red Aesthetic and a host of the cities finest designers and craftspeople opening late on the Friday night.

http://culturenightkilkenny.blogspot.com

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The Opening – Friday 7^th December 2007 @ 6pm – 8pm.

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Press Launch – Thursday 29^th November @ 6pm Kilkenny Design Centre. (by invitation only)

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Editors notes

The Blackbird Gallery – Located in the heart of Kilkenny city, The Blackbird Gallery is a new contemporary art space that has become a major addition to the art scene in the South East. The gallery is a compact space that has become known for producing an interesting and eclectic body of work.   With a policy of always engaging and challenging the audience, the Blackbird Gallery operates a rotating mixed exhibition interspersed with solo and form specific shows.

Contact Roger O’Reilly info@blackbirdgallery.com

The Butler Gallery is the only gallery of its kind in the South East region and has a wonderful resource in its fine permanent collection of Irish contemporary art. The gallery has an international reputation for the quality of its exhibitions along with its innovative Education and Community programmes throughout Kilkenny.  These programmes operate year round free of charge.  On view in December is an installation by German born artist Yvonne Buchheim entitled Song Archive Project: Borrowed Air which includes a song portrait of the Kilkenny Castle Staff.

Contact Anna O’Sullivan director@butlergallery.com

The National Craft Gallery is the Crafts Council of Ireland’s flagship exhibition space. It is housed in Castle Yard, the former stables of Kilkenny Castle. Two light-filled airy spaces are the perfect homes for stunning exhibitions. Talented makers and imaginative curators are responsible for our critically acclaimed Exhibitions Programme in Ireland and in international venues. Textiles, glass, ceramics, jewellery, furniture, baskets... this major public space stimulates practitioners and captures the imagination of visitors.  Currently on show is:
Ecology, Mythology and Technology   13th October 2007  -  28th January 2008.   Innovative work for tomorrow's interior by Irish Designer Makers inspired by 3 leading architectural practices.

Contact Cornelia McCarthy - cornelia@ccoi.ie or Vincent O’Shea ncg@ccoi.ie

Hazel Williams Gallery – an exiting new gallery which had its official opening in May of this year in the heart of Kilkenny city. The Hazel Williams gallery has had an impressive year to date; taking part in Art 07 with some of the top names in the gallery business such as The Kerlin, The Soloman Gallery and Green on Red, in addition to this Hazel herself has been nominated for young entrepreneur of the year & women breaking through in business. The Christmas group show ‘White Sight’ will run for the month of December which will include artists, Mo Kelly, John Duffy, kiernan Crowley, Anne Hendrick, Leah Beggs, Coilin Rush and many more.

Contact Hazel Williams hazel@hazelwilliamsgallery.com

Kilkenny County Council Arts Office, Culture night exhibition at no. 72 John Street – POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE 2 The Arts Office develops and delivers an inclusive Arts programme working  across all art forms to dispel notions of elitism in the sector. Through partnership with other groups, we deliver a programme of activities where the arts are open to all, enjoyable, gratifying and a tool for lifelong learning. Our annual exhibition programme in No. 72 John Street and the Watergate theatre presents a diverse range of shows which are accessible to all. They range from multi media shows, to painting, sculpture and installation. One of the best practical examples of inclusiveness in action was the very successful Postcards from The Edge project (2004), which resulted in the exhibition of 4,500 postcard sized works from a largely local but also national and international audience. The Arts Office invited everyone, young and old, professional, hobbyists etc to create exhibition pieces. They could be decorated or embellished in any way. These postcards were subsequently exhibited in the Link Corridor in County Hall. Entries ranged from simple written messages to knits, paintings, collage, clay, glass etc. So come and see POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE 2 where we will be exhibiting approximately 7,000 postcards size pieces of art created again largely by a local audience of young and not so young artists, community groups, schools and much more….

Contact Mary Butler - Mary.Butler@kilkennycoco.ie

Or Niamh Finn - Niamh.Finn@kilkennycoco.ie

Kilkenny Design Centre - Situated in the magnificent coach houses and stables opposite Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny Design Centre is on of Irelands most renowned craft stores.

Emphasis is on products of character in ceramics, glass, jewellery, textiles selected from Irelands leading crafts people. Displays offer an interesting mix of traditional and contemporary style and the feel in unmistakably distinct.

Contact Kathleen Moran – info@kilkennydesign.com

Red Aesthetic- Red Aesthetic opened its doors in December 2005 as the first high end craft and jewellery store of its kind in Kilkenny, stocking the very best of contemporary design in a stylish, modern and spacious gallery setting. With jewellery and applied arts from Germany, Switzerland and the US as well as from Ireland, Red Aesthetic is the perfect place to find the perfect gift – for your loved one or yourself.

