THE AMBITIOUS and city-wide Dublin Contemporary 2011 art festival was launched yesterday, with its curators hoping the event will “demystify contemporary art”.
Open to the public from today until October 31st, it will feature 114 international and Irish artists, five venues and over 20 outdoor sites.
With a warren of recently refitted rooms, UCD’s former home at Earlsfort Terrace, beside the National Concert Hall, will be the main hub of the exhibition.
“It’s the biggest show here of its type ever,” said Christian Viveros-Fauné, one of the event’s two curators.
“We got to programme Dublin, which is a remarkable thing and a lucky thing. Part of what we want to do is demystify contemporary art, make it accessible to those beyond the third who are cultural consumers. We’re hoping at least that tendering the invitation will garner a response.”
While the Government provided €2 million to fund the overall project, the budget for art was €800,000.
There are many Irish artists on show, but a bias towards international names. Yet with its theme of “Terrible Beauty – Art, Crisis, Change and The Office of Non-Compliance”, Viveros-Fauné said that, taking place at the “cradle of the euro crisis” it is intended to explore how art can address political and social change.
Apart from the Earlsfort Terrace space, the other art galleries involved are the Douglas Hyde Gallery, the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin City Gallery the Hugh Lane and the Royal Hibernian Academy.
While some of the exhibition will be free, one- and three-day tickets, from €6 to €40, will give visitors access to the full show.
“We need to be open to people who can’t pay money to see a show, but at same time, there is a culture of going to London and New York and paying to see an exhibition, but not in Dublin where you only have to walk down the street.
“But it is a unique opportunity for people to engage with globalised and Irish contemporary art,” explained Viveros-Fauné.
When the festival was first announced, it was hoped that 62,000 foreign visitors would be attracted to Dublin, with an economic benefit of €13 million.
While it is still hoped that the event will be hailed by international critics, Viveros-Fauné said his definition of success will measured differently.
“Luckily we’re in the space where Rosc 80 took place, and the Rosc shows have a legendary status.”
With any luck it will be akin to that, he said. “People will come to Dublin Contemporary and say, ‘I saw this and it stayed with me’.”