Department of Social Protection

Irish Equity, on behalf of its members has been engaging the Department of Social Protection to ease the difficulties experienced by our members when dealing with local offices during their  non working periods. As part of this engagement we have secured the commitment from the Department that actors will not be targeted as part of the 12 month TUS scheme. If an actor wishes to participate then they can have the flexibility to opt out for periods of employment within their profession. The letter below from the Department can be used by any Irish Equity member in their dealing with local offices of the Department of Social Protection.

Any members encountering other kinds of difficulty with the Department should email us at equity@siptu.ie to advise us as we are collecting information on these issues that actors face on a regular basis so that we can continue to lobby the Department for change.

TUS letter

Strumpet City Exhibition

In association with James Plunkett’s novel ‘Strumpet City’ being the UNESCO City of Literature 2013 Dublin: One City, One Book, Graphic Studio Gallery will be hosting an exhibition in connection with this epic book. The exhibition, also entitled ‘Strumpet City’, will run from the 11th of July to the 24th of August, and will feature a collection of contemporary fine art prints of various aspects of Dublin city and its history. This year’s choice of ‘Strumpet City’ as Dublin’s One City One Book is especially appropriate as 2013 is the centenary of the Dublin Lockout around which much of the novel is centered. 2013 is also the year that Graphic Studio Gallery celebrates its 25th anniversary. To commemorate this, Graphic Studio Dublin members and gallery artists will create fine art prints that deal with many of the themes explored in Plunkett’s novel: poverty, a generation’s survival and pre-independence Dublin itself.

Using traditional printmaking techniques to explore Plunkett’s novel is highly apt as print would have been the method employed to communicate in the Dublin of Larkin’s time.

Graphic Studio Gallery’s fine art print exhibition will offer a unique opportunity to interact with the novel in the form of visual art.

Throughout the two months we will be hosting a series of talks, printmaking demonstrations and readings based on the exhibition and book. And in September 2013, the exhibition will be hosted by SIPTU in Liberty Hall.

For further information, contact Paula on 01 679 8021 or
gallery@graphicstudiodublin.com
Gallery opening hours: Mon – Fri: 10am – 5.30pm, Sat: 11am – 5pm

 

TALKS, SONGS AND PRINT DEMONSTRATIONS

SATURDAY 13TH JULY 2013, 1.30PM – 2.30PM Artist Ruth O’Donnell will give a talk and demonstration on unlocking the secrets of the technique Sugar lift. Ruth will print up sections from her Strumpet City print ‘Dublin 2013 (Words on the Street)’ on our small etching press.

SATURDAY 27TH JULY 2013, 1.30PM – 2.30PM Letterpress printing has a long history from Gutenberg’s developments in the 1450s to the mechanisation of the late 19th century. At the turn of the twentieth century and during the time of ‘Strumpet City’, every newspaper, book, poster or notice would have been set in metal and wooden type and printed letterpress.

Mary Plunkett, designer and print-maker will give a short introduction to letterpress printing and demonstrate some of the processes involved: setting type, arranging in a chase and printing a sample on a small table top press.

THURSDAY 8TH AUGUST 2013, 6.30PM Join us for a great evening of songs, stories and imagery of the 1913 Lockout and ‘Strumpet City’, including historical commentary by Francis Devine and Fergus Russell. Artist and writer, Brian Lalor, will also give a talk and visual presentation on ‘Drawing James Plunkett’s Dublin’. Not to be missed!

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE. BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL

Email: gallery@graphicstudiodublin.com | Tel: 01 679 8021

Artists: Yoko Akino, Anne Anderson, Paul Bailey, Margaret Becker, Carmel Benson, Gerard Cox, Aisling Dolan, Susan Early, Camilla Fanning,

Paula Fitzpatrick, Niamh Flanagan, Gerard Greene, Mary Grey, Alice Hanratty, Marianne Heemskerk, Clare Henderson, Gavin Hogg,

Siobhan Hyde, Brian Lalor, Jennifer Lane, Sharon Lee, Louise Leonard, Daniel Lipstein, Tom Macken, Brett Mac Entagart, Niamh Mac Gowan, James McCreary, Niamh McGuinne, Bernadette Madden, Susan Mannion, Fieda Meaney, Liam Ó Broin, Suzannah O’Reilly,

 Ruth O’Donnell, Ciara O’Hara, Gay O’Neill, Mary Plunkett, Paula Pohli, Sarah Rogers, Dermot Ryan, Joe Ryan, Deirdre Shanley,

Constance Short, Adrienne Symes, Elke Thönnes, Marja Van Kampen & Marta Wakula-Mac

Irish Equity, SIPTU and Equity UK meet to campaign to advance rights for actors

irishequityIrish Equity, SIPTU and Equity UK met in Liberty Hall on Tuesday (21st May) and debated the challenges confronting actors who live and work in the Republic of Ireland and international actors who come to work in Ireland

Both unions have agreed that the exploitation of actors arising from the refusal of the industry in Ireland to conclude international standard collective agreements and the effect of the Competitions Act in restricting the rights of certain actors to engage in collective bargaining are matters that need to be addressed as a priority.

SIPTU has put in place a plan targeted at building the capacity of Irish actors through their union to achieve such agreements. Coupled with the expertise of Equity UK, these initiatives will be used to ensure the plan has maximum effect.

