Download the Yeats 2015 Report to Learn More About The
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Activities by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in support of Yeats 2015 Introduction 2015 marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of WB Yeats, the Nobel Prize-winning poet. A Yeats 2015 steering committee oversaw the presentation of an impressive programme of events to celebrate Yeats’ life and legacy. While most events took place in Ireland, a great number of events also took place overseas and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was very pleased to provide its support to the delivery of an engaging programme in a diverse range of locations. The Department, through the Embassy network, worked closely with the Yeats 2015 steering committee and with overseas partners, to organise or support over 100 international events and activities that celebrated the range and depth of Yeats’ work and brought Yeats’ legacy to the attention of audiences new and old across the globe. Among the events that took place were recitals and musical performances, exhibitions, lectures, international academic conferences and symposia, the publication of new translations of Yeats’ poetry, and prominent poetry displays on the London and Shanghai underground transport networks, in each case lasting for a period of many weeks. The Department’s travelling exhibition “The Life and Works of WB Yeats”, based on an exhibition curated by the National Library of Ireland, also proved particularly popular throughout 2015, as the 11 separate language versions were exhibited in five continents throughout the year. The programme culminated in December’s worldwide recitation of ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’, in which Minister Flanagan also participated. The programme of events attracted extensive coverage in overseas media over the course of the year, reinforced through interviews with visiting Irish Ministers and local Ambassadors. The initiative found a particular resonance on social media, and we were delighted to hear that the Department’s efforts contributed to the success of the overall project team in winning the 2016 Ireland e-Government Award for Social Media on foot of its campaign. A summary of activities supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is provided in the following pages. 2 January 19 January The Ambassador to Great Britain, Daniel Mulhall, was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s leading political programme: World at One. The ambassador described WB Yeats as “an interpreter, an interrogator” of Ireland. February February – May The Consulate General in Edinburgh organised a successful tour of Scotland by the Department’s Yeats exhibition from February to May 2015. The exhibition, which was launched in February by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charles Flanagan T.D., during a visit to Scotland, was displayed in ten prestigious locations across the country, including universities and community venues, with a footfall of several thousand. Touring the exhibition provided excellent opportunities to develop relationships with new and existing cultural contacts. 1 February The Embassy in Ottawa celebrated Yeats 2015 on Saint Brigid’s Day at the Irish Canadian Centre for the Arts in Ottawa. There was a poetry reading and music performance. The Yeats exhibition opened there as well, remaining at the venue for the month of February. 2-4 February The Embassy in Rome supported the VIII Edition of the James Joyce Italian Foundation Conference in Rome which was titled “Joyce, Yeats, and the Revival”. This three-day international conference hosted in Roma Tre University involved academic contributions, poetry readings and exhibitions of the works of both Joyce and Yeats. As part of this effort, the Embassy also hosted an evening at the Embassy for participants of the conference, the wider Irish Community and key Italian cultural contacts. March March – April A major promotion of Irish poetry – including poetry by Yeats – took place on the London Underground from the beginning of March. Posters of verses from two Yeats poems featured there for 8 weeks. The Embassy in London developed a 12-page booklet of Irish poems called VERSES FROM YEATS POEMS IN LONDON UNDERGROUND. 3 Poems on the Underground, and 130,000 copies were funded and printed by Transport for London and distributed to commuters and visitors at stations throughout the London Underground network. March - October In association with the Embassy in Rome, and as part of Ireland’s participation at EXPO Milan, a series of cultural events was organised, including an exhibition of the poetry of Yeats. Over 20 million people visited the Milan EXPO site during this period 9 – 24 March The Embassy in Ottawa organised a second Yeats event connected with St. Patrick’s Day celebrations at the Irish Cultural Centre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where Dr. Brendan O’Grady gave a lecture on the Life and Poetry of W.B. Yeats on 19 March. The exhibition was also viewed by attendees at the society’s St. Patrick’s Day Dinner and Céilí. 