Public access
Closed
Venue
Italian Institute, Paris, France
Date
02 & 03 Feb, 2023
On 2nd and 3rd February 2023 all the partners met for a consortium city gathering.
To launch our Paris Gathering we invited London-Paris based literary specialist, Toby Brothers, of The Literary Salon to informally set the scene for us of Hades Episode VI, Joyce in Paris and Joyce & Women in one of Joyce’s favourite restaurants, Le Polidor. An insightful talk from a true Joycean expert, whose well-thumbed copy of the novel was testament to her passion for Ulysses!
The gathering was generously hosted by the Italian Cultural Institute – a stunning location for the discussion which linked Paris with Trieste. Our thanks to Diego Marani, Director of the Institute and Francesco Granbassi for their kindness and welcome.
During the gathering we discussed how we maintain a creative dialogue with the dead, inspired by the Hades episode (Episode V) of Ulysses. We shared reflections on the influence individually chosen past inhabitants of a city – in particular its creative figures – have on its present and future.
We discussed in detail various aspects of the project and saw presentations from Act II and Act III cities, updating us on the creative development of their projects. The research being undertaken by the partners into the city themes was impressive, showing how urgent and complex the issues are, and the rich possibilities offered to explore them artistically in the public events.
Most crucially we discussed our Arts & Society Symposia publication. Partners had been sent all the questions harvested from the symposia of Act I 2022 ahead of the Paris Gathering and were asked to each select their own top 10 for discussion. AOB & BNWP had choose a number of questions to trial in break-out sessions to see if the process by which we had come up with creative and innovative answers could work regarding how the arts sector could help or respond to the selected community questions. They were fascinating sessions, unpicking the themes of the project and the questions they prompted regarding the role of Arts & Society in a Better Future Europe. The pamphlet, Will You Answer? 309 Questions from Europe, will be published in the Autumn of 2024 and be digitally available here.
Lunch was an truly international collection of cheeses, brought by each partner with a story attached.
The consortium were generously hosted by the Irish Ambassador, Niall Burgess, who had arranged for a recreation of the meal Joyce ate on the publication of his novel by Shakespeare & Co. Heartfelt thanks to the Ambassador and Maurice Cotter (Irish Cultural Attaché) for a wonderful evening!
Main photo:
Back row L-R: Froukje de Jong (Brave New World Producties NL), Riccardo Cepach (Museo Joyce Trieste IT), Steven Sander (Rimini Protokoll DE), Mikko Salmi (Lumo Light Festival FI), Myles Quin (gethan&myles FR), Jarkko Halunen (Lumo Light Festival FI), Maté Gáspár (Budapest Brand HU), Virginia Vassilakou (Chorus GR), Ben Schlepper-Connolly (Museum of Literature Ireland IE)
Middle row L-R: Sean Doran (Arts Over Borders IE), Branca Novoneyra (Fundación Uxío Novoneyra SP), Maja Ries (Blaagaard Teater DK), Jonathan Burgess (Arts Over Borders NI), Rasa Antanavičiūtė (Vilnius Museum LT), Mariana Brandão (Arena Ensemble PT), Pirjo Yli-Manula (Lumo Light Festival FI), Gülen Gürler Hurley (Yalan Dünya Films TK), Lucía Miranda (Fundación Uxío Novoneyra SP), Kees van der Meiden (Noorderlicht NL), Liam Browne (Arts Over Borders IE), Niall Burgess (Irish Ambassador, Paris)
Front row L-R: Maurice Cotter (Irish Cultural Attaché, Paris), Diego Marani (Director Italian Cultural Institute, Paris), Claudia Woolgar (Brave New World Productions NL), Gethan Dick (gethan&myles FR), Electra Karatza (Onassis Stegi GR), Andreea Iacob (Act.Create.Enjoy RO)