Both unions have also agreed to establish a joint action group involving members and organisers that will work on developing further initiatives that will support this work over the short and medium term.

In June 2013, members of Irish Equity along with Equity UK will meet with sister unions from the US, Canada and Australia when further efforts will be explored to develop solidarity and support for this work.

Members of Equity executive who attended the discussions welcomed the meeting and the progress made. On behalf of the executive, the President of Irish Equity, Padraig Murray, expressed his hope that the effects of these initiatives will be to deliver a strong voice though their union that will protect, defend and advance the interests of actors.

Show in a Bag

Show in a Bag is an artist development initiative of Dublin Fringe Festival, Fishamble: The New Play Company and Irish Theatre Institute to resource theatre makers and actors. The first Show in a Bag initiative was established in 2010 by Fishamble: the New Play Company, ABSOLUT Fringe and Irish Theatre Institute to facilitate the creation of five new small scale, tourable shows which would highlight the talents and skills of performers making work for the Dubin Fringe.

An open call for submissions is made and applications are assessed and shortlisted following which interviews are conducted and the actors are selected. Created with playwright Gavin Kostick to the artists’ specifications, Show in a Bag provides actors with the opportunity to have their very own small-scale, tourable show. Selected actors, or pairs of actors, produced and performed their own productions at Bewley’s Café Theatre as part of ABSOLUT Fringe 2010, 2011 & 2012.

Following the huge success of Show in a Bag, ITI is delighted to partner again with ABSOLUT Fringe and Fishamble: the New Play Company once again for Show in a Bag 2013. ITI is working to ensure the national venues and festival presenters most suited to present productions from Show in a Bag 2013 will view the showcase of performances and have an opportunity to meet the artists at the annual Information Toolbox networking event. Further information on the 2013 Show in a Bag particpiants will follow in due course!

This article first featured on the Irish Theatre Institute website.

Arts Council Chairman Says State Should Take Wider View on Stimulus Plans

Dublin, Thursday 27 June, 2013: The Chairman of the Arts Council, Ms Pat Moylan, has said the State should not take such a narrow view of stimuli for the economy and it needs to get away from the Celtic Tiger thinking that the only stimulus jobs that can be created are in construction.

Speaking at the Arts Council briefing on the arts sector, Ms Moylan said all stimuli plans have to be welcomed including the latest decisions regarding schools, roads and transport.

“However if the State is going to invest its reserves, it should do so in an imaginative way that will reap a sustainable dividend for the country.”

“Sometimes there is too traditional a view that what creates jobs quickly are construction projects only.  This is narrow thinking.  The arts has untapped potential, already supports almost 21,000 jobs and contributes significantly to the economy.”

“The arts are job intensive and create an unmatched dividend for Ireland in reputation as well as fostering innovation and ideas.  In a global environment where Ireland needs to be known for things other than tax and bad banks, the arts give Ireland a glow and a competitive edge. The arts play a role in developing a flexible, creative and innovative workforce and are playing a part in the recovery with spin off industries like gaming which depends so much on creativity and artistic content.”

“The work of the Arts Council continues to be affected by the national economic difficulties.  We have less funds than we had five years ago, with a 30 per cent cut in state funding.”

The Arts Council received €63.24 million in grant in aid from the Exchequer for 2012 and €59.865 million for 2013.  Ms Orlaith Mc Bride, Director of the Council, said a measure of the endurance, courage and creativity of Irish arts organisations and artists is that despite the ever decreasing funding, the Council received almost 3,500 applications for its various award programmes.

“This level of application shows the untapped potential of the sector if more funding was available.  The risk of continuing cuts and limited investment funds is that great ideas are lost and access to great art is reduced.  The arts have the potential to be central to a creative sector that could generate major economic activity and employment.”

Only one in four applications by individual artists are able to be funded due to limited resources, while nearly two out of every three applications by arts organisations have to be rejected.  The Arts Council funds 180 festivals each year, 158 of them small ones which are vital to tourism, local economies and summer memories for tourists and young people especially.  The Council supports 150 bursaries for individual artists, as well as commissions and touring of shows.

“In the midst of real difficulty artists and arts organisations react with inspired courage for the future.  Irish artists are the living source of inspiration and excellence that animate our cultural life nationally and continue to do so despite many, many challenges including, like with others in society, unemployment, emigration and poverty.”

The Arts Council supports almost 50 venues across the country with every county represented as part of its long standing partnership with local authorities.  “Working with venues is a key way of realizing greater access to and for the arts,” Ms McBride said.  “Partnership with local authorities is one of the most important relationships for the Arts Council and for the arts in Ireland. The Arts Council continues to support the work of the 34 local authority arts services in Ireland and engages strategically with local authorities on arts matters.”

For the first time in many years, an Abbey main-stage production, The Plough and the Stars, toured regionally to three venues in 2012.  Highlights during 2012 for the Council included the celebration of its 60th birthday with a major series of visual art exhibitions called Into the Light with four prominent galleries.  The President Mr Higgins visited the Council at its office at Merrion Square, Dublin to mark the anniversary.  2012 was a major year for architecture with four practices represented at the Venice Architecture Biennale.  In 2012, 157 Aosdana members benefited from the Cnuas.

 

 

« Previous Page