Submission deadline extended to Monday, May 13th

We’re offering four artists the opportunity to work with us to  develop playful interventions to be presented as part of the 2013 festival.

This year, the Kinsale team is inviting proposals for ideas that will encourage our audiences, residents and artists to see the town a little differently for nine days this July. Proposals are invited across all artforms, but must respond to a specific landmark, building or area in the town, animating the unique landscape and character of Kinsale.

  ‘Butter Mary’s’ at Smiths of Kinsale by Anne Ffrench, 2008

As guidance, ideas might consider hidden artworks, animating one of the many lanes or stairways, games or alternative audio tours for walks or trails, though this is indicative. We are looking for originality, quality and playfulness in our selection. Similarly, sites and buildings of interest might include:

-       Main Street Steps

-       Scilly Walk

-       Supermarkets / Shops

An award of €150 per artist is available for each project and must include all costs and materials.

Please note that ideas should focus on small interventions and permissions must be sought for the proposed site or host if successful. However, the festival may be able to assist with this, and will work closely with you to develop the project.

Please send a short description of your idea including proposed site along with:

-       An outline of proposed logisitics including durations / frequency / timings, day or night work, length of running (if applicable)

-       Examples of previous work (website links preferred)

-       A short biog

Email your proposal to submissions@kinsaleartsfestival.com with the title ‘Playful’ in the subject by May 10th. 

Selected artists will be notified on May 13th.

Submissions are now invited for NOW WAKES THE SEA, Kinsale Arts Festival’s open submission exhibition and award for emerging visual artists in Ireland and UK.

With a selection panel of leading industry figures including artist Daphne Wright and Ceri Hand of London’s Ceri Hand Gallery, the launch of Now Wakes the Sea marks Kinsale’s renewed commitment to support emerging contemporary artists.

Established in 2011 and previously known as Manifest, the new identity of the annual exhibition and award marks its expansion to include artists and panel members from the UK, and a commitment to promoting the work and profile of selected artists at international level.

Submissions are invited from visual artists in Ireland and the UK who have not yet had a major solo show. Artists will be selected by a renowned panel comprising Tessa Fitzjohn (Guest Curator, UK), Ceri Hand (Ceri Hand Gallery, London), Daphne Wright (Artist Ire/UK.), Janice Hough (IMMA), and Trish Brennan (CIT Crawford College of Art and Design).  Selected artists will exhibit their work at Kinsale Arts Festival from the 6-14^th July 2013.  The winner of the Now Wakes Award will be offered a solo show at the CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery in Co. Cork, with promotional support provided by both organisations.

Guest Curator for 2013, Tessa Fitzjohn says, “Now Wakes the Sea offers emerging artists in Ireland and the UK a unique opportunity to win a solo show in Cork. In the process their work will be seen by an international selection panel, and if selected, an international audience, providing the public and visiting arts professionals with a great opportunity to see and buy new art works”.

For nearly a decade, Kinsale Arts Festival has been commissioning and hosting work from outstanding artists of international repute, including Brian O’Doherty, Anya Gallaccio, Janet Mullarney and Alice Maher. Now Wakes the Sea aspires to become an international platform for visual artists, providing opportunities for artist’s professional development and engaging curators and collectors with new work. 2013 promises an expanded exhibition space in a premiere festival venue, with dedicated marketing and promotion in both Ireland and the UK.

Key Dates

Submissions will be accepted between 15 April and 3 June 2013

Artist’s notification                              17 June 2013

Delivery of work                                   3 July 2013

*Selected work can be collected from Dublin, Cork, Limerick, London, Cardiff and Bristol full details to be advised to successful artists.

Exhibition preview                               6 July 2013

Exhibition                                              6 – 14 July

Collection of work                               14 – 15 July

Details on how to apply, along with information on the 2013 selection panel can be found here.

Manifest award winner 2012 Bartosz Kolata’s first solo show will be open at the CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery during the 2013 festival.

We’re very pleased to be announcing news of our project for The Gathering – Come Home For Your Tea.

Visit the Come Home For Your Tea page for more information on our upcoming projects, school initiatives and international events.

Be part of it.

We’re delighted to announce the appointment of our new Artistic Director Marie McPartlin.

Marie comes to Kinsale with an impressive track record as an independent programmer and producer in the UK. As co-founder and director of London Word Festival, an annual celebration of words, text and language across spaces in east London, she was a recipient of a Paul Hamlyn Breakthrough Award for outstanding cultural entrepreneurship in 2009.

Marie has since worked as a programmer and producer with a number of prestigious music and arts organisations across the UK and internationally, including the Barbican, Roundhouse, Frieze Art Fair, the National Trust, Royal Albert Hall, CREATE and Sydney Festival, Australia.

She succeeds Gemma Tipton, who stepped down after two years as Guest Artistic Director to return to her work as a writer and curator. We wish Gemma every success for the future, and look forward to sharing news of the forthcoming programme over the coming months.

A poem for a Monday morning…

What better way to start the week, wherever you are in the world?

The Poetry Project was set up by the Kinsale Arts Festival in partnership with Poetry Ireland and the Royal Hibernian Academy.

Poems were selected by Gerard Smyth, Poetry Editor of The Irish Times and Joseph Woods, Director of Poetry Ireland.

Video works were selected and commissioned by writer and curator Gemma Tipton, and Patrick T. Murphy, Director of the Royal Hibernian Academy.

The Poetry Project is presented as part of the Culture Programme of the EU Presidency, with additional support from Foras na Gaelige.

Kinsale Arts Festival is also supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and Cork County Council.

Sign up today at www.thepoetryproject.ie