IRELAND’S Culture Minister has announced nearly half a million euros in funding for more than 50 projects which will promote the Irish arts across the globe.
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin announced the €455,000 funding pot, from Culture Ireland, this month.
Over 2021 and 2022 the grants will support 51 projects presenting Irish film, literature, music, theatre and the visual arts worldwide.
It includes a special focus on Irish theatre showcasing in Edinburgh this August.
Announcing the awards, Minister Martin said: “This funding will help many artists continue to present their work online, reaching international audiences.
“I am delighted that the recently announced Government roadmap for international travel has enabled support of artists to travel again to present their work in person, starting with the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival this August.”
Marking the return of physical presentation to global audiences is the world premiere of new work by Enda Walsh, Medicine, a co-production between Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival being presented at Traverse Theatre as part of the Edinburgh International Festival in August.
The play, which features a cast led by Domhnall Gleeson, “examines social responses to mental health concerns, while deconstructing the fabric of theatrical performance” Landmark confirms.
Also as part of the Culture Ireland Edinburgh Showcase 2021, eleven Irish theatre shows will be presented online through the Fringe Marketplace to allow Irish artists to reach global presenters and secure future touring opportunities.
In November, Dead Centre will present Beckett’s Room at Warwick Arts Centre in connection with Coventry 2021 UK City of Culture.
The online projects being funded involve a diverse range of projects and artforms including presentations of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, an opera by Gerald Barry presented by Irish National Opera in partnership with the Royal Opera House London.
Irish musicians will perform at key Irish festivals in the US over the summer and Irish language writers will present their work alongside Maori writers in a collaboration with Cúirt International Festival of Literature in Christchurch, New Zealand in August 2021.
Culture Ireland’s funding is designed to ensure that Irish artists can reach a worldwide audiences both online and in person, reconnecting with audiences physically for the first time in eighteen months.
Elsewhere this month, Minister Martin launched the EU Creative Europe Programme 2021-2027, which comes with a budget of €2.44billion to support Ireland’s culture, audiovisual and media sectors.
The Programme aims to foster artistic and cultural cooperation across Europe in the fields of literature, music, architecture, cultural heritage, design, cultural tourism and it also includes a scheme for mobility of individual artists.
“I encourage the culture, audiovisual and media sectors in Ireland to fully engage with the funding, partnership, training and networking opportunities presented by the Creative Europe Programme 2021-2027,” Minister Martin said.
“The Programme offers not alone funding to support the recovery and sustainability of these vital sectors of our society but also the important opportunities to achieve closer co-operation with partner organisations across Europe.”
She added: “I am also pleased to see the inclusion of schemes to support a free and pluralistic media environment and the emphasis placed on cross cutting objectives to support gender equality, greening, inclusivity and diversity.”
Irish organisations can apply to avail of the €300 million funding, which is to be allocated in 2021 to schemes across the cultural, audiovisual and news media sectors with EU co-financing rates for some schemes as high as 80 per cent.
Ireland has already achieved many successes through the previous Creative Europe programme 2014-2020, with over €13 million awarded to Irish audiovisual companies and €5million to cultural and artistic organisations.
Audiovisual recipients have included Cartoon Saloon for Wolfwalkers, Element Pictures for The Killing of a Scared Deer, Fantastic Films for Sea Fever and Vivarium and Dead Pan Productions for TV series Dead Still.
Cultural and artistic recipients have included The Ark children’s cultural centre for The Big Bang Festival, Waterford Walls for Murals for Communities, Blue Teapot Theatre Company for Trasna na Líne and the Glucksman Gallery for Voyage Inside a Blind Experience.
Minister Martin concluded: “I would really encourage organisations to examine the various schemes under the new Creative Europe Programme and apply to this Programme which has provided such huge benefits and opportunities for the many previous successful applicants from Ireland.”
Full information on the programme and supports is available here.