Contact Michelle O’Connell michelle@redaesthetic.com

Niamh Finn

Arts Administrator

Kilkenny County Council Arts Office

County Hall

John Street

Kilkenny

T: (056) 7794138

F: (056) 7794004

E: niamh.finn@kilkennycoco.ie  

Press Release Press Release Press Release Press Release Press Release

Rhyme Rag 2007 Issue 3

Kilkenny County Council’s Arts Office is delighted to announce the launch of the third edition of Rhyme Rag, a poetry publication featuring the work of young Kilkenny writers.  264 poems by 169 writers were submitted for inclusion in edition 3 of the Rhyme Rag making the editors decision a good read but a difficult choice.  23 poems from young people aged between 12 and 21 years who have little or no previous writing experience were selected in this year’s publication. 

This years Rhyme Rag will once again take the form of a comic book, containing a poem per page.  The illustration of the comic was undertaken by artist Ale Mercado and this year’s editor was John W. Sexton. John is a poet, short story writer, dramatist, children’s novelist, radio scriptwriter and broadcaster. He is the author of three collections of poetry, ‘The Prince’s Brief Career’ (1995), ‘Shadows Bloom / Scáthanna Faoi Bhláth’ (2004), a book of haiku with translations into Irish by Gabriel Rosenstock, and most recently ‘Vortex’ (2005). He also created and wrote ‘The Ivory Tower’ for RTE radio, which ran to over one hundred half-hour episodes. His novels based on this series, ‘The Johnny Coffin Diaries’ and ‘Johnny Coffin School-Dazed’ are both published by The O’Brien Press, and have been translated into Italian and Serbian. He has also recorded an album with legendary Stranglers frontman Hugh Cornwell, entitled ‘Sons Of Shiva’. He has been nominated for The Hennessy Literary Award and is currently Fiction Editor for The Cork Literary Review. He won this year’s Listowel Poetry Prize for best single poem and has just recently been awarded a Patrick Kavanagh Fellowship in Poetry for 2007.

 John W. Sexton on Rhyme Rag

All writers are born with the same start: a writer’s intuitive gifts, willed to them in the womb.  But that intuitive power must be developed. Over it the writer should essentially learn to place the clothing of structure and style. Before that can happen, however, a writer’s gifts must be fostered, and the first fostering for most of us is in the school classroom and the home. I say this for I wish to begin by stating that it was evident to me as I read through the many submissions of poetry for this edition of the Rhyme Rag, that the young writers of Kilkenny have been well fostered indeed. It is in the home and in the school that our poets seek their first encouragement, and it is only right that that encouragement is there to be had.

The second place that writers turn to is the avenue of publication, but for young writers these avenues are not always available. It is a blessing on everyone in the Kilkenny Arts Office that the young poets in this county have a good home for their work. Long may this wonderful publication exist.

A poet’s range must be wide, and also, at times, contradictory. There are occasions when poetry must be serene, contemplative and pure; and there are other occasions when poetry should be wild, unstable, even dangerous. It is said in some quarters that a poet’s concerns should be able to encompass the three Bs. The three Bs in question are: Beauty, Blaggarding and Bile. Open this book and you will find examples of all three. On some pages the poetry is calm, retrospective, poignant, and on other pages it is skitting, mad, utterly mental, at times even sinister. And that, with poetry, is exactly as it should be.

Expect no less in these pages, and enjoy this marvellous collection of writing from Kilkenny’s young poets.

Ale Mercado’s response to the Rhyme Rag and his involvement in it is extremely positive and he says ‘it's a great honour to be involved in the Rhyme Rag. It has grown a lot in its short existence. I can clearly remember the first meeting with Mary Butler and how enthusiastic she was about providing young local poets with a way of seeing their work published.

The first Rhyme Rag consisted of 16 poems of 50 submitted... We are around the 550  submissions now. Three years later.

And every poem is so special, so suggestive, so full of life that I am always afraid I am not going to do justice to the words. Illustration is like that. It is the balance between literal interpretation of words and the intervention of the illustrator. The images have to be able to invite the reader into exploring the text, and play with it at the same time, disguise, trick, surprise... but always keep in the background. The important things here are the poems. Without them there is no Rhyme Rag.

 Every illustration has a life of its own, generated by the poem, the images it suggests and the mood it transmit. Producing them is not always an easy task.

I've tried to let the words dictate everything in the execution of the illustration (within my limitations) and I've suffered, been in love, felt anger... with each one of them. Because that's what the Rhyme Rag is, a beautiful compilation of pieces of people's lives and human emotion.