16 March The Embassy in Moscow incorporated the Yeats celebration into Irish Week which took place between 11 and 22 March in Moscow. The Embassy invited Yeats scholar Charles Armstrong to give a lecture at the State Library for Foreign Literature. He was joined by Grigory Kruzhkov, the noted Russian translator of many of Ireland’s great poets and visiting Minister of State Kathleen Lynch T.D. The event culminated in a short concert celebrating traditional Irish music from the time of Yeats. The event in the beautiful surroundings of the Oval Hall of the State Library for Foreign Literature was full to capacity. 16-28 March The Embassy in Beijing supported an exhibition in the 798 arts district which was inspired by ‘Sailing to Byzantium’, and a second exhibition in the Dongyue Temple Gallery based on ‘A Meditation in a Time of War’. The Embassy also hosted a lecture evening where artists in the group and the noted Chinese Yeats scholar and translator Professor Fu Hao shared their views on the links between poetry and painting, and the inspiration that Yeats provided to the exhibitions. The exhibitions received considerable media coverage, and a piece carried by the English-language news station CCTV included an interview with the visiting Minister for the Environment, Community & Local Government, Alan Kelly T.D. 17 March The Embassy in New Delhi supported the visit of the Minister for Chiildren and Youth Affairs, James Reilly, T.D. who unveiled a bust of Yeats (right) which was generously donated by the Bulbulia Bequest to commemorate the close relationship between WB Yeats and the great Indian poet, playwright, and fellow Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. 4 The Embassy in Abuja invited Nigerian poet Dike Chukwumerijie (left) to perform a poem by Christopher Okigbo. It was published in Nigeria in 1965 to mark the centenary of the birth of WB Yeats. The Embassy in Brasilia and the Consulate General in São Paulo supported a conference organised by the WB Yeats Chair of Irish Studies at the University of Sao Paulo, which was opened by the Minister for Education, Jan O’Sullivan T.D. NIGERIAN POET Dike Chukwumerijie and Ambassador Seán Hoy. The Permanent Mission to the OSCE in Vienna hosted a harp concert and poetry reading as part of the Mission's St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, involving key contacts from the OSCE Secretariat and delegations. 21 – 28 March The Consulate General in Shanghai supported Small World, an exhibition of Chinese and Irish contemporary art inspired by the romantic poetry of Yeats. It was displayed at M50 Shanghai's Sanwei Art Center as a part of the wider contemporary art project in China for St. Patrick's Day. Fion Gunn, Brendan Jamison and Mark Revels, representatives of the Irish artists taking part in Small World, gave talks about the exhibition. 23 March The Ambassador to Great Britain participated in the Oxford Literary Festival, speaking on the life and writings of W.B. Yeats. April April The Embassy in Washington organised a competition to design artwork for use by the Embassy in its Bloomsday – Yeats Day events. The winner (right) was Barrie Maguire whose works were later used on the Embassy’s website and social media pages. 12 April The Ambassador to Great Britain took THE WINNING ARTWORK IN THE EMBASSY’S IN WASHINGTON part in an interview with Cerys Matthews COMPETITION. on BBC Radio 6 to mark the 150th 5 anniversary of WB Yeats. Ambassador Mulhall shared his love for Yeats’ poetry and explained why Yeats is considered to be one of the great poets. The Ambassador joined Cerys Matthews in reciting some of Yeats’ poems and gave listeners a flavour of the Yeats2015 commemorative events. 14 – 16 April The Embassy in London launched the paperback edition of Poems on the Underground during an evening event for the cultural, media and business communities. Many young poets presented their literary works inspired by WB Yeats. The event took place during the London Book Fair in April. 29 – 30 April The Hungarian Yeats Society, supported by the Embassy in Budapest, held a two-day conference in the Petőfi Museum of Literature, Budapest. The first day featured scholarly papers on Yeats’s work, with the plenary lecture given by Margaret Mills Harper, Glucksman Distinguished Professor at Limerick University. The programme ended with a live performance of Edmund Dulac’s original music composed for At the Hawk’s Well, featuring the well- known tenor, Tivatar Kiss (right). The second day was devoted to Hungarian translations of Yeats’ poetry, drama and essays. The programme included the launch of a special Yeats issue of the Hungarian literary journal, Napút, which included poems, plays and essays, readings in both ‘AT THE HAWK’S WELL’ - BUDAPEST English and Hungarian of new translations of several Yeats poems, the awarding of books to the best translators and a round-table discussion of some special challenges and difficulties in finding Yeats’s voice in Hungarian.