A new contemporary art event, which is expected to bring 150,000 extra tourists to Ireland next year, was launched in New York on Friday. Leading figures from the arts and business world gathered at the spectacular Irish Consul General’s residence in Manhattan to hear Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport Mary Hanafin announce details of Dublin Contemporary 2011.
The large-scale visual arts event will open in Dublin next September, showcasing the best of Irish and international contemporary art. It’s planned to hold the event every five years, and it aims to put the Irish capital on the map as a destination for lovers of contemporary art, in a way that Venice Biennale has done for its host city.
“It can be and will be a very imaginative and very exciting event,” said Minister Hanafin. She said it sent out message about Ireland that was “very positive and vibrant” at a time when Ireland is in the international headlines for all the wrong reasons.
When you ask anybody around the world what do they know about Ireland, there is very few that will mention the Irish economy. But what they will talk about is our culture
“This is a way of saying to people: ‘Look at Ireland in a different way’ and look at what we do well,” she said. “When you ask anybody around the world what do they know about Ireland, there is very few that will mention the Irish economy. Very few of them will be able to name a particular bank or a developer or anything like that. But what they will talk about is our culture. And our unique characteristics that set us out from any other country that speaks English.”
The event is already generating interest in the New York arts community – among those attending last Friday’s launch were art historian and critic Barbara Novak, Village Voice art critic Christian Viveros-Faune and renowned Irish-born artist Brian O’Doherty. The business community was also well represented by, among others, Revlon president Alan Ennis, and Continental Airlines director Patricia Cunningham.
Details of the programme for Dublin Contemporary 2011 will be announced in March, but it will include a trail around the city at landmark sites including established art venues, warehouses, churches and open spaces. “It’s the open space element that I’m looking forward to most,” said Minster Hanafin “Because I have no doubt those will be the pieces that will be bold, daring, exciting and those are the ones that will cause debate. And there should be debate about contemporary art.” She said cultural tourism was very important to Ireland – if the event is a success it has the potential to generate €13.5m for the economy.
Among those attending were art historian and critic Barbara Novak and Village Voice art critic Christian Viveros-Faune
The festival’s artistic director Rachael Thomas, who is on secondment from the Irish Museum of Modern Art, said the theme would be “Silence”. She says it takes its inspiration from James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and John Cage, and told the gathering that it can be seen as part of a long tradition of Irish art from the Book of Kells to Jack B Yeats.
Dublin Contemporary 2011 was also launched in London last week at the 2010 World Travel Market – the biggest expo event for the travel industry in the world.
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