Modern art museum unveils 2001 programme

The first item on the agenda of any Irish organisation - the split - was conspicuously not on the agenda yesterday at the Irish Museum of Modern Art when its director, Mr Declan McGonagle, announced the programme for the year ahead.

This year is particularly significant for the IMMA because it celebrates its 10th birthday on May 27th.

However, a pall has been cast over the proceedings by the current controversy which sees Mr McGonagle taking his own board to court to prevent it advertising his job.

It was, however, business as usual when he outlined plans for the coming months.

"The programme for 2001," he emphasised, "is probably our most wide-ranging and international in terms of exhibitions."

In pointing this out he may have been pointedly referring to suggestions that the chairwoman of the board, Ms Marie Donnelly, feels that the museum should move into a more international phase of development.

Two major shows opening at the end of May will mark the anniversary.

One is a retrospective of the work of the German artist Rebecca Horn, renowned for her elaborate, kinetic, mechanised sculptures, as well as for her work in film.

The other major show is the first museum exhibition in Ireland by an American installation painter, Sol LeWitt, who will create a series of his celebrated "wall drawings" in rooms at the IMMA.

Another first is the autumn exhibition of the art world's currently favourite film artist, the Iranian-born Shirin Neshat, whose ambitious projects have won her exceptional international acclaim.

Her work explores the relationship between the sexes in Islamic cultures.

Next month sees the donation to the museum by Neil Jordan of his own film version of Not I, Samuel Beckett's play for television.

It features the American actress, Julianne Moore, and takes the form of a long monologue throughout which only Ms Moore's mouth is visible.

Modern Art on the DART 2001, which will feature six posters drawn from the museum's collection displayed in every DART and Arrow suburban train carriage, is also launched next month.

By the end of May the museum courtyard will be paved with cobbles, and a major building programme on the building's North Range will be complete.

While there was no direct reference to the IMMA's current tribulations, they were, inevitably, the subject of much discussion among those in attendance.

Last week the High Court for the second time deferred judgment on the case, this time until February 5th.

In the meantime, a Government-appointed mediator, Mr Paddy Teehan, is reportedly trying to broker a solution agreeable to both Mr McGonagle and Ms Donnelly.