CARLOWARTS FESTIVAL

29th May to 7th Junewww.carlowartsfestival.com

2015

In Borris Village, at the Festival of Writing & Ideas: Ian McEwan, Michael Cunningham, Lisa Hannigan, Antony Beevor, David Gilmour, Kevin Barry, Neil Jordan, Victoria Glendinning, Michael Harding, AC Grayling and many more.

from the pens of D

avid Ives, B

rian Friel, Gavin Kostick

THEATR

E

From singer-songw

riters to symphony orchestras

MU

SIC

Over fifty artists in the spectacular

Visual C

entre for Contem

porary Art,

including the AIB

Éigse Open S

ubmission

ART

12 galleries,

24 live bands

and a street carnival

10-DAY CULTURAL QUARTER

1

Last year, a half-hour after Dublin Street in Carlow was closed to traffic for our street carnival, it was full of people standing square in the centre of the road like it was always that way, and within an hour it was full of shoppers and mums-with-buggies and stall-holders and gospel choirs and acting troupes and buskers and brand new galleries… and for a couple of days Carlow Town was in the throes of a small cultural revolution, a regenerative and genuinely well-loved version of ‘town’ we would like to have here all the time. So we are going to try it again. At one end the magnificent VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art; at the other, a restored Post Office building and a fresh identity for Deighton Hall… and in between, all manner of creativity and bustle.

On the last day of the month of May, four barges will begin their journey down the Barrow stopping each night – Carlow, Leighlinbridge, Bagenalstown, Goresbridge, Tinnahinch, Borris – bringing a pop-up restaurant, a live gig, a painter, photographer and writer… and inviting people to join them for the evening. This is a new thing, a sort of floating arts festival with a gentle, meandering feel to it, moving at a languid pace down one of the most beautiful rivers in Ireland.

They dock on 5th June in Borris in time for the Festival of Writing & Ideas, our spoken word programme, which has grown into something very special in just four years. Linking Carlow Town with Borris Village – at opposite ends of this county – seems like an appropriate way to book-end the festival.

The friends who put their hands in their pockets because they care about Carlow:Carlow College of Music, Kilbride Insurance, Jim Behan (Dolmen Pottery), Michael & Bev Carbery, Rory Healy, Bríde de Róiste, Swans Electrical.

Those who helped us beyond the call of duty:Dan McInerney, Tom Barry, Bernie O’Brien, Sinead Dowling, Michael Brennan, Seamus O’Connor, Eanna Rowe, Damien McWeeney, Rosanna Nolan, Ann Mulrooney, Tadhg McSweeney, Emma Lucy O’Brien, Gail O Reilly, Brigid Deering, Pierce Kavanagh, Morgan Kavanagh, Conal Boyle, Paul Dunne, Noel Lennon, Anthony Kavanagh, Ollie Byrne, Sgt. John Foley, Ger Guerin, Eoin O’Dowd, Harry Sothern, Connie Byrne, Bernard Jennings, Michael Dundon, Mary Murphy, Joe Walsh, Ross Byrne, Derry Dillon, Seany Fennelly, Vivienne Guinness, Roz Jellett, Eileen Brophy, John Purcell, Clare Looby, Kieran Comerford, Pat Deering, Fr. John Cummins, Bernard Geraghty, Nuala Grogan, Rosaleen Muji, Woody Kane, Dominique Dorman, Tom Connolly, Marcus McCormack, Catherine Darcy, Michael Woods, Annlouise O’Neill, Una Townsend, Elaine Stafford, Fr. John Dunphy.

Programme designed by Wise Eyes Creative

Thanks!

A word of introduction CALendar of eventsDATE POP up cultural Quarter STAGE VISUAL ART

The folks who pay the bills:

FRIDAY 29 May

SATURDAY 30 May

SUNDAY 31 May

MONDAY 1 June

TUESDAY 2 June

WED 3 June

THURS 4 June

FRIDAY 5 June

SATURDAY 6 June

SUNDAY 7 June

Festival Of Writing & Ideas

Festival Of Writing & IdeasTommy Tiernan (Town Hall Borris)

Festival Of Writing & Ideas

10.30pm: ChoiceCuts with Emma Martin Dance (Deighton Hall)

12.15pm: Mícheál O Súilleabháin talk (George Bernard Shaw Theatre)7pm: ‘One’ by Sinéad Cormack (Deighton Hall)7.30pm: ‘Solo to Orchestra’ (George Bernard Shaw Theatre)

7pm: Frances Black (Woodford Dolmen Hotel) 7.30pm: ‘The Piano Has Been Drinking’ by Eric Butler (Deighton Hall)8pm: David Ives ‘All In The Timing’ (George Bernard Shaw Theatre)

4pm: Mahler’s Symphony 2 (Carlow Cathedral)8pm: ‘The Games People Play’ (Deighton Hall)

12pm: ‘Puss in Boots’ (George Bernard Shaw Theatre)

6.30pm: Carlow Writers Co op (Deighton Hall)

8pm: ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ (George Bernard Shaw Theatre)

8pm: ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ (George Bernard Shaw Theatre)8pm: ‘The Man In Black’ (Woodford Dolmen Hotel) 8pm: ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ (George Bernard Shaw Theatre)

8pm: ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ (George Bernard Shaw Theatre)

CARL

OWTI

NNAH

INCH

GORE

SBRI

DGE

BAGE

NALS

TOW

NLE

IGHL

INBR

IDGE

BORR

IS

7pm: Opening Night (Visual Centre)

EXHIBITING DAILY FOR THE DURATION OF THE FESTIVAL:

Open Submission Exhibition (Visual)

Bedwyr Williams ‘Echt’ (Visual)

‘Gimme More’ Augmented Reality (Visual)

‘Cultural Quarter’ 12 GalleriesIncluding:

David King Kilkea Group Orlagh Murphy Daragh Hughes Nine Stones Photographic Soc. Eileen MacDonagh Blueprint Group David Bickley Mark Cronin and others

7pm: Launch at Visual Centre8pm: DoubleInstrumental (59 Dublin St ) 9pm: ‘Cultural Quarter’ Opening (Dublin St) 10pm: The Eskies (Tully’s Bar)

12pm: Arty Farty Malarky 3pm: Junk Kouture Fashion Show8pm: Ca Ba Rey (59 Dublin St)8.30pm: Davie Furey (O’Loughlin’s Bar)10pm: Saint John The Gambler (Tully’s)11pm: Pembroke Club D’Art

1pm: Carlow Regatta1pm: Andreea Bouros recital (Deighton Hall) 2pm: Gospel Hootenany8.30pm: Hot Tin Roof (O’Loughlin’s)10.45pm: Fireworks (River Promenade)

BARGES DOCKING:

BARGES DOCKING:

BARGES DOCKING:

BARGES DOCKING:

BARGES DOCKING:

BARGES DOCKING:

The Team – Hugo Jellett, Lisa Williamson, Teresa Gorman, Adeline Minchin, Mary

Connolly, Louise Buckley and Sandra Walker – are encouraged to be imaginative and held

in check by the Board Cornelia McCarthy, Emma Geoghegan, Chris Chapman, Brian

O’Donoghue, Miriam Donohue.

TICKETS:Tickets for all events via the box office at

VISUAL Centre, in person (Old Dublin Road, Carlow) or by phone (0)59 9172400

but best of all via our website: www.carlowartsfestival.com

Dragon Boat Race (River Promenade, Carlow)

2 3

BEDWYR WILLIAMS: ECHT

GIMME MORE THE AIB ÉIGSE OPEN SUBMISSION36TH ANNUAL ART PRIZE OF €5000

VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art presents VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art presents

Opening Night Party & First Viewing

Main Gallery, VISUAL Centre30th May - 13th September

Digital Gallery, Visual Centre 30th May - 13th September

Bedwyr Williams is interested in the worst, worst-case scenarios and the people that get caught up in them; average-sized people in over-sized situations.

Echt presents a full size diorama of such an encounter – trees are upended, a bus has been abandoned and people’s possessions lie scattered. This immersive installation envelops visitors in a dystopian future, a tale of societal greed, where Kings are hoarders and status is based on conspicuous consumption.

In collaboration with EPFL+ECAL Lab Switzerland, two works from the ground-breaking ‘Gimme More’ exhibition explore the link between the physical and digital worlds via augmented reality-based immersive installations.

Previous incarnations of this award-winning exhibition have travelled to London, Milan, Paris, San Francisco and New York. In the work presented, the public is more than an audience; through their presence they become participants.

The AIB Éigse Open Submission takes centre stage at the festival’s visual art’s programme. In many ways this annual exhibition was a forerunner to the emergence of the Visual Centre for Contemporary Art, facilitating the presence of some extraordinary emerging artists and providing a platform for several established international artists to show their work in Carlow over the years.

This annual exhibition and prize invites artists to submit new or recent works. This year’s selector and curator is Lewis Biggs, curator of the Folkestone Triennial, former artistic director of the Liverpool Biennial and director of Tate Liverpool. The exhibition also features work by invited artists Eilis O’ Connell, Kathy Prendergast, Willie Doherty, Siobhan Hapaska and Micky Donnelly.

The AIB Éigse Award of €5000 for Visual Arts will be presented for the ‘most outstanding work in any medium’ on Friday 29 May 2015.

ALL WORKS ARE FOR SALE TO THE PUBLIC. Allied Irish Bank has kindly sponsored this prize.

Saturday 6th June | 3.30pm

Artist performance and talk with Bedwyr Williams. Places limited, reserve at 059 9172400

Link and Studio Gallery, Visual Centre for Contemporary Art30th May - 13th September

Associated Event

Willie Doherty, Donegall Lane, Belfast 1988 (2008)

Micky Donnelly Untitled (2012)

Kathy Prendergast Dark Embrace (2010)

Imag

e: C

ourt

esy

Glas

gow

Inte

rnat

iona

l.

Phot

o Ti

m M

oroz

zo

Imag

e: C

ourt

esy

Thom

as E

berw

ein,

Gh

osts

, 201

4.

Friday 29th May | 7-9pm

Please let us know if you wish to attend the Opening Night of the Festival (and the preview of the summer season exhibitions) at VISUAL (info@carlowartsfestival.com). The overall Eigse Open Submission prize-winner will be announced at this event, and the works selected will be on view for the first time.

At 9pm, a dozen galleries in the pop-up ‘cultural quarter’ will open (see p.25-29). At 10pm, guests are welcome to Deighton Hall (see p.22) where Emma Martin Dance and ChoiceCuts promise something unusual.

4 5

SOLO TO ORCHESTRAA TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

ALL IN THE TIMINGBY DAVID IVES

THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAYDIRECTED BY BRYAN BURROUGHS

PUSS IN BOOTSBY MARCELLO CHIARENZA

Eight immensely talented actors from The Sunshine State cross the Atlantic with these hilarious and ridiculous series of one-act plays by David Ives – mastered for a single performance in Carlow. This side-splittingly funny collection of short pieces lampoon everything from chimpanzees to the death of Trotsky.

The University of West Florida’s Department of Theatre – invited to perform by the Festival last year under the eagle eye of Carlow-born Floridian Howard Reddy and Carlow adoptee Charles Houghton – are a triumph in cross-cultural exchange programming: performance, education, experience, collaboration.

This gala recital of classical and contemporary works from the extraordinary talents that have emerged from Carlow College of Music in the past quarter-century – both alumni who have gone on to have prominent careers within the Arts, as well as professional musicians that have influenced, inspired and taught there, and also a youth orchestra accompanied by special guest Mícheál O Súilleabháin.

Performances include works by Mussorgsky, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Albéniz, Mozart, Borodin and Schubert. Mícheál O Súilleabháin will perform his own compositions Woodbrook and Crispy.

Carlow College of Music presents Rise Productions presents Lyngo Theatre presentsUniversity of West Florida’s Dept of Theatre presents

George Bernard Shaw TheatreSaturday 30th May | 7.30pm | €14/€18

George Bernard Shaw TheatreSunday 31st May | 8pm | €14

George Bernard Shaw TheatreTuesday 2nd June | 12pm | €5 (adults free)Deighton Hall

Monday 1st June | 8pm | €16/€14

Shakespeare Conservatoire: Twelve students will undertake

a week-long workshop focussing on the performance of Shakespeare, under the tuition of Donnacadh O’Briain (Royal Shakespeare Company), Bryan Burroughs (The Lir), Maisie Lee (Abbey) and Sophie Motley (Rough Magic).

Would you trust a talking cat? You never know, he might turn you from a pauper to a prince just like the hero of this story, brought to vivid life by Patrick Lynch from Cbeebies.

With smoke and mirrors and hidden trapdoors he’ll show you how this sure-footed feline fools both the King and the Ogre to put his master at the top. With a host of puppets, a working windmill and an avalanche of fruit and nuts, this classic furry tail is the cat’s whiskers!

Lingo Theatre (UK) is a theatre company whose work for children (4+) far outstrips their competitors.

School bookings 059 9173381.

Winner of Best New Play at the Irish Times Theatre Awards and a Fringe Festival sell-out success, The Games People Play is a radical re-working of the Tír na nÓg myth.

Niamh and Oisín were sold the dream – the house, the life, the kids. But what do you do when everything you ever dreamed of still isn’t enough? One night, a series of games starts to escalate, and threatens to unravel their suburban paradise.

Written by Gavin Kostick and performed by Aonghus Og McAnally and Lorna Quinn, this play explores the negative-equity generation in a poignant, witty and insightful way.

