Minister Catherine Martin T.D. has announced a new Artist in Residence scheme which will reflect on the Decade of Centenaries by drawing on the rich collections held in Ireland’s National Cultural Institutions and other bodies.
The programme is in partnership with the National Museum of Ireland (NMI), the National Library of Ireland (NLI), the National Archives (NAI), the Beyond 2022 Project and the Military Archives as part of the Decade of Centenaries Programme 2021-2023.
Beyond 2022 is a project based in Trinity College Dublin, in collaboration with the National Archives, the National Archives (UK), the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, the Irish Manuscripts Commission and The Library of Trinity College. The project is part of project Ireland 2040 and aims to create a virtual reconstruction of the Record Treasury of the Public Record Office of Ireland, which was destroyed during the Irish Civil War in 1922.
The researchers on the Beyond 2022 team are engaged in fascinating detective work, hunting for copies and transcripts of original documents lost in the destruction of 1922. On the technology side the sensation of entering a building (in virtual reality) which nobody has set foot in for a hundred years, is very exciting. Combining these two activities – archival discovery and digital creativity - reopens a doorway into the Record Treasury.
The Beyond 2022 Decade of Centenaries Artist in Residence will be based at the Trinity Long Room Hub, the Public Humanities Partner of Beyond 2022, where the Artist will benefit from a vibrant, interdisciplinary intellectual community of academics and researchers on Irish history, literature and the creative arts. Digital Humanities, at the interface of technology and the Arts and Humanities, is a key part of Beyond 2022’s activity.
...this new initiative by the Government is a welcome step in acknowledging how the arts and humanities can really contribute and enrich our understanding of the past, presenting new narratives and re-interpreting old ones through the archives.
This call is open to creative practitioners in all art forms. In recent years, the Trinity Long Room Hub has hosted residencies ranging from visual artist, Rita Duffy, to composer Michael Gallen and last year, the theatre company, Rough Magic.
The residency will run for twelve months, and the closing date for applications is the 19 March 2021. For more information on the Beyond 2022 Artist in Residence application process, click here.
Announcing the new funding scheme, Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Minister Catherine Martin T.D. said:
“As we embark on the final, most challenging phase of the Decade of Centenaries, new programmes such as this can serve to bring some of our rich primary source material into the public domain in engaging and imaginative ways. Artistic and creative endeavours will have an important role in encouraging reflection, exploration and debate during the remainder of the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023, allowing people of all traditions to question and consider issues which may be challenging and difficult”.
Dr Peter Crooks, Founding Director of the Beyond 2022 Project commented:
“The Decade of Centenaries artist in residence scheme is an exciting opportunity for Beyond 2022 to re-imagine Ireland's deep history with the benefit of a creative gaze. We look forward to welcoming the Artist in Residence and working together with the Trinity Long Room Hub to explore how our national archival tragedy a century ago can inspire creative arts practice to engage new audiences today.”
Professor Eve Patten, Director of the Trinity Long Room Hub said:
“We are honoured to be able to play a continuing role in the Decade of Centenary commemorations, and this new initiative by the Government is a welcome step in acknowledging how the arts and humanities can really contribute and enrich our understanding of the past, presenting new narratives and re-interpreting old ones through the archives.”
To find out more about the Artist-in-Residence Scheme 2021 on the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, click here.