The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan TD, has announced that funding of over €470,000 has been awarded to Irish artists and organisations to present Irish arts abroad during the remainder of 2013 and early 2014.
The Culture Ireland Expert Advisory Committee, which was appointed by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, selected a wide range of projects for support across disciplines including music, dance, theatre, film and the visual arts.
Announcing the decisions, Minister Deenihan commented:
“This funding gives artists the opportunity to showcase our culture in countries from Australia to the USA, Brazil, Russia, India and China. Irish artists are excellent ambassadors for Ireland and I hope that this funding support will open up new opportunities for these artists whilst also generating wider benefits for Ireland as a whole.
"I am also pleased to see a strong China element to the funding programme. Strengthening and deepening artistic and cultural links between Ireland and China was something I prioritised during my recent mission to China. I also raised this matter with my counterpart European Union Ministers for Culture when I chaired the European Council meeting last week."
Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Chair of the Expert Advisory Committee, said:
"We are close to finalising the current programme of Irish arts across 26 countries with some 420 events delivered as part of the Ireland's Presidency of the EU. Culture Connects/Nascann Cultúir was the catch-cry of the ambitious and highly successful EU Culture Programme over the past five months across Europe. It is this global connectivity that we seek to open up and the reputation of Irish arts worldwide continues to grow apace towards its full potential."
Many of the international opportunities afforded now to artists have grown from the partnerships and contacts developed by the Culture Ireland division of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht with key organisations through showcasing and networking with presenters and promoters worldwide.
Some of the highlights of the funding programme include a tour by Fabulous Beast in Australia of a double bill of Stravinsky’s works, Rite of Spring and Petroushka at the Brisbane Festival, in September and at the Melbourne Festival in October.
Dancer, Colin Dunne will embark on a tour in the US including Philadelphia, Washington, Ohio and New York. Coiscéim Dance Theatre will present Swimming with my Mother at the Irish Arts Centre, New York in September, which will also host the Abbey Theatre in October.
A wealth of Irish culture will be presented in China in 2013 and 2014, including an exchange of writers between the Munster Writers’ Centre in Cork and the Shanghai Writers’ Association, a violin & piano tour with Gregory Harrington and William Lewis in Beijing, Nanjing, Suzhou, Shanghai.
Aylish Kerrigan, mezzosoprano, will also perform in Wuhan and Deborah Armstrong will present solo piano recitals, alongside storytelling to younger audiences, in various venues around China.
The Irish Chamber Orchestra will participate in the high profile Rheingau Festival in Germany on July 4th and some of Ireland's best traditional Irish music bands will tour to the large US festivals, some of which attract up to 100,000 audience members. Irish theatre companies are being supported to present work at the 1st Irish festival in New York in September as well at some European festivals this Summer.
Full details of the funding decisions can be viewed at:
http://www.cultureireland.ie/applications/index.php?r=reports/outcomeGrant&year=2013&program=2