Associated Event

Associated Event

Associated EventSaturday 30 May | 1pm

Mícheál O Súilleabháin will give a talk to aspiring young musicians between rehearsals in the theatre. Reservations essential - info@carlowartsfestival.com

Director Brian Burroughs will introduce the performance with a pre-show talk.

AGES 4+

6 7

DANCING AT LUGHNASADIRECTED BY PADDY BEHAN

MAHLER’S SYMPHONY NO. 2 “RESURRECTION” CONDUCTED BY FERGUS SHEIL

Carlow Little Theatre presents Carlow Arts Festival, Carlow Local Authorities, Wide Open Music present

Woodford Dolmen Hotel Sunday 31st May | 7 - 9.45pm | Tickets €25

Frances Black’s inclusion amongst the best of Ireland’s female singers on the million selling album Woman’s Heart in 1993 secured Frances’ status and launched her solo career, and showcased her musical range from the traditional to upbeat country songs to ballads. It is not only that indisputable voice which has made Frances such a star, but her relaxed, honest and congenial approach to the triumphs and turmoil of her life.

Woodford Dolmen HotelFriday 5th June | 8pm | Tickets €20

It’s San Quentin Prison – rock n roll era – and Johnny Cash and his Tennessee troops take to the stage to deliver a dazzling display of that authentic BOOM CHICA BOOM style. This well-produced tribute to the great Man in Black, performed with a cast of ten musicians and actors, features a superb song-list of all the greatest hits, real-life prison officers might just give you some yard time, and possibly even a visit from June Carter and Elvis Presley.

George Bernard Shaw Theatre4th - 7th June 8pm €16 / €13 concession

Brian Friel’s colossal tale of a family in chaos in Ballybeg Village, Donegal, in 1936 is one of the most enduring works of theatre-making this country has known.

Carlow Little Theatre Society, whose recent productions include The Kings of Kilburn High Road (2014/5), The Beauty Queen of Leenane (2014), Calendar Girls (2013/4), and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (2012/3), bring this masterpiece to their hometown theatre.

Cast includes Keelin McDonald, Gillian Doyle, Aoife Reddy, Paula Drohan, Larry McNally, Irene Kane, Keith Whelan, and Gary McHugh.

FRANCES BLACK

AN EVENING WITH THE MAN IN BLACK

Mahler’s Second Symphony is of one of the most extraordinary masterpieces of the classical repertoire, a large-scale composition – the most celebrated and popular of all his works, and some of the most spiritually uplifting music ever written.

Resurrection calls for a large symphony orchestra and Carlow is delighted to be visited for this unique event by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra along with top Irish vocal soloists Miriam Murphy (soprano) and Imelda Drumm (mezzo). A large specially assembled choir with singers from Carlow Choral Society, Cormiosa, Aspiro and many other groups provides a huge outpouring of vocal talent that forms the climax of the final movement.

Mahler’s Symphonies are celebrated in concert halls throughout the world, but in Ireland they seldom appear outside of Dublin due to the scale and ambition of the undertaking.

Led by conductor Fergus Sheil of Wide Open Music, this project brings together many of the participants from previous successful collaborations such as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (2013) and the Carlow County Council’s opera commission Shelter Me from the Rain (2011).

This performance is sponsored by BANK OF IRELAND (Carlow) and we are honoured to be using Carlow’s majestic cathedral for the occasion.

Cathedral of the Assumption, CarlowBank Holiday Monday June 1st | 4.00pm to 5.30pm | Tickets €22.50

www.wideopenmusic.ie

€149 for Dinner B&B & Tickets for 2 T: 059 9142002

€149 for Dinner B&B & Tickets for 2 T: 059 9142002

8

5th – 7th June 2015Borris House and Village Co. Carlow

WRITERS

TEARSI R I S H W H I S K E Y

P O T S T I L L

‘In the Nature of Things’An exhibition of paintings by Mary BrennanCathedral Parish Centre, College Street 10.00am – 6.00pm daily

Excerpts from The ActorA reading by Cecil Allen from his book Library, Seven Oaks HotelWednesday 3rd June 7.00pm

‘Out and About’An Exhibition of Paintings by Attracta CarberyCedar Room, Seven Oaks Hotel11.00am - 7.00pm daily

‘Tranquility’An exhibition by Anne Deere The Atrium, Shamrock Plaza9.00am - 5.00pm daily

Exhibition of Oils and WatercoloursJacinta Crowley-LongSeven Oaks Hotel11.00am - 7.00pm daily

Musical Pop upsCarlow Amateur Musical SocietySaturday 30th May‘Mama Mia’ at Liberty Tree Fountain 12.30pm ‘Pick a Pocket or Two’ (Oliver) on Dublin St 2.00pm

‘Observation of Country Scenes’ An Exhibition of Paintings by Noreen MaddenCathedral Parish Centre, College Street11.00am - 6.00pm daily

An Exhibition of Paintings Helen O’MearaCathedral Parish Centre, College Street11.00am - 6.00pm daily

An Exhibition of paintings by Sally AshmoreNaive paintings in watercolour, mixed media, acrylic and oil.Cathedral Parish Centre, College Street11.00am - 6.00pm daily

Before & After Decorative Painting Workshops and exhibition of paintings by Catherine Ryan with readings throughout the day by Dr. Paul Francis Horan.55 Dublin Street10.00am - 6.00pm Daily

Picture Book: Local Scenes - Still Life - Portraits Exhibition by Lorraine Fenlon Carlow County Library, Tullow Street28th May - Sat 6th June as per Library Times

Watercolours, acrylics & pastels An Exhibition of paintings by Artist Trudi Doyle Seven Oaks Hotel 10.30am - 6.00pm daily

Carlow Writers Cooperative with The McHenry Group (USA)Workshop: Scripting fables for multiple readers / Creating scripted material with found content Carlow County Library, Tullow StreetWednesday 3rd June at 3.30pm

Workshop: Engaging with issues of social debate Carlow College, College StreetThursday 4th June at 3.30pm

Open Mic/Poetry Slam Competition Teach Dolmain, Tullow StreetThursday 4th June at 7.30pm

In 1985, when the Éigse Festival began to gain traction as a significant celebration of Visual Art, painters and sculptors from the locality starting using the dates as their annual showcase, self-curating their own retrospectives, solo or group exhibitions. From this, an unofficial Fringe was born, and these artists have become the most loyal participants of the Festival year-on-year.

