There's something of the wizard about Richard Wakely. Tall, lean and bespectacled, he bounces into the Merrion Hotel, plonks down an enormous carpet bag of a briefcase and plunges into an account of this year's China-Ireland cultural exchange that is as entertaining as it is enthusiastic, writes Arminta Wallace
Enthusiasm, it soon becomes clear, will be a vital ingredient if the ambitious programme of exhibitions, concerts, film screenings, poetry readings, book projects and artist's residencies in Dublin, Beijing, Cork and Shanghai is to happen at all, let alone happen in style. But when you start to think about what's involved you can't help thinking that a spot of wizardry might come in handy as well.
To take just one example: an exhibition of work by Irish artists from the Irish Museum of Modern Art will open at the China Millennium Monument, in Beijing, on April 29th. Views From An Island will include paintings, sculptures and video works by John Behan, Dorothy Cross, Willie Doherty, Alice Maher, Caroline McCarthy, Brian Maguire, Janet Mullarney, Paul Nugent, Eilis O'Connell, Hughie O'Donoghue, Alanna O'Kelly, Kathy Prendergast, Nigel Rolfe, Sean Scully, Paul Seawright and many others. Imagine crating that lot up and sending them to the other side of the earth - and did I mention that international regulations demand that crates, whether they contain cans of baked beans or valuable art works, must be individually fumigated? Wakely grins.
"Organising a festival here, in this country, is a challenge," he says. "Organising a festival halfway across the world, in a different culture, where business is done in a completely different environment - in a different language - well. . . . And then on top of that we're saying, OK, let's do it in two cities, so we become a touring company.
"And that's just for the Irish festival in China. Then we do it all again in the autumn, the other way round. The logistics are mind-boggling."
Which is where the enthusiasm comes in. Wakely recalls that when he was at the Hampstead Theatre, in London, he and his artistic director drew up some operational rules. "The first rule was that we would only work with people we liked. The second was that we would only work with people we respected. The third rule was that there were no other rules."
He has applied the same approach, pretty much, to the China festival. The idea dates back to the visit of the former Chinese prime minister Zhu Rongji to Ireland in September 2001, when a memorandum of understanding was signed between Ireland and China proposing a cultural exchange that would "provide the basis for an increase in cultural, social, trade and economic relations between the two countries".
Access to the developing markets of China, in the arts as much as in any other area of human endeavour, is obviously highly desirable. But why us?
"Britain, Australia and France have spent a lot of time working on the cultural front in China," says Wakely. "Much of that connection is historical or to do with colonial links. But our culture belies the size of our island. That's why we've been invited to be the guest nation at the Meet In Beijing festival, which is the big international arts festival there every May."
As to how Wakely got involved, "it's very simple: I answered an advert in the paper". It isn't quite that simple, of course. His roots are in Dublin but he grew up in the North, and the road that has taken him to Beijing began with theatre stints in the UK.
"I was general manager of the Hampstead Theatre, one of the UK's leading new-writing companies, for seven years; I worked for a black theatre company called Temba, which toured Britain and Europe with a variety of new Afro- Caribbean plays; and before that, Theatre Centre, a leading company doing theatre for young people in Britain and still the most innovative company I've ever worked with."
When he and his Sikh wife decided they'd like their children to be educated in Ireland he returned to Dublin and was appointed managing director of the Abbey Theatre. "Remember the infamous Barbaric Comedies? That was me."
Now he works as a freelance promoter, bringing work into Ireland from abroad and vice versa. Is it possible to put an individual stamp on such a big inter-government project? Doesn't it tend to be a parade of the usual suspects - reasonably safe, or at least reliable, artists who won't rock too many boats in terms of an acceptable image of Ireland abroad?
"We wanted to ensure," says Wakely, "that Ireland's first really big cultural platform in China would make sense to Chinese audiences. Take the Chieftains, for example: they played China 21 years ago, one of the first Western bands to do so, and the Chinese were very interested in having them back. So that was an obvious one for us to explore. The Gate's Waiting For Godot . . . because it's one of the best productions I've seen in recent years. They will play the Beijing People's Art Theatre, which in itself is a real coup, I think, and a great honour.
