" Contemporary Arts Exhibition"
This was a very successful and varied show of Contemporary Artwork from Artists throughout the country.
The old Village Market next door to the Arts Centre at No 26 provided an ideal venue.
Running for the two weeks of the festival, it attracted people from far and wide.
Co-facilitated and Co-curated by Helen Farrell and Darragh Howard.
"Liubov's lovely sculptures
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Ranelagh Arts Festival 2012
I remember looking forward to Ranelagh Arts Festival 2012, and thinking at the time that that it would be a great experience to photograph, record and write about as many events as I could manage. ...
Alas, it wasn't to be ..the festival ended up being a runaway success, but it literally ran away with itself for the duration of the 2 weeks , taking on a life of it's own. I ended up getting none of the above done! - but I had great fun. Every day (evening) there was an event or two to try to catch, and lots of new people to meet. It is amazing how people come out of the woodwork for local events. Possibly, people prefer to attend events locally, rather than make their way into the city centre.
As usual this Arts Festival was co-ordinated, organised and run entirely by a brilliant group of available volunteers. Sixty events took place, and comprised visual arts exhibitions, workshops, local historical walks, music gigs, recitals, concerts, readings, films, dance and lots more.. More info available on www.ranelagharts.org .
So for anyone who may be interested in the events which took place..here we go..
a copied and pasted Event Guide, which may be of interest to someone in the future,
"The festival opens with a bang on Saturday 15th, and we’re urging everyone to return to the Ranelagh Gardens, once known as the Ranelagh pleasure gardens, where people would wander and be serenaded by singers and musicians at every turn. We’ve tried to recreate that feeling, and there will be an Opera, string quartets, dancers, plays, and drummers throughout the day as well as some other wonderful treats for the senses.
Highlights of the festival include
• Saturday 15th, 8pm – Super group Altan will be joined by special guests Liam O Maonlai and Triona Marshall of the Chieftains fame to present an amazing night of their classics as well as excerpts from their new album. " Setting up the stage in the Village Market"
• Monday 17th, 8pm– Acclaimed Chopin specialist Kevin Fitzpatrick, comes to Ranelagh to play a selection of Waltzes, Mazurkas and Polonaises. Sure to be a sell out performance.
• September 21st 8.30pm– Donal Lunny and Anthony Cronin present a night of music and poetry based on Anthony Cronin’s’ HMS Titanic.
• Monday 24th 8pm– The Wearing of the Green hosted by Daragh Maloney of RTE, featuring well known author Peter Byrne, Irish football legend Paddy Mulligan and General Secretary of the FAI John Delaney, an evening of discussion and reflection on the past, present and future of football in Ireland.
• Wednesday and Thursday 26th and 27th 8pm– Former UK Champion slam poet Racker Donnelly and one of the most highly regarded finger style jazz guitarists of all time, Duck Baker, join forces to present an exceptional night of jazz and poetry.
• 28, 29,30th September 8pm– Renowned theatre company, Focus theatre present ‘Down by the River’ written and directed by Paul Kennedy.
• Friday 28th – Vaudeville night, featuring a host of musicians including Eoin Dillon, Ronan and Colm O Snodaigh of Kila fame, magicians, acrobats, jugglers, silent films, a speaker’s corner and much much more. ( See our brochure on our webpage or keep up to date with our Facebook and Twitter )
Volunteers working away......preparing the old Village Market for the Contemporary Art Exhibition.
Throughout the festival – The Cineclub will be presenting celebrated and award winning documentaries, Hotel Darklight, Throw Down Your Heart, Breaking Boundaries and Swansong. All featuring q&a sessions with directors or producers beforehand
Art, Guitar, Belly dancing, Samba, Arabic drumming and various other workshops will run throughout the festival
There will be a series of walks throughout the local area presented by Pat Liddy, James Connolly Heron and several other local historians.
Ranelagh Arts Festival runs from September 15-29, 2012. Book online at entertainment.ie or from box office, Ranelagh Arts Centre mon-fri 12-5pm 015477775 from September 10th
AND
It's sad to say but we're nearing to the end of our first ever two week festival. However, we've still two days left, and after wonderful performances on thursday from Racker and Duck, a fantastic first night of Down by the river,from Focus Theatre, Storytelling from Spontaneous Theatre, Americana music from Harpers Ferry, and wonderful medieval music from the Dublin Consort we have even more happening on Friday!
The finished work from the Little People in Ranelagh workshops will be up on display in the Ranelagh Arts Centre.
This is the final day to be able to view our groundbreaking exhibition of Contemporary Art in the unique Market Space Venue.
This is also the last weekend that the Art in the windows exhibition is up in the shops and businesses around Ranelagh. There are some wonderful pieces partaking and some bargains to be had!
Also make sure to pop into a wonderful exhibition of photographs from the Lebanon, created by photographer Fares Fares and opened by Brian Keenan, - two lovely gentlemen storytellers. This is on show till next tuesday and is a beautiful celebration of the Lebanese culture.
Tonight we have a performance at 8pm of 'Down By The River' from Focus, Down By The River is a fast and furious play, familiar and yet strange, comic and yet tinged with a soulful sense of loss.
Finally.....Attention- bohemians, jugglers, conjurers, songsters, conversationalists, story tellers, Mimes, silent film Lovers and balladeers will convene to provide an evenings entertainment for the people of Ranelagh. Featuring Eoin Dillon, Ronan O'Snodaigh, Colm O'Snodaigh, Seanan Brennan, Joey Magic, Frank Brady, Johnny Piano, Ronan Sheehan, Mark Whale,Nellie Murphy and many more.
as always, more info at ranelagharts.org
AND FINALLY A THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR ALL THEIR SUPER WORK
Sadly, Ranelagh Arts Festival came to a close on Saturday night ..with two very talented bands Manteca and Entheos entertaining us royally in the versatile Village Market.
Manteca provided a rare treat of rich, colourful Cuban jazz fusions with our own artistic director Beccy taking to the stage with her trumpet making a special guest appearance. ..and all with no previous band rehearsal !
The raw and gutsy strains of Entheos ( photo) performing a gritty form of guitar-driven folk…with galloping rhythms…attractive mid Eastern flavours, sturdy bodhrán and gutsy vocals brought us to a grand finale . But not for them , as they were only warming up for the Workmans Club the following night when they released their CD - Where creatures meet..a must hear..Overheard the audience described as a "quality audience". A big thank you for that , folks..
Thank you too to the Focus Theatres" Down by the River" which concluded it's very successful 3 day run in the centre on Saturday eve.( watch out for a month long lunchtime run of this play in Bewleys next month )
.and also to the Ranelagh Players for their beautiful baroque evening in Sandford Church..
To all the performers, audiences, volunteers and organisers..you all know who you are ..a hundred , thousand thanks for helping make this years festival a runaway success...and all on a shoestring budget.
See you next year !!
L-R: Singer David Noone and Artistic Director Beccy Fitzpatrick
Terry Connaughton can't get there fast enough !
Siobhain, on Box Office and everything else..
Village Market from the inside out..