LOCAL CULTURE

‘Memory Lane’An Exhibition of photographs by Karl McDonough30, 40 & 50 years agoBehind Whites Chemist, Tullow Street10am - 6.00pm daily The Carlow Art CollectionVenue: Carlow College, College Street, CarlowTime: 9.30am - 5.00pm daily (except Public Holidays) ‘Safe Haven’ Campus of St Dympna’s, Athy RoadSculpture, Paintings, Photographs, Textiles and more. 10.00am - 4.00pm daily Carlow RegattaCarlow Rowing ClubThe Quays, Carlow30th & 31st May

Barrow Dragon Boat Regatta7th June at 3.00pmCarlow Town Park Barrow Valley Group of Painters Annual ExhibitionPart of the 10-day cultural quarter, this long-standing art group hopes to bring to the festival a showcase of work (2014-2015). Established in 1973, the group consists of 34 artists who work in studio and en plein air producing work in oil, acrylic, watercolour, pastels and mixed media.11.00am - 6.00pm daily

9

Borris House, the seat of the High Kings of Leinster, at the foot of the

Blackstairs Mountains, with the River Barrow meandering by, is home to

the Festival of Writing & Ideas. It’s a place that the curious find inspiring.

Tickets, accommodation, directions, latest programme information:

www.festivalofwritingandideas.com

Architectural Farm, Mobile Motel (Dublin)The design draws on festival communality to create a space for stories and conviviality. Privacy and retreat is provided within a bespoke textile enclosure created in collaboration with Naoimh Prim.

Ryan Kennihan Architects (Dublin)This ‘tented room’ draws inspiration from Ottoman campaign tents - its simple structure belies a tactile and luxurious inner bedroom.

Ciara Murray Architects (Dublin)A private reflective space created by the play of light in a simple geometric enclosure.

PAC Studio (Dublin)Adaptive lightweight structure comprised of hinged poles of bamboo held in compression through a series of ropes in tension, wrapped with a taut canvas skin.

NOJI Architects and Elizabeth Clyne (Sligo)Based on a fortified ‘Tower Room’ this design uses a perforated inner chamber to allow light to diffuse into the sleeping space.

Lucy Jones / Christophe Antipas (Dublin/Amsterdam)Creating a walled-in bivouac-style enclosure with miniature private ‘garden’ and a canvas sleeping structure, occupants can step outside the festival into another space.

FKL Architects (Dublin)Illuminated from within, the unit consists of three plywood forms, an enclosure for a bed, a portal with a door and a frame for storage – and it is wrapped in a taut semi translucent skin.

MEME Architecture (Carlow/London)An enclosure is a cube in form, composed of coloured translucent panels, some of which slide to create overlapping hues and gently illuminate in response to distant low frequency sounds.

These architectural pods will be reassembled in Electric Picnic Festival (4-6 September).

The Mobile Motel Project AT BORRIS

Eight architects took up the challenge to design and build a standalone accommodation space with a microscopic materials budget and just TWO DAYS to be assembled. They will be located in the Walled Garden, and are open to visitors from 2pm to 5pm each day, after which they become the private and salubrious residences of several of our speakers.

SUNDAY 7th JUNE

SATURDAY 6th JUNE

FRIDAY 5th JUNE

12.00 - 13.00 Shane Hegarty in the Town Hall

16:30 - 17:30 Biographers Victoria Glendinning, Selina Hastings, and Lucy Hughes -Hallett, with Vincent Woods

18:00 - 19:00 Roy Foster on WB Yeats Nuala O’Connor and Diarmaid Future Farm with Science Gallery Ferriter on War of Independence

19.30 - 21.00 Lar Joye, Jane Wellesley, Hugh Joanne O’Riordan with Olivia Gough, Patrick Geogeghan and O’Leary Tommy Graham, on Wellington20.00 - 21.30 5x15 Stories: Alannah Weston, Ian Kelly, Giles Duley, Anthony Sattin, Surprise Guest

BALLROOM CHAPEL GRANARY

BALLROOM CHAPEL GRANARY

11:00 - 12:00 10.30 Brunch is Served Dylan Haskins + Lisa Hannigan with Myles Dungan meets Selina Rick Stroud and more Hastings

12:50 - 13:45 Tommy Tiernan head to head Mary Costello and Polly Samson Anthony Sattin talks with with Kevin Barry Manchán Magan on Africa

14:10 – 15:05 Michael Harding and AC Giles Duley, Olly Lambert, Fergal Anne Enright and Rosie Boycott Grayling chew the cud Keane on war’s legacy

15:30 – 16:30 Ian McEwan with Sinéad Guitarist Jim Moginie with Nick Catriona Crowe in conversation Gleeson Seymour, Clive Barnes and others with Roy Foster

BALLROOM CHAPEL GRANARY

BORRIS PLANNER

12.00 - 13.00 David Gilmour and Polly Nick Davies and Fintan O’Toole on 7.30 BOOK LAUNCH: Belinda Samson on songwriting. phone hacking McKeon’s Tender

13:30 - 14:30 Anthony Loyd and Ben Anderson Dylan Haskins + Lisa Hannigan with Stephen Bayley on Irish Design on ISIS with Fergal Keane Neil Jordan, Katie Hickman and more

15:00 - 16:00 Antony Beevor on Hitler’s Rosie Boycott and Anna Jones Michael Cunningham meets last gamble. Sophie Gorman

16:30 - 17:30 Lisa McInerney and Andrew O’Hagan talks with AC Grayling on The Challenge Colin Barrett Brendan Barrington of Things.

18:00 - 19:00 Ian McEwan, Michael Victoria Glendinning with Myles Theatre Unplugged: A Girl is a Cunningham, Neil Jordan Dungan Half-Formed Thing performed on films by Aoife Duffin

19.30 - 21.00 Donal Lunny, Nuala O’Connor, Ben Anderson and Ollie Lambert Philip King + Nicolas Carolan with Finton O’Toole remember Frank Harte

21.00 - 22.30 Tommy Tiernan Improv in Borris Village (Town Hall)

STEPHEN BAYLEY WILL LEAD A TOUR OF THESE INSTALLATIONS ON FRIDAY AT 4PM.

6.00pm - 7.00pm FUTURE FARMLooking ahead to Science Gallery’s 2016 FUTURE FARM exhibition: Beyond the extremes of intense industrial production versus a romanticised view of local production, what other visions are there? What are the new agricultures we could build?

7.30pm - 8.30pmWELLINGTON, WATERLOO & IRELAND A History Hedge School with Lar Joye (curator at the National Museum of Ireland), Patrick Geoghegan (Professor of History at Trinity and broadcaster), Hugh Gough (UCD), and Jane Wellesley (author of Wellington: A Journey through my Family). Chaired by Tommy Graham.

12.00pm - 1.00pmDARKMOUTH Finn is the last remaining Legend Hunter in the border town of Darkmouth, and he’s not very good at it. Author Shane Hegarty introduces this new hero. 7-11 year olds

7.30pm - 8.30pmNO LIMBS NO LIMITSInspirational Joanne O’Riordan talks to Olivia O’Leary. Followed by: 8.30pm In the company of the current guardians of Borris House, Morgan & Sara Kavanagh, Joanne launches the restored granary and new lace garden.

