The Dublin Community Blog

The Chinese New Year festivities are about to begin in Dublin as the city welcomes year 4076 of the traditional Chinese Lunar year. Chinese New Year is considered to be the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays and falls on the first day of the first month of the Chinese Lunar year. This year the New Year day arrives on February 7, 2008. It will be the year of the Rat, which is the first of the 12 year cycle of animals that form the Chinese Zodiac related to the Chinese New Years.

The Dublin Chinese New Year Festival Association (DCNYFA) has organized various events to celebrate the holiday. The first of these begins tomorrow (February 1, 2008) with the launch of a Chinese film ‘Still Life’ by directory Jia Zhangke in the Irish Film Institute, Temple Bar. This film is part of a seven-day Chinese film festival. Other events in various locations around the city include a Chinese arts and crafts show, an event celebrating Chinese literature and music, launch of a 2008 Beijing Olympic pack at UCD Sports Centre, international table tennis and badminton tournaments, dragon boat racing, lion dances, stage plays, and a three day Chinese carnival in Smithfield. The closing ceremonies will take place on Monday February 11, 2008 at 6m in Smithfield Square.

I believe that this is first time that a Chinese New Year festival is being held in Dublin and I have no doubt that it will be successful. We should all welcome the festival and make an attempt to attend at least some of the various events. We wish a very Happy New Year to the Dublin Chinese community!

A complete brochure with more details about the festival is available here.

Grand Canal Square, originally uploaded by HolaHolaCherryCola (Nathalie Márquez Courtney).

This looks pretty cool – it’s a “festival of light” that’s taking place in the crazy neon green, red stick laden Grand Canal Square next week. What with the walky men on O’Connell Street and now this – it’s all about the light shows at the moment isn’t it?
It’s called the Hive, and has been created by KMA (Kit Monkman and Tom Wexler), who, I’m told, are the digital artists behind some v. cool installation in London’s Trafalgar Square. It will take place between the 1st-9th of Feb from 5pm to 10pm as part of Lightwave, the TCD Science Gallery festival (more on this later). Say the Docklands dudes:

“This is a newly commissioned public artwork consisting entirely of projected light and sound through which you, the audience, come and go. By entering you take control of one part of an interactive fantasia driven by your movements and the changing rhythms and timbres of the music. Drawing you in to explore the rich mix of sound and light, the Hive imagines a number of encounters with otherworldly life forms and environments.”

Woo woo.

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!

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

It seems it is all happening in Stephen’s Green these days, not only is there Shakespeare in the Park but there is also a wonderful photography exhibition, Spirit of the Wild, on the pathway around the inside of the park by Steve Bloom featuring some of these works. It will be on show until October 7th and has been running since the middle of August apparently. But what a great idea, lots of wonderful images, printed BIG and exhibited outside, I was in heaven.

Arrghhh run there’s a bear chasing you (thanks to my model Geffrey Wang who agreed to pose for me) Unfortunately I only took one shot (note to self, again, ensure you have your shot) and there’s more than a little camera shake – eh we were eh running away from the bear *ahem* but you get the idea

Anyway there’s lots of amazing wildlife images, wonderful, so it is well worth a look. I was there just before 7pm and the light was starting to go but the shots are incredible.

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.

There’s a brilliant outdoor “sculpture gallery” in the Dublin Castle courtyard this month featuring the work of Duthain Dealbh. As you wander through the massive sculptures, it doesn’t take long to notice the Irish literature theme. (Last year’s theme was the five senses.) There are also information posts for each of the sculptures to give you an idea of what the artist was aiming for with their particular piece. Get there soon, though. The exhibition only lasts through the 27th of this month.

As you meander between umbrellas on Grafton St, stop for a moment at BT2 and have a look at the art in the window. ArtDublin07 is an exhibition of 300 works of art in aid of Focus Ireland. Each work of art is 400mm x 400mm and the cost is €350. The exhibition runs from July 16th to the 30th and more art can be found inside the store. Hurry though, there are lots of red dots

More info can be found on on the following sites:
Artdublin
BT2
Focus Ireland