visit
On Friday, December 28th – Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, commenced a three-day visit to China and held a number of engagements of significant cultural and business importance.
He held official talks with the China Minister for Culture, Cai Wu. A Cultural Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is in place between Ireland and China; this meeting discussed the progress made in advancing the cultural links, and exploiting the cultural opportunities, between both countries. In addition, Minister Deenihan raised the possibility of China establishing a cultural centre in Ireland.
Deenihan also discussed business and cultural links and Ireland’s Presidency of the European Council with his counterpart. Minister Deenihan assumed the Chair of the EU Council of Culture Ministers yesterday, January 1st, 2013.
As part of this visit, Minister Deenihan also presented the China Minister for Culture with a gift of an artist residency at Cill Rialaig for a prominent Chinese artist.
The Arts Council Northern Ireland have been advocating for the enhancement of visual arts provision in Northern Ireland’s festivals’ programmes. This is an area we often programme our normal activity without the really getting the benefits of the festivals’ audience and media opportunities. In association with VAI, Deirdre Robb of ACNI has arranged a visit to Belfast from Woodrow Kernohan from the EVA+ to open the discussion.
This will take place on the 23rd July 11.30 at ACNI MacNeice House, 77 Malone Road, BT9 6AQ. Whilst this meeting will be pretty informal, we will be setting an agenda to keep some structure to the visit.
Agenda: Deirdre Robb – Welcome and introductions; EVA+ -Woodrow Kernohan; Belfast Festival at Queens – Shan McAnena (TBC); Open discussion.
If there is anything you want put on the agenda and to register a representative of your organisation to attend the meeting please contact
Deirdre Robb | Visual Arts officer | Arts Council of Northern Ireland | MaceNiece House, 77 Malone Road | Belfast |BT9 6AQ
Tel +44 (0)28 9038 5200 | Ext 241| drobb@artscouncil-ni.org
Limerick city is to be designated as the first in a new national ‘City of Culture’ initiative, delivering a programme of cultural events and engagement in the city in 2014. Minister Jimmy Deenihan TD made the announcement after discussing the initiative on a recent visit to the Limerick School of Art and Design to open their graduate show. The City of Culture initiative will seek to bring artists, arts organisations, local authorities and civic groups and get them to work together through the design of a calendar of events that showcases all that the city has to offer in arts and cultural expression. Limerick has been chosen to be start the initiative, which will see one city in Ireland designated a City of Culture ever two years, holding the designation for one calendar year.
For more information on the announcement, please visit: http://www.limerickleader.ie/lifestyle/entertainment