4.30pm - 5.30pm MORE THRILLING THAN THRILLERS Historical biographers Victoria Glendinning, Selina Hastings, and Lucy Hughes-Hallett talk to broadcaster Vincent Woods.

8.00pm - 9.25pm5 X 15 STORIES Five speakers, fifteen minutes, no notes. Alannah Weston (on combatting plastic garbage), Ian Kelly (on co-writing Vivienne Westwood’s autobiography), Giles Duley (on his experiences in the warzone), Anthony Sattin (on Lawrence of Arabia) and Surprise Guest.

5.45pm - 7.00pmYEATS 2015To mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the poet Roy Foster gives a lecture on WB Yeats, including a series of readings by very special guests.

10.45pm - Midnight The authentic sound of old blues, jazz and bluegrass players from one of the finest roots performers in Ireland, Clive Barnes.

This event takes place in O’Shea’s of Borris, a tavern and hardware shop.

Shane Hegarty Victoria Glendinning Selina Hastings Lucy Hughes-Hallett Roy Foster

Nuala O’Connor Diarmaid Ferriter Rosie Boycott Lar Joye Jane Wellesley

6.00pm - 7.00pmPUTTING A PRICE ON THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCENuala O’Connor, producer of Limits of Liberty, and Diarmaid Ferriter, Professor of Modern Irish History at UCD, discuss the Military Service Pensions Saga and the Irish Revolution’s legacy.

Joanne O’Riordan Olivia O’Leary Alannah Weston Ian Kelly Giles Duley

FRIDAY 5th June: AFTERNOON

FRIDAY 5th June: EVENING

www.festivalofwritingandideas.com Tel: 059 9172400

Weekend ticket: €95 Day ticket: €35 - €50 Individual talk tickets: €12.50 - €25

An initiative of: Hugo Jellett and Vivienne Guinness

2015 Curatorial Assistants: Eleanor O’Keefe, Dylan Haskins, Tom Morris

Thanks also to the Brian Guinness Charitable Trust and to Alan and Gianni Alen-Buckley (via The Ireland Fund)

Easons will be hosting the bookshop marquee, which will feature book readings, signings, a book launch and numerous activities throughout the weekend.

BORRIS HOUSE

TICKETS

C H I L D R E N ’ S E V E N TI N B O R R I S V I L L AG E

David Gilmour Polly Samson Nick Davies Fintan O’Toole Belinda McKeon

12.00pm - 1.00pm

LOST FOR WORDS Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour and writer Polly Samson - in their first public interview together - talk to Andrew O’Hagan about lyrics and their creative relationship.

12.00pm - 1.00pm

Nick Davies (The Guardian) and Fintan O’Toole (The Irish Times) discuss the phone hacking scandals and the undermining of independent investigative journalism.

3.00pm - 4.00pmSURPRISE TALK

12.00pm - 2.30pm

BOOK LAUNCH Winner of the Irish Book of the Year Award, Belinda McKeon, comes to Borris to launch her astonishing, lyrical and ambitious second novel Tender, published by Faber.

3.00pm - 4.00pmPulitzer-prize winner Michael Cunningham (The Hours, and most recently The Snow Queen) meets arts journalist Sophie Gorman to discuss how music shapes his writing, the state of American fiction, and reinterpreting Virginia Woolf and Hans Christian Anderson.

1.30pm - 2.30pmTHE ESCALATING TRADE IN HOSTAGES Veteran journalist Anthony Loyd, kidnapped in Syria, and Vice correspondent Ben Anderson talk to BBC’s Fergal Keane about ISIS tactics of kidnapping and execution.

4.30pm - 5.30pmTHE STORYTELLER’S ARTTwice Booker-nominated Andrew O’Hagan’s novels rise out of contemporary life (His latest, The Illuminations) and his non-fiction from the battlefronts of modern culture, including Jimmy Savile, Julian Assange and identity theft. He talks to Brendan Barrington (Dublin Review).

1.30pm - 2.30pmSOUNDINGS: HOLY TRINITY! Hosted by Dylan Haskins and Lisa Hannigan, with stories that shock, motivate and inspire to laugh. Guests include Neil Jordan (Filmmaker), Katie Hickman (author) and special guest.

4.30pm - 5.30pmANOTHER STRING OF PISS, NOW DEPARTEDColin Barrett (Young Skins, 2014 Guardian First Novel Award) and Lisa McInerney (The Glorious Heresies) on divine anarchy, eloquent violence and the outright gruesome in the new Ireland.

1.30pm - 2.30pm PORTRAIT OF THE DESIGNER AS A YOUNG MANDesign critic and former Head of the British Design Museum Stephen Bayley wonders if products are more enduring than prose, and why Ireland’s peerless literary traditions have not been matched in architecture and design — or have they?

4.30pm - 5.30pm THE CHALLENGE OF THINGS Philosopher AC Grayling explores the prejudices that result in conflict – and the myriad ways we can think our way through and out of these troubles times.

Anthony Loyd Lisa Hannigan Rick Stroud Katie Hickman Stephen Bayley

Antony Beevor Rob Doyle Rosie Boycott Michael Cunningham Sophie Gorman

3.00pm - 4.00pmHITLER’S LAST GAMBLE: ARDENNES 1944 Antony Beevor, bestselling author of Stalingrad, Berlin, D-Day and The Second World War, gives a major talk on the Führer’s ill-fated final stand.

Lisa McInerney Colin Barrett Andrew O’Hagan Brendan Barrington AC Grayling

SATURDAY 6th June: AFTERNOONSATURDAY 6th June: LUNCHTIME

Ian McEwan Neil Jordan Myles Dungan Victoria Glendinning Aoife Duffin

6.00pm - 7.00pm

FROM BOOK TO SCREEN Ian McEwan (Atonement), Michael Cunningham (The Hours) and screenwriter and director Neil Jordan discuss film adaptations — and the demands they make on the writer – with Grainne Humphreys (Director of JDIFF).

6.00pm - 7.00pm

VICTORIA GLENDINNING She’s told the stories of Swift, Trollope, Sitwell, Bowen, Sackville-West. Biographer and novelist Victoria Glendinning CBE meets Myles Dungan.

11.30am - 12.30pm

SOUNDINGS: HOLY TRINITY! Hosted by Dylan Haskins and Lisa Hannigan with stories that shock, motivate and inspire to laughter, with some tunes and special guests Rick Stroud, Victoria Glendinning and others.

11.30am - 12.30pm

THE RED EARLSelina Hastings talks with Myles Dungan about her father Jack Hastings, 16th Earl of Huntingdon, who disgraced his family through marriage, fled to Australia, happened into 20s Hollywood, and wound up as assistant to Mexican artist Diego Rivera.

7.30pm - 8.50pmSINGING VOICES Donal Lunny, Philip King, Nicholas Carolan and Nuala O’Connor remember Frank Harte, Dublin song collector and singer (1933-2005).

12.50pm - 1.45pmNavan comedian-provocateur Tommy Tiernan comes head to head with Limerick story-smith Kevin Barry (City of Bohane) to provide some answers to questions no one has thought to ask.

7.30pm - 8.30pmREPORTING FROM THE FRONTLINEApproaches to conflict journalism dissected by Ben Anderson (VICE News and Foreign Press Award winner) and Olly Lambert (Bafta-winning film-maker from Newsnight), with Fintan O’Toole.

12.50pm - 1.45pm

A GRIEF OBSERVED Desire and betrayal lie at the heart of Polly Samson’s The Kindness and Mary Costello’s Academy Street. They discuss using fiction to look at the darker side of life, with Sophie Gorman.

9.00pm - 10.30pm OPEN MOUTH – AN IMPROVISATION No games or audience suggestions. Tommy Tiernan walks onstage with no idea what’s going to happen and just begins. A full length, entirely composed in the moment, aria of mayhem.

Note this performance is in Borris Town Hall. Weekend and Saturday passes do not include this event.

12.50pm - 1.45pm Historian and travel writer Anthony Sattin talks with fellow globetrotter Manchán Magan on history and culture - either side of the Sahara - and why is it so misunderstood.

Donal Lunny Philip King Nicholas Carolan Ben Anderson Tommy Tiernan

Anna Jones Lisa Hannigan Myles Dungan Dylan Haskins Selina Hastings

10.30am - 11.30am

BRUNCH IS SERVED Join us for a late breakfast with our speakers, surprise chefs, and some spontaneous readings.

Kevin Barry Polly Samson Mary Costello Anthony Sattin Manchán Magan

SATURDAY 6th June: EVENING SUNDAY 7th June: MORNING

6.00pm - 7.30pm

A GIRL IS A HALF-FORMED THING Actress Aoife Duffin performs ‘unplugged’ the exceptional stage adaptation of Eimear McBride’s novel, created by Corn Exchange Theatre. Introduced by its director Annie Ryan.

(STAGE PERFORMANCE)

Michael Harding AC Grayling Giles Duley Fergal Keane Anne Enright

2.10pm - 3.05pmFresh from his stage role as The Bull McCabe, Michael Harding (Hanging With The Elephant) and AC Grayling (philosopher and controversial humanist) discuss everything and nothing.

2.10pm - 3.05pm

CASUALTIES OF WAR AND THE LIMITS OF EMPATHY What happens to local people once the media spotlight moves? Photojournalist Giles Duley, documentary filmmaker Olly Lambert and BBC Foreign Correspondent Fergal Keane.

3.30pm - 4.30pmIan McEwan’s writing career spans almost 40 years. He discusses his life and work – including his latest novel, The Children Act, his masterpiece Atonement and the importance of poetry and music to his work – with Sinéad Gleeson.

3.30pm - 4.30pmRoy Foster talks with Catriona Crowe onVivid Faces, the revolutionary generation’s families, romances and aspirations.

3.30pm - 4.30pm THE COLOUR WHEEL Assembled especially for Borris, led by Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil) a guitar orchestra featuring Nick Seymour, Clive Barnes, Conor Fenlon and Andrew Kelly will accompany a colour-wheel artist.

Ian McEwan Sinéad Gleeson Roy Foster Catriona Crowe Jim Moginie

SUNDAY 7th June: AFTERNOON

2.10pm - 3.05pmLaureate for Irish Fiction Anne Enright is addicted to the truth of things, the gaps in the human heart and how to fill them. She talks to broadcaster and writer Rosie Boycott.

LAUNCH OF LACE GARDEN Victorian Laundry and Granary

8.30pm | Fri 5th

The current guardians of Borris House, Morgan & Sara Kavanagh, invite you to join them for the unveiling of the restored Victorian Laundry, the 16th Century Granary, and a Lace garden which commemorates the world famous famine relief of Borris lace.

Joanne O’Riordan, inspired by Morgan’s infamous ancestor The Incredible Arthur Kavanagh (1831-1889), will speak at the launch.

A GUIDE TO GETTING PUBLISHED

10.15am - 12pm | Saturday 6th

Places €25 each (max 25 people)

Senior publishing figures – Alexandra Pringle (editor-in-chief, Bloomsbury), Dan Franklin (digital editor, Random House) and Antony Farrell (publisher, The Lilliput Press) – offer candid advice to fiction and non-fiction writers on how to get published. Practical tips on writing; editing; how to prepare manuscripts for agents and publishers; cover letters; recent industry trends and changes. Plus extended Q&A.

THE HOWS AND THE WHYS OF SUBMITTING WORK TO LITERARY JOURNALS

11.30am - 12.45pm | Sun 7th

Places €25 each (max 25 people)

Many a writer’s career has begun in a literary journal, so how should you go about submitting your work to them?

Brendan Barrington (Dublin Review) and Thomas Morris (Stinging Fly) explain how journals operate, how best to submit work, and why rejection isn’t cause for despair. Rob Doyle, who has published fiction and non-fiction in both these journals, will join the discussion.

SHORT STORIES: THE ART, THE CRAFT, AND THE GRAFT

2.45pm - 4pm | Saturday 6th

Places €25 each (max 25 people)

Thomas Morris (Stinging Fly editor and short story writer) will quiz award-winning writers Colin Barrett (Young Skins) and Rob Doyle (Here are the Young Men) on the making and shaping of short stories.

The panel will discuss how to begin and finish stories (as well as write the middles); how to create character, setting and voice; the importance of form.

PORTMANTEAU SAIDHBHÍN GIBSON The Laundry Room, Upper floor

WORKSHOPS

VISUAL ART

These photographs document what happens to a war-torn country and it’s people after the cameras have long since disappeared and the last army tanks have left.

Since being critically injured in a landmine explosion in Afghanistan, photojournalist Giles Duley turned his attention to capturing the long-term effect of war on communities across the globe.

LEGACY OF WAR: A PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION: GILES DULEY The Restored Laundry Building

(*not included in day ticket)

Saidhbhín Gibson’s work examines the ordering of nature. It questions the ever-increasing cleansing of the outdoors while looking at the subsequent lack of engagement with that which is not man-made.

Organic material is gleaned for the construction of art objects and then paired with human constructs to highlight the decorative present in our natural world.

21

A TEN-DAY CULTURAL QUARTER IN CARLOW TOWN

Come jo in us!

and help from Barrowline Cruises and

Connolly SuperValu (Bagenalstown)

A collaboration with:

Bring a vessel.

Bring a bike.Bring a tent.

BARGES DOWN THE BARROW

Carlow

Leighlinbridge Bagenalstown

Goresbridge

Borris Tinnahinch

30TH MAY ~ 5TH JUNE

EACH NIGHT: A different village A miniature festival of food and music

Four barges will depart Vicarsto wn on the River Barro w and travel o ver seven days to Borris. On bo ard - writers, painters, bro adcaster, pho to graphers, seasonal- ingredients chefs and musicians.

Ireland’s first ever floating festival!

DEIGHTON HALL

22 23

THE PIANO HAS BEEN DRINKINGAN EVENING OF TOM WAITS

Eric Butler & Band Presents

Deighton HallSunday 31st May | 8pm €17.50

This is the story of a “booze-soaked bard of the barstool, the keeper of a bad liver and a broken heart”. There is no way of knowing if it’s true or not, because Tom Waits is mischievous and fiercely private, and likes to make things up. All we know is, he has spent five decades honing the most unusual vocal style in music, a hybrid of blues, jazz, vaudeville.

The immensely diverse talent that is Eric Butler (piano, guitar, banjo, whistle, vocals, percussion) will steer a personage homage to the great Mr Waits, accompanied by Ken Nolan, David Ayers and Ger Farrell, performing his music, talking about his rollercoaster life, and listening to some pearls from the archive by the man himself.

SECRET SOUL SHACK EMMA MARTIN DANCEIN THE COMPANY OF CHOICECUTS

Deighton HallFriday 29th May | 9pm | €10

On the Opening Night of the Festival, Deighton Hall plays host to the first ever ‘Secret Soul Shack’.

For one night only, leading choreographer Emma Martin joins forces with renowned DJs ChoiceCuts to occupy this raw-brick Berlin-esque hall for an evening that fuses the best hand-picked, vinyl-only soul, funk and afrobeat … with a high-energy live performance by five visiting dancers that will unfold during the evening.

Emma Martin Dance is a dance theatre company whose work that has been described as ‘exquisitely raw and reckless’. She is dance artist in residence at Visual Centre of Contemporary Art.

ChoiceCuts is a renowned Dublin-based independent music promoter and DJ collective, resident at the Sugar Club.

ANDREEA BOUROS: LUNCHTIME RECITAL

Deighton HallSunday 31st May 1pm Tickets €12, Students €10

Deighton HallSaturday 30th May 7pm (40 mins) €11

Deighton HallWednesday 3rd June | 6.30pm

Accomplished Romanian violinist Andreea Bouros will give a very special hour-long recital showcasing her inspiring and extraordinary expertise. The repertoire will include George Enesco’s Ballad, Beethoven’s Sonata 8, Saint-Saens’ Danse Macabre and Romanian composer Ciprian Porumbescu’s Ballad.

Andreea has taught scores of violin students at the Carlow College of Music. She will be accompanied by pianist Gillian Daly, who graced the stage at the 2014 Festival.

Part of the Carlow College of Music 25th anniversary.

The first public performance of this solo dance piece by one of Carlow’s most daring and experimental artists.

“Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone.” said Paul Tillich. Sinéad Cormack explores this notion. Using light and choreography, the sorrows and joys of being alone in a crowd are brought into focus.

The U.S. based McHenry County College National Champion Literature and Performance Group come together with the Carlow Writers’ Co-Operative for a series of dynamic readings of poetry, drama, and story. The award-winning Illinois-based group – Lauryn Lugo, Chris Cox, Branden Dunlap and Bonnie Gabel – are renowned for their innovative performance style.

They join Carlow Writers Co-Op, who have worked with Gerry Morgan to develop a series of bespoke performances.

SINÉAD CORMACK‘ONE’

THEATRE OF STORY & VERSE: LITERATURE WITH A PULSE

The show will be finished in plenty of time for patrons to watch the fireworks down on the river promenade, at 11pm

DEIGHTON HALL

FREEEVENT

The McHenry County College + Carlow Writers’ Co-Operative present

TULLY’S BAR O’LOUGHLINS

24 25

TULLY’S BAR O’LOUGHLINS

STREET ARTSTREET ARTSaint John the Gambler is a riveting, hedonistic and hugely original band with a dance-inducing spirit. This Dublin-based group, with Carlow frontman Mark Baker, have melded sounds from by-gone eras and distant lands with modern song-writing, taking in influences from Old-Time Jazz, Klezmer, Americana and Vaudeville to create high-energy live shows that few other acts can deliver.

Friday Night May 29 | 8pm DoubleInstruMental Auxiliary Phoenix (live) + Jasper Rua

Saturday May 30 | 12pm onwards Arty Farty Malarky Video & Art + The Spinning Boy + Reverend JM’s Panic Worship

Saturday May 30 | 8pm Tea-Bee-Ay Ca-Ba-Re A fragrant pot-pourri of miscellany consisting of emerging performers presenting short bits from the fields of Music, Theatre, Literature and Fire-eating. (PS. There will be no fire eating)

Purveyors of music that meanders from sea-soaked waltz to Italian tarantella, from brassy funeral march lament to weep-along Yiddish knees-up, from chain-gang holler to rag-time finger-snap, The Eskies have brought this unique brand of folk noir / gypsy jazz / sea shanty (and a swaggering stage spectacle) to ballrooms and booze houses the length and breadth of the country, sullying soirees and lowering inhibitions everywhere.

THE ESKIES SAINT JOHN THE GAMBLER

TBA (TIME BASED ART)

Tully’s Bar, Tullow StreetFriday 29th May | 10pm Free to the thirsty

59 Dublin StFri 29th - Sat 30th May Free (but when it’s full, it’s full)

Tully’s Bar, Tullow StreetSaturday 30th May | 10pm Free to the thirsty

Marc Ivan O’Gorman’s curated ‘coach-house’– on the site of 17th century ‘Blackamoor Head Inn’ – is a wine tavern with a miniature theatre, live music stage, and a social space serving locally-brewed tonics and ales.

II I

II

Fusing traditional roots with contemporary folk and rock, Davie Furey’s music is characterised by storytelling, energy and guitar riffs that beat like a pulse. His 2009 album Out of your Arms was championed by Christy Moore, Phil Coulter and Jimmy McCarthy. This is the official launch of his follow up, Easy Come Easy Go.

Take a seat in the café nearby one of Mark Cronin’s extraordinary street art installations, and watch the public come to terms with it. It could be a hole in the road, a window to another world, and ladder that climbs nowhere….. all his trompe d’oeil projects provoke laughter and confusion, and he travels from Clare to Carlow to re-calibrate one or two well-known spots on Dublin Street.

HOT TIN ROOFDAVIE FUREYALBUM LAUNCH

O’Loughlins Sunday 31st May 8.30pmFree to the thirsty

Scottish duo Hot Tin Roof play stripped back atmospheric blues ‘n soul, with Andy McKay Challen on acoustic guitar & voice, and Gavin Jack on electric lead & slide guitar. Regulars in the back-street bars of Edinburgh & Glasgow, and their distinct sound is ingrained in the thriving underground Scottish blues scene.

O’Loughlins PubSaturday 30th May 8.30pmFree to the thirsty

As An Post undertake a restoration of the dilapidated façade of the Carlow Post Office, The Pure Thinking Group spearhead the regeneration of our neglected streetscape with a highly visible community arts project, which promises to leave a significant legacy in its wake.