"But I believe in pushing the envelope a bit. The gala concert which will feature three of our most beautiful female voices - Mary Black, Cara Dillon and Roisin Elsafty - also has Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill on the bill. We don't want to just present a picture of our established artists, but also younger artists, to indicate where Irish culture may go in the future - and Martin's very important in that equation."
As for The Frames and David Holmes, the DJ, one can only wonder what he said to the bureaucrats in Dublin and Beijing to have their names included on the China cast list.
"Actually, The Frames were really easy. I took out a live album and the manager of the Yan Club loved it. And David's Ocean's Eleven soundtrack is magnificent. So it won't be all upright chairs in concert halls: this will be 700-800 sweaty young Chinese bodies in clubs giving it loads.
"Another, very recent, addition to the programme is a proposed exchange of programmes between RTÉ and the national broadcaster in China. I'm very into the idea of having a few surprises along the way - and that's a surprise. And it means we can surprise the Chinese audience, too: show a different side of us as a people."
But Wakely is adamant that the real work of the exchange is to establish personal and institutional links that will continue long after the big gigs have been forgotten.
"I wouldn'tlike to think this is a one-off - that at the end of the year, that's it, traffic stops between the two countries. We're planting seeds and hoping that flowers will blossom." He breaks off, laughing.
"Sorry. I'm a bit evangelical about this project. But it is incredibly exciting. The calibre of the artists involved in the Ireland festival is astonishing; they're a joy to work with. And our colleagues in China have been warm and welcoming and wonderfully helpful."
He doesn't want to say too much yet about the incoming festival of Chinese art, which will be staged here in the autumn.
"People will get bored if we start going on about it now. But there's some really exciting contemporary art coming; we'll have the Peking Opera at the National Concert Hall; there'll be some fantastic films which haven't been seen here before; and I'm determined that as many as possible of the events will not just be in Dublin but in Cork, Galway and elsewhere."
He is also hopeful that the autumn festival will give the many Chinese nationals who live in Ireland an opportunity to celebrate their culture over here.
"The whole world is interested in China right now. It's the new cool. And the timing of the exchange is great: with the EU presidency, China is curious about us too, about this tiny country with such a big role in Europe."
He is aware that some people will have reservations about the politics that lie behind and beneath the project - about, for example, China's past record on human rights.
"Our government has a position on this," says Wakely, "and when President McAleese was in China she made her particular position clear. But this project is about art. And having grown up in Northern Ireland through the darkest years, I believe in dialogue. I'm jaw-jaw, not war-war.
"Culture is a great way of spreading understanding, of encouraging friendship and respect. If our programme can contribute to that, so much the better."
The Chieftains, who open the
Irish programme with a concert on
May 9th
Exhibition of contemporary art from IMMA, which is showing in Beijing and Shanghai
Gala concert featuring Mary Black, Cara Dillon and Roisin Elsafty with
Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill and a
group of traditional musicians led by Donal Lunny
Solo recital at the Central Conservatory of Music, in Beijing, by
the pianist John O'Conor
The Frames and David Holmes play the Yan Club, in Beijing
The Gate Theatre's Waiting For Godot at the Capital Theatre, home of Beijing People's Art Theatre
Exhibition on the life and work of James Joyce, which runs at the University of Peking and then opens at the Lu Xun Museum, in Shanghai, on Bloomsday, as part of ReJoyce festival
Barry Douglas and Camerata Ireland play Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and John Kinsella
CoisCéim Dance Theatre performs Mermaids, choreographed by David Bolger
Readings by the poets Paul Muldoon and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill
Cinema Ireland, a season of features and shorts, runs in association with the Irish Film Institute, at Shanghai International Film Festival
Liz Roche choreographs a new
dance piece for the National Ballet of China
A new piece, Fusion III, for Irish and Chinese traditional musicians, string section led by Fionnuala Hunt and the National Chamber Choir, commissioned from the Chinese composer Jia Daqun
Literary anthology to be published
RTÉ and China Central Television will each screen a selection of the other's programmes
