The Dublin Community Blog

14th February 2008 @THESHED – ST VALENTINE’S ASHES
Door’s 10:00pm
€ 8,00 donation + bring your own drinks and food as you like

music AMY DANIO (america)

http://www.myspace.com/deniomusic

music/performance EWA GIGON (poland)

http://www.myspace.com/ewagigon

poetry NELL REGAN (ireland)

Music/poetry/performance interactions.
it will be lovely…

if you like to participate please book by text message @ 0877954727
or email mcbett@gmail.com

THE SHED

The Shed is a new workshop space and venue in the city centre, off Connolly Station, Dublin 1.
Following a specific policy, this ten month pilot project has been created to give a location to foreign artists resident in Ireland and their unconventional approach to art and communication.
The purpose of this project is cultural exchange, and the hope is to facilitate interaction between contemporary artists from different cultures and disciplines through the “Stranger than Paradise” programme, to promote diversity.
This is an independent project.

Foreign artists active in Dublin in various disciplines, who are interested in having a workspace within the venue and/or to be involved in the management of regular events, can be shortlisted presenting their CV/Portfolio and proposal to:

McBett,
The Shed
@ 17/21 Foley Street Dublin 1

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New paintings of Polish artist Katarzyna Gajewska in Origin Gallery

When you hear new music perhaps everyone starts to search in the head for tha latest tunes of Rihanna. But no. New music is the phrase for all these ‘avangarde’ followers of classic music. It’s not Bach, Mozart or Verdi. Think Messiaen, Stockhausen, Part or the recently famous Gorecki.

And so we had a rare opportunity to listen to Gorecki’s music last Sunday at National Gallery. It was Ireland-Poland Cultural Foundation event for the closing of Polish painting exhibition. The performeres were members of Concorde – an Irish ensable performing contemporary music.

The concert was devided into 3 sets of 30 minutes long music. It was brilliant idea because Gorecki’s music is very contemplative and you need break to admire it. Another good idea was comparing Gorecki’s pieces to another Polish composer: Marta Ptaszynska. The strange thing was that the music did not represented period of time of the paintings, though Polish music of this period has two brilliant composers: Szymanowski and Karlowicz.

In time when Coca-Cola considers its tv ads as art (thank you, Andy Warhol) it is good to have opportunity to listen music less ordinary. All audience like the performance. They were ususally surprised of what they heard. And perhaps they will drop in to next Concerde show in The Hugh Lane Gallery on February 10th.

Photo: courtesy of Kasia Kurta.

First of all I am very glad to announce an exposition of Claude Cahun in Douglas Hyde Gallery at Trinity College. She is famous for her surrealistic self portraits. It is open 25 January- 6 March 2007. Opening hours
Monday – Friday, 11am-6pm; Thursday, 11am-7pm; Saturday, 11am-4.45pm.

Another expo at the same gallery is by Lothar Hempel.

Some music for the weekend:

Stagger Lee launches their single at RadioCity on Friday at 8PM. Congratulation guys!! Waiting for the album!

The Revellions will play at Eamon Doran’s on Saturday 26th January at 8PM. Adm. 10 e. It is some surf music at Temple Bar!! Strongly advised.

Have a craic!

If you are not into all that popular music you can see in TV or hear on the radio or if you just want to take a brake form all that noise, you should search for some concert of Ewa Gigon. Recently she performed at BoomBoomRoom . A nice guy with a guitar who played before her, seemed not to impress the audience and the noise in the room only could confirm that.

The first notes of Ewa’s performance calmed down the crowd imediately. But who would not pay attention to skilled soprano voice multiplied by some electronic devices. A very strange feeling just after another guitar player.

In another song Ewa guided surprised audience to darker moods of her imagination using digital noise samples and empty beer glasses. After that part followed a cover song of Talk Talk with nicely multilplied ‘talktalk’ phrace to add the rythm.
Unfortunately the gig finished as suddenly as it started. Ewa took everyone’s attention so 45 minutes performance seemed to last just a while. She sang one more song and disappeared.

We have to wait for her upcoming album this yea and check her website http://www.myspace.com/ewagigon for more gig information.

Ewa Gigon at BoomBoomRoom.

For who?

Bjork fans, ‘reaserching electronica’ lovers, free jazz and dark moods aficionados.

It has been on for a short while, but the Polish Art exhibition at the National Gallery is well worth going to see before it ends on 27th January. The exhibition charts the evolution of Modern Art in Poland in the period 1880-1939. This period is particularly significant in Polish history as both Russia and Germany threatened the country’s very existence by their expansionist views on its territory which ultimately aimed to eradicate Polish culture and language. In the face of these pressures, the Polish people resisted in a positivist fashion, forging themselves a strong sense of national identity, very much visible in the art of the period. In a sense, Poland shares a common cultural history with Ireland, as both forged their own national identities in the face of a hostile other. This, as well as the burgeoning Polish presence in Dublin and Ireland, makes this exhibition poignant as well as relevant.

Moreover, the exhibition is free, and thus accessible to all and sundry. For more details go to www.nationalgallery.ie

This October Bank Holiday weekend sees an unusual event take place in the grounds of IMMA at the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham:

A series of happenings under the stars in one of the most beautiful settings in the capital city, Some Days Never End is where cutting-edge 21st century musicians and the most thought-provoking contemporary artist of the 20th century come together to play.

Located in three tented structures pitched in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, the home of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Some Days Never End will apply equal weight to both music and art. Given the time of year, these structures will be heated. The third structure will feature the high standard wide ranging food and drink associated with POD Concerts festivals.

Besides the musical performances, Some Days Never End will also pay tribute to Andy Warhol’s Silver Factory, an apt homage to mark the 20th anniversary of the artist’s death.

It all kicks off tomorrow and a full list of performers can be found on the Some Days Never End website.

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to stop in at a brilliant new(ish) art gallery in Dublin called Gallery Number One across from Leo Burdock’s chippy. It’s got a cool vibe with chairs and sofas to lounge around in and flip through the art books or surf the internet on the gallery computer and check out the latest on DublinBlog.ie. =) There’s an obvious music theme that connects much of the work on display. (Their website even lists their Last.Fm profile.) Art and music . . . seems like a winning combination for Dublin!

The second annual Dublin Culture Night is happening next Friday (14th September) involving 82 venues (museums, galleries, theatres, libraries, etc.) and 100 free events. Events will include such highlights as free tours of Dublin Castle, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and Croke Park, lectures on Dublin literary figures, art exhibitions, a film making workshop for kids, and loads more. Whether or not you decide to attend any of the free events, Dublin Culture Night will be difficult to avoid with guides and street entertainers spreading out across the city to answer questions and point people in the right direction.

As a preview to Culture Night, The Dubliner Magazine are holding a debate this Friday night exploring the notion that Ireland has lost its cultural identity. The lively banter will involve writers and musicians such as Mik Pyro from Republic of Loose and Sunday Independent journalist Victoria Mary Clarke.

The annual Peoples Photography exhibition is on this weekend around St Stephens Green. A mix of amateur and professional photographers this exhibition always has something to catch the eye. I promising myself that one year I will chance my arm and enter it and each year I chicken out and just go in to see much better photographs than mine.

Blocks are allocated around the North, East and South of the Green, there are none on the West where the Luas is. If you are in town and have the time don’t forget to walk to the South side of St Stephens Green. Each year I felt sorry the exhibitors there, whose photos are as good as anyone else’s but they are a little isolated from the main crowds on the North side.