28 local artists were invited to create a portrait of an individual who inspired them – forming the basis of a large-scale exterior frieze.

Burrin StreetUnveiling: Friday 29 May | 9.30pm

PORTRAITS FOR THE POST OFFICETHE PURE THINKING GROUP MARK CRONIN:

3D ILLUSION ARTIST

TWO ANAMORPHIC INSTALLATIONS

Dublin Street (you have to find them)

GALLERIES

26 27

This exhibition is based on two landscape film artworks completed under Arts Council Project Awards. Materials uses pure natural terrain as the source material, married with the artist’s own ambient score, to weave a story through the Irish landscape, shot through with subconscious motif: a seamless atmospheric journey that takes us from dawn to dusk and from birth to death.

Over the last ten years David King’s work has explored purity, negativity, and the clearness of ambiguity. Using the language of abstract form he maps the sensuous geography of place, time and the emotional and intellectual elements that exist there. His work is continually evolving, each body of work offering a wholly fresh dialogue, ‘reinvesting familiar genres with new meanings’.

Eileen MacDonagh is best known for her monumental sculptural works in stone and steel, so this intimate show of her scale models and maquettes provides an unusual narrative on her career for the last twenty-five years. This exhibition, assembled by artist Tadhg McSweeney, will give a perspective of the artist’s working practice, models in wood, polystyrene, metal, stone, of ideas both abandoned and brought to life.

Orlagh Murphy explores our memory of the two most significant sites of our early formation, home and school. The image of the rural schoolhouse in Ireland evokes strong associations with the past; the journey on foot from home to school and back again was a daily ritual. This exhibition comprises a series of ten mixed media works combining photographic images with oil on a ceramic base.

Blueprint is an artist’s network for the Carlow area. With a focus on the contemporary, its remit is primarily visual – but it has always left the door open to performance art.

Artists include Maureen Phelan, Brian Bastick, Sue White, Mary Cullen Kelly, Anthony Walsh, Brigid Teehan and Ian Mannion. Curated by Anthony Walsh and Mary Cullen Kelly.

Primarily a figurative painter, Daragh Hughes’ interest in the human form – and his ability to capture the body as a true narrative rather than an ideal – have led him to explore a series of studies on animals.

Feral, skeletal forms hewn from timber and found items, and often clothed in a skin of translucent material represent creatures which are powerful and wild and at the same time emaciated or long-extinct.

Following recent arts festival engagements and workshops with Tomaz Lunder, Amelia Stein and John Minihan, the Carlow Photographic Society – comprising some 50 members – continue their laudable and intuitive journey of developing their practice. Former graphic designer and experiential writer Brendan Harding worked with the group on a series of photographic posters.

Founded in 2007 as a pilot scheme to bring amateur artists together and grow their understanding of contemporary art ideas and practice – and to receive tuition in skilled-based processes within that context – The Kilkea Group have found success in the immense diversity of their individual ongoing practices. Under the tuition and mentoring of artist David King (see p.26), they develop and encourage each other to partake in and understand art practice and to progress their own styles. Includes works by artists including Ber Rowan, Clare Durdin Robertson and Elizabeth Fingleton.

GALLERIES I GALLERIESGALLERIES IEILEEN MACDONAGH MAQUETTES AND MODELS

9 Dublin Street

DAVID KINGCONDITIONS OF POSSIBILITY

1 Dublin Street

3 Dublin Street

ORLAGH MURPHY FROM WHERE WE ONCE LIVED AND LEARNED

DAVID BICKLEY RARE EARTH: MACHINES (2015) AND MATERIALS (2014)

Assembly Rooms, Dublin Street, Carlow

DARAGH HUGHESANIMALS

Dublin Street

BLUEPRINT GROUPSPACE

Dublin Street

A SENSE OF PLACEAN EXHIBITION BY THE CARLOW PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

Castle House, Castle Hill

KILKEA GROUP SPECTRUM

11 Dublin Street

All galleries open 30th May - 7th June, 11am - 6pm All galleries open 30th May - 7th June, 11am - 6pm

28 29

The aim of both these workshops is to help participants to loosen their painting style and to make their own intuitive response to the subject matter. Workshop costs include materials, stimulating exercises and demonstrations, one-to-one tuition, lunch, gallery tour, field trip and take-home notes.

‘Abstracting the Landscape’ (€175 per person) 31 May – 1 June, Carlow Town, including a barge ride to a field location

‘Adventures in Abstract Art’ (€195 per person) 6 - 7 June 2015, Carlow Town

Book a place direct with Cora call 087 3275131

Carlow Town

CORA MURPHY WEEKEND PAINTING WORKSHOPS

Dermot O’Brien’s attic took so long to clear, that he unearthed a photographic archive of life in Carlow that had aged into quite a significant collection. He used a social media site to reveal his find, with the result that multitudes of others added to the trove. In 2014 he published a book of 700 photographs. This exhibition is a selection from that book.

OLD CARLOW PHOTOGRAPHS

Cantina (formerly Café Formenti)20 Dublin Street10am - 4pm / after 7pm

Kilkenny’s Blackstack, a collective of skilled professional artist printmakers, present an exhibition of contemporary fine art prints.

Artists include Aiseling Noone, Sylvia Hemmingway, Maeve Coulter, Jacqui O’Neill, Vicky Cody, Helen Robbins, Ale Mercado, Andrew Kelly, Mella Cahill and John Busher. The exhibition features several print disciplines which are practised in the studio (etching, silkscreen, photoetching, collagraph, drypoint, woodcut and textiles).

www.blackstackstudio.com

BLACKSTACK STUDIO

Dublin Street

Uniting for their sixth group show, this dynamic visual arts collective, infused with the common language of their shared domestic lives in the rural hinterland of the Blackstairs Mountains, will present an exhibition of recent works.

The Nine Stones Artists consistently make stunning, eclectic and intriguing work. Remco de Fouw, Michelle Byrne, Anthony Lyttle, Annabel Konig, Gwen Wilkinson, Martin Lyttle, Jules Michael and Rachel Joynt.

THE NINE STONES ARTISTS

Gate Lodge, Carlow College

GALLERIESGALLERIES I June Bank Holiday Weekend Sat May 30th ~ Mon June 1st

DUBLIN STREE T | TULLOW STREE T | CASTLE STREE T | BURRIN STREE T

Junk Kouture Fashion Show 3pm TH

Gospel Hootenany 2pm ST

Firework Display 10.45pm ST

STREET CARNIVAL

All galleries open 30th May - 7th June, 11am - 6pm

Busking on 3 stages Food and craft vendors Caravan Club Extravaganza SYMPHONIC WIND BAND

NEVERMISSOUT

CULTUREFOX

CULTUREFOX.IE