Resuming, there is a lot of talent out there. Well done to all the authors

I'd like to express my gratitude to the Arts Office and in particular to Mary Butler for allowing me participate in such a brilliant project.

Can't wait to start preparing next year's one

The launch of the Rhyme Rag will take place at No. 72, John Street on Wednesday 28^th November 2007 at 5pm.

Series Director: Mary Butler Series Coordinators: Niamh Finn and

Emma King, Editor: John W. Sexton, Graphic Design: Alé Mercado

For further information on Rhyme Rag and other literary events please contact the Arts Office, No. 72, John Street, Kilkenny on 056 7794138

or e-mail mary.butler@kilkennycoco.ie / niamh.finn@kilkennycoco.ie.

Arts Office opening hours 9am – 1pm + 2pm – 5pm Mon - Fri

MOOT V Art and the Environment

Kilkenny County Council’s Arts Office in collaboration with the Butler Gallery is delighted to launch the fifth in the series of MOOT discussions, debates and seminars. MOOT is a continuous creative process providing a forum for powerful, focused and inspirational debates and discussion on a variety of subject matters. These events will, potentially, transform expectations, citing shifts in attitudes, perceptions and beliefs.

MOOT V is the first in the four part series that will investigate the role of artists in engaging communities and raise awareness of environmental issues. The first discussion will be an open format event where artists, environmentalists and the general public will be invited to question how arts and culture can contribute to addressing environmental concerns and promote change to more sustainable ways of living. The number of environmental concerns are vast and in the first discussion MOOT will be used to identify the key issues, artists and areas of focus for future discussions.

This panel discussion will take place on Thursday, December 6^th in the Brewery Club Kilkenny at 8pm. The panel will consist of Chairperson Gregg Allen (The Village, Cloughjordan), Gavin Harte, sustainability consultant (IRL), Davie Phillips(Cultivate,Dublin) Eileen MacDonagh (IRL), artist and Simon Pascoe co-director of Red Earth (UK).

Gregg Allen is a founding member and Director of The Village, Cloughjordan which is being created by a community of people who are committed to ecological, social and economic sustainability. Under the banner of 'Building Sustainable Community' their company, Sustainable Projects Ireland Ltd., is currently in the process of creating a model development that will include 130 dwellings along with shops, playgrounds and communal facilities. (http://www.thevillage.ie)

Gavin Harte is a Sustainability consultant and has a master’s degree in sustainable development and has been a high-profile spokesperson within the sustainability movement in Ireland for many years. A former national director of An Taisce, he also held the position of chairman of Dublin Food Co-op and sat on of the education committee of Comhar, the State appointed Sustainable Development Council. He is currently developing an education for sustainable development programme targeting third level and working with Co-op Ireland in the creation of a National Green Pages directory. Davie Philips is the Director of Cultivate which is a sustainable living and learning centre dedicated to inspiring healthy, balanced and creative cultural change. Cultivates mission is to respond to energy vulnerability and climate change by providing access to the knowledge and tools to cultivate sustainable lifestyles and resilient communities. (http://www.cultivate.ie/)

Eileen MacDonagh is one of the best known contemporary artists in Ireland.  Her public sculptures, sited around the country and at other locations in Europe and Japan, are seen by thousands every day. She is inspired by both abstract concepts of geometry and by the texture, mass and weight of her preferred medium – stone. Her sculptures are refined and pragmatic, elegant and powerful. In her art, the high idealism of the modern movement is tempered by a cheerful populism, combining the everyday with a sense of the infinite, leavened with a quiet sense of humour. Simon Pascoe is co-director of Red Earth, an international environmental arts group creating site-specific installations and performances in response to the landscape. All Red Earth projects are conceptualised and devised by Simon Pascoe and Caitlin Easterby in collaboration with independent artists and other professionals. They also lecture in Environmental Art as part of Sussex University’s Continuing Education Programme. (http://www.redearth.co.uk/)

MOOT is jointly organised by Mary Butler, Arts Officer Kilkenny County Council and Louise Allen, Education Curator, Butler Gallery and is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland

 MOOT V Art and the Environment, Thursday, December 6^th

Brewery Club, Parliament Street, Kilkenny

Doors open at 7.45pm Starting at 8pm - Admission is free

Further details contact Mary Butler, Arts Officer mary.butler@kilkennycoco.ie or

niamh.finn@kilkennycoco.ie 056 779 4138

Louise Allen, Butler Gallery louise@butlergallery.com 056 7761106

2008 will see the continuation of the Art and the Environment series with MOOT VI, VII and VIII taking place in February, May and October.