The Arts Council takes over Galway later this week when it hosts a gathering of 300 European theatre directors and producers. The Informal European Theatre Meeting (IETM), as it is called, represents almost 450 subscribing professional performing arts organisations, and this is its first meeting in Ireland.
Though the focus of the networking, information-gathering event is to discuss ideas on contemporary arts practice, there will be some stage performances. Representatives from Footsbarn Travelling Theatre, Festival d'Avignon, Parc de la Villette, Paris, the Budapest Festival, Meta Theatre of Munich and the Dutch Dogtrope Theatre Company are due to attend.
Project director for the event is Jean Hoey, and a programme of events is published in the local press. It can be downloaded on www.ietmireland.org, under "programme" or by contacting the IETM through publicist, Paul Fahy, at 087-2469971.
Hundreds of people attended another candlelit vigil for peace in the centre of Galway last Thursday evening, organised by the Galway Alliance Against War.
Local writers and artists have pledged support for the alliance, and will perform on an evening yet to be arranged. An ecumenical service for Afghanistan is also planned. The alliance will hold a meeting on Thursday at Curran's Hotel, Eyre Square, at 9 p.m.
War and conflict is the theme of the Galway Junior Film Fleadh, which runs from November 14th to 17th in the Town Hall Theatre. The fleadh will focus on the plight of young people surviving in societies affected by conflict. The fleadh includes workshops, screenings by young film-makers, and an animation feature, Magical Pudding, for children on Saturday, November 17th.
Science Week 2001 will be initiated next Sunday by the Minister of State for Science and Technology in the Galway Atlantaquarium, Salthill. The Atlantaquarium will host a "Friends of Bradan" day on Saturday when a "behind the scenes" tour is promised, along with a visit by broadcaster and author Dick Warner. Other activities promised are face painting, a video presentation of deep sea coral, and computerised microscopic images provided by the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT).