Yesterday, in association with the Crafts Council of Ireland, launched an installation of craft Imagined, Designed and Made in Ireland as part of the Arnotts Department Store Love Irish Design initiative, which will take place in store throughout March and April. Helping to launch the event was designer Helen Steele, who spent the day in the Arnotts Henry Street shop window creating an original piece of artwork that will form the design for printed fabric for her clothing collection. Helen kicks off the live craft demonstrations that will take place in the Henry Street windows throughout March and April. Other makers set to take part include Jennifer Slattery Textiles, Cushendale Woollen Mills, Ceadogán Rugs and Carve On.
If, (like many of us in Elevate), you’re a music junkie, then it’s essential that you check out Searching for Sugarman asap.
Playing in the IFI for the rest of the month, the documentary follows two South Africans as they set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970’s rock ‘n’ roller, Rodriguez.
Hailing from Detroit, the singer was discovered in a dingy bar by two distinguished producers who recorded his first album, convinced that it would secure his reputation as the greatest recording artist of the decade. Unfortunately, they were wrong and the album failed, causing Rodriguez to disappear amid rumours of an horrific on-stage suicide.
But a bootleg recording found its way to apartheid South Africa and, over the next 20 years, he became a megastar in his own right becoming one of the strongest contributing factors to the reformation of that society.
An emotional, intense journey, this is one of those rare rock documentaries where the narrative and the history is every bit as poignant as the music itself
If you’re still not convinced, check out the official trailer here:
We’re looking forward to The Late Late Toy Show this evening – keep an eye out for some great toys from Sensational Kids
We had great fun at the Irish Times Agency Christmas celebrations last night – Smash Hits had everyone on their feet dancing to some classic 90’s tunes
Here’s the video we put together to celebrate our 10th anniversary – enjoy!
Congratulations to Stellar Magazine for winning Irish Magazine of the Year at a ceremony in the Four Seasons Hotel last night. And well done to Clodagh McKenna for winning The IMAGE Entrepreneur of the Year Award earlier in the week
Dublin Contemporary is a new large-scale visual art exhibition which will take place in Dublin from September 6th until October 31st. It is one of the most ambitious exhibitions ever staged in Ireland—a citywide effort that puts Dublin on the map as an international art destination. Taking place every five years, Dublin Contemporary will create a platform that will become a much-anticipated part of the calendar of leading contemporary art exhibitions around the world. The title and theme of Dublin Contemporary 2011 is Terrible Beauty—Art, Crisis, Change & The Office of Non-Compliance, taken from William Butler Yeat’s famous poem “Easter, 1916”. With works by more than 60 Irish and international artists coming from the five continents, Dublin Contemporary 2011 will present new commissions and mini-solo shows held throughout Dublin.
Today, Dublin Contemporary announced some of the participating artists which include –
Nina Berman (USA), Tania Bruguera (CUB), The Bruce High Quality Foundation (USA), Fernando Bryce (PER), Chen Chieh-Jen (TW), James Coleman (IRL), Dexter Dalwood (GBR), Wang Du (CHN), Omer Fast (ISR), Goldiechiari (ITA), Patrick Hamilton (CHI), Jim Lambie (GBR), Richard Mosse (IRL), Brian O’Doherty (IRL), Niamh O’Malley (IRL), Superflex (DEN), Lisa Yuskavage (USA)
Dublin is set to host a brand new art festival next year. Dublin Contemporary 2011 will take place for eight weeks from 6 September to 31 October 2011. Billed as a large scale visual arts exhibition, it will use the city of Dublin as a gallery and showcase Irish and international contemporary art from both emerging and established artists. The festival will use some of Dublin’s great cultural institutions as well as reinvented new locations.
Dublin Contemporary organisers describe it as ‘one of the most ambitious exhibitions to be staged in Ireland, a city wide endeavour that puts Dublin on the map as an international art destination.’ Artistic Director, Rachel Thomas, has assembled a heavyweight committee for the festival, the overall theme of which will be ‘Silence’, and they aim to use the world famous Documenta art festival, held in Germany every five years, as a template.
It is hoped that Dublin Contemporary will attract 62,000 foreign visitors, giving a much needed boost of €13million to the economy. The artists taking part in the festival will not be named until March but Rachel Thomas states that the ‘principal focus of the exhibition would be Irish contemporary artists who she described as “Ireland’s best kept secret”’. Dublin Contemporary is destined to be a world-class event and something we here at Elevate will be looking forward to next autumn.
Dublin seems to be having a bit of a design moment, what with the launch of Pivot Dublin which we attended a couple of weeks ago, the stellar line up at the recent Offset 2010 and the upcoming Dublin Design Week 2010 (first week of November).
A little bit of Donegal came to Dublin last Sunday for the first Donegal Live event in Temple Bar. This one-day event brought Donegal tourism and leisure interests together in a bid to attract more home holidaymakers to the county this year. There was a carnival like atmosphere with face painters, live music, traditional Irish dancing and actors performing extracts from Brian Friel’s Philadelphia Here I Come and The Faith Healer. A range of exhibitors showcased the very best the county has to offer from sight-seeing to adventure sports, sailing, equestrian breaks and cultural tourism. As the volcanic ash chaos continues, more people are opting for Staycations to avoid the potential stress of our airports – an escape to Donegal sounds like the perfect way to relax and unwind. You’ll find more information on Donegal here.
Is it just us or does the St Patrick’s Day Festival give us a spring in our step and signal the end of a really challenging and chilly winter? For 2010, we really hope so.
Anyone who visited the Big Day Out yesterday could not help but be impressed by the mini Electric Picnic vibe and similarly excellent and eclectic food offerings. We have the Ceili to look forward to tomorrow (note to our American interns – you must check it out) and then the parade itself on Wednesday.
So celebrate our National Holiday with pride – and it is very nice to get a day off work mid week as well. Wishing you all fun-filled celebrations and a good rest.
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