New Irish Creatives

Online, December 4th – 6th 2020

Brought to you by the Embassy of Ireland, Berlin in partnership with ArtConnect

www.artconnect.com

New Irish Creatives is a multidisciplinary festival focused on supporting and promoting new creative Irish talent in Berlin. It takes the form of showcases, discussions, readings, networking, and masterclasses with renowned professional creatives. Furthermore, as part of this year’s festival, we are launching the ‘New Irish Creatives’ film grant and award. The grantees’ films will be screened and the award will be presented at the close of the festival.

Featuring:

Writers Rob Doyle and Adrian Duncan in conversation with Lisa McInerney.

Cultural Director of The Department of Foreign Affairs Eugene Downes, Choir Director of the Deutsche Oper Jeremy Bines and opera director Caroline Staunton presenting and discussing new opera and classical music.

Masterclasses with Visual artist and AOSDÁNA member Gerard Byrne, dance choreographer and director Marguerite Donlon, and Grammy award winning music producer and composer Sam Slater.

And featuring ‘New Irish Creatives’ in visual and performance arts, fashion, music, writing:

Aileen Murphy, Andrew Neville, Ciara Lee, Clare Davies, Ciarán Sweeney, Dylan Kerr, Hannah McNulty Madden, Jacintha Murphy, Julia Dubsky, Killian White, Landers, Lauren Wilson, Liam Ryan, Lilith Guinness, Lucy McWilliams, Paul Tobin, Ruth Mac, Samuel Cunnane, Sirkut Son, Sheena Malone, Sophie Iremonger, Wyvern Lingo, Young Baby Kafka.

Available Classes:

Strategies and Planning Workshop with Kristen Harrison

Dec 6, 3 PM CET

Kristen will lead an intensive workshop to launch a 12-week programme helping Irish creatives to achieve their professional goals. In a series of hands-on activities, participants will be guided through a process of setting goals and milestones, managing productivity, self-reflection and executing future plans. This is a great opportunity to revise and reset your objectives and to share and learn with other Irish creatives in Berlin.

Kristen is the Director of The Curved House, a publishing company that specialises in arts-based education. Originally from Australia, Kristen has lived and worked in the UK and Germany since 2004, and has produced dozens of projects and education programmes across the arts sector. She works with artists, authors and organisations including the UK Space Agency, European Space Agency, International Visual Literacy Association, Society of Authors and many more. Kristen is also the co-founder and curator of Visual Verse, an online publication that invites writers to respond to works of art. She brings a wealth of experience across a number of topics that impact creatives, from getting funding, to managing an online presence and developing your creative practice.

Important Note: Commitment to the full 12-week course is desired. Workshops will continue every Monday at 12pm for the following 11 weeks (with pause for Christmas holidays), hosted by Kristen Harrison, Candice Gordon, Milena Seitzinger and Turlach O Broin. (Details of exact dates will be sent to those who register.)

Masterclasses (Only Accessible via Application Process):

Gerard Byrne

Dec 5, 3 PM CET

During this hour and half masterclass we will spend time together discussing the past, present, and future of the field of Media Art from the perspective of practitioners.

Gerard will provide a perspective based on his nearly 30 years of practice in the evolving field, and then the group will collectively compare notes, and discuss the current and future prospects for Media artists in the wake of the current Pandemic, and the consequent migration of practice from closed gallery spaces to online platforms.

Gerard Byrne has exhibited at Skulptur Projekte Muenster (2017), Documenta 13, 54th Venice Biennale, and biennials in Sydney, Gwangju, Lyon, Istanbul, and recently at Busan. Solo exhibitions include Secession, Vienna (2019), ACCA, Melbourne (2016), Kunstmuseum St. Gallen (2015), FRAC Pays de la Loire (2014), Whitechapel Gallery (2013), Renaissance Society, Chicago (2011), IMMA (2011). In 2007 he represented Ireland at the 52nd Venice Biennale. In 2006 he received the Paul Hamlyn award. He is represented by Lisson Gallery internationally, Kerlin Gallery in Dublin, and Nordenhake Gallery, Stockholm. He has held professorships at the art academies of Copenhagen (2007-16) and at Staedelschule, Frankfurt (2018-), and was recently elected to Aosdana.

Marguerite Donlon

Dec 6, 1 PM CET

On her live hour and half zoom masterclass, Marguerite Donlon will talk about the world of choreography: what it’s like to start a creation from a blank canvas. The importance of following flow and building trust within the creative team so as to step out of the comfort zone. She will share how to recognise a mistake or a misunderstanding as a possible chance or opportunity to find new ways. How to devise choreographic tools to help break habits and knowing when to let go and allow the dancer to take ownership. There will be time to ask questions and discuss specific points. She will also talk about the importance of building up a network and finding the courage to follow ones own unique voice.

Marguerite Donlon is a renowned, innovative, contemporary choreographer and Dance director based in Berlin with the Donlon Dance Collective and Theater Hagen as the Ballet Director and house choreographer.

After an exciting career as a dancer in London and Berlin working with choreographers such as William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Meg Stuart and Maurice Bejart she became a choreographer and is now at home with her own unique creations. Her work can be seen on major international stages such as The Bolshoi Theater, Moscow, The Collisium, London, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Sadlers Well London but also in many other Theaters in Germany. Marguerite has received many acknowledgements for her creative work among them the Saarland Medal of Merit, a nomination for “Die Faust” and “Prix Benois de la Danse” and a Civic Reception by the Longford County Council, Ireland. In addition to her dance work, in 2014 she became an accredited PCT and RD1st Business Coach and Leadership Mentor.

Sam Slater

Dec 5, 1 PM CET

Sam Slater presents a masterclass on the space between music, sound-design and regular sleep.

During this hour and half masterclass, Sam Slater will discuss the creative process in longer projects, sourcing and developing original sounds and why to switch the lights off earlier than you do currently.

Sam Slater is a Grammy Award winning music producer and composer from the south west of England, based since 2013 in Berlin, Germany.

In 2019, he produced Hildur Gudnadottir's Emmy winning score for Chernobyl and her Oscar winning score for Joker. Together with Gudnadottir and field recording master Chris Watson, they recently premiered a multichannel version of the Chernobyl OST, performed through a customised 10.6 channel immersive pa-system in an abandoned Telephone factory in Krakow, Poland. This show will continue to be performed in industrial spaces throughout the world in 2021.

As well as being Johann Johannsson's musical sound designer for many years working on projects such as mother! and Mandy, his studio credits include Colin Stetson, Ben Frost, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Mica Levi, Shapednoise and ZebraKatz.

His solo work focusses on open collaboration, hyper processed acoustic + orchestral instruments and hard-won location recordings to create dense spectral sound worlds for both screen, stage and record. His debut solo record was released on Iceland’s Bedroom Community label in 2018.

How to apply to a masterclass of your choice:

Masterclasses are open for new Irish creatives to learn from experts at the top of their careers.

Attendance capacity is limited due to the high-engagement nature of the classes. Therefore, if you are interested in participating, please send an application (with your chosen masterclass in the subject line), to RSVP.#BERLINEM@dfa.ie, with a short biography and a paragraph on your own practice and why you are interested in attending.

Deadline to submit is November 23.

Cover design by Robert Mirolo