An Chomhairle Ealaíon An Seachtú Tuarascáil Bhliantúil is Fiche, maille le Cuntais don bhliain dar chríoch 31ú Nollaig 1978. Tíolacadh don Rialtas agus leagadh faoi bhráid gach Tí den Oireachtas de bhun Altanna 6 [3] agus 7 [1] den Acht Ealaíon 1951. Twenty-Seventh Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31st December 1978. Presented to the Government and laid before each House of the Oireachtas pursuant to Sections 6 [3] and 7 [1] of the Arts Act, 1951. Cover Illustration: Scenes from Kieran Mickey's Film Exposure which won the Arts Council's film script award. Members (to December 1978) (from December 1978) Patrick J. Rock, Chairman James White, Chairman Kathleen Barrington Kathleen Barrington John Behan Brian Boydell Brian Boydell Maire de Paor Tom Caldwell Andrew Devane Maire de Paor Bridget Doolan Andrew Devane Dr J.B. Kearney Eilís Dillon Hugh Maguire Séamus Heaney Louis Marcus Dr J. B. Kearney Seán Ó Tuama Patsy Lawlor Donald Potter Hugh Maguire Nora Relihan Seán Ó Tuama Michael Scott Brian Quinn Richard Stokes Richard Stokes Dr T.J. Walsh Dr T. J. Walsh James Warwick James White Staff Director Colm Ó Briain Literature and Film Officer David Collins Music Officer Dinah Molloy Visual Arts Officer Paula McCarthy Education Officer Ciaran Benson Finance Officer David McConnell Administration Officer David Kavanagh Secretarial Assistants Veronica Barker Patricia Molloy Margaret O'Rahilly Marie Swan Receptionist Kathryn Cahille 70 Merrion Square, Dublin 2. Tel: (01) 764685. An Chomhaırle Ealaíon An Chomhairle Ealaíon (The Arts Council) is an independent organization set up under the Arts Acts 1951 and 1973 to promote the arts. It operates through a wide-ranging programme of financial assistance and special services, offered to both individuals and organizations. The Council also acts as an advisor on artistic matters to the Government and Government Departments and is one of four bodies which have a statutory duty to make representations to planning authorities in connection with applications for planning permission in areas of special amenity throughout the country. The Council consists of a board of not more than seventeen members appointed by the Taoiseach. The present board was appointed in December 1978