The Arts Council and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media announced today that they will jointly invest €2.8 million in a major programme of events to mark the final phase of the Decade of Centenaries Programme.
The programme, Art: 2023, is a call to artists and arts organisations, an opportunity to create new and exciting work of ambition and scale while reflecting on the themes of the Decade of Centenaries Programme 2012-2023.
The Chair of the Arts Council, Prof. Kevin Rafter, welcomed the announcement saying;
“’With this scheme the Arts Council is looking to artists and arts organisations to create new work of ambition and scale to mark key moments in the foundation of the Irish State. The arts can help us better understand our contested histories and challenge how we learn from this past”.
Catherine Martin, TD the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media said;
“Artists have had, and continue to have, an important role in encouraging reflection, exploration and debate during the Decade of Centenaries, allowing people of all traditions to question and consider issues that may be challenging. This is a vital aspect of the Decade of Centenaries Programme. The Art: 2023 partnership with the Arts Council is a timely one, in this final phase of the Decade of Centenaries Programme 2012-2023, as we navigate complex themes and commemoration of significant historical events. The Expert Advisory Group on Centenary Commemorations has placed great value on the vital role that artists play as ‘cultural brokers’ – facilitating conversations and engaging communities in a meaningful way through creative expression. I am delighted to be supporting the Art: 2023 partnership with the Arts Council and I look forward to seeing the finished work and indeed the processes involved in making the work over the coming months as we add to the positive and rich cultural legacy of the Decade of Centenaries Programme”.
There are three programme strands to Art: 2023; Open Call 2023, a Next Generation Artists Symposium and a countrywide community participation-based awards programme.
Open Call 2023 is a scheme for the creation of innovative work which engages the public, with individual grants of up to €500,000 and a total fund of €1.5 million. The deadline for application to the first phase of this award was 3 March 2022. The recipients of the awards will be announced in December 2022.
The Open Call invited artists and arts organisations to identify and create collaborative ground-breaking public-facing projects of ambition, impact and scale that encourage discourse, provocation or response to place and identity as part of contemporary Ireland.
Programmed in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, a series of Open Call Seminars led by academic experts will reflect on the history of the period, the impact of these events upon people, society, the diaspora and the State. These seminars which will be announced in the coming weeks, are intended to inform artists and provide a context for this programme under the Decade of Centenaries.
Artists have shaped, reflected and led Irish society over the past one hundred years and were prominent amongst the revolutionary generation. This programme strand acknowledges their vital role by celebrating our emergent Next Generation Artists. The Next Generation Artists Symposium will bring together the over 150 artists who have received this award, since its inception in 2016 as part of the Ireland 2016 partnership – Art: 2016. This award recognises artists across all disciplines at a pivotal stage in their careers. The planned symposium in June 2023 will reflect on the role of artists in Irish society since the establishment of the State.
A new countrywide community participation-based awards programme will reflect the shared nature of our history and ownership of our future. Artists, community and arts organisations will be invited to co-create participation-based arts projects in line with the themes of the Decade of Centenaries Programme. A call for proposals will issue in 2022 for projects being delivered later this year and into 2023.
The cross-Government Decade of Centenaries Programme 2012-2023 is led and coordinated by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. The programme is inclusive, highlighting the economic and social conditions of the historical period 1912-1923, the shifts in cultural norms and the experience of the Irish abroad. The themes of the programme encompass the different traditions on the island of Ireland and provide opportunities to focus on the everyday experience of ordinary people living in extraordinary times, as well as on the leaders and key actors in the significant historical events. Further information on the Decade of Centenaries Programme is available at www.decadeofcentenaries.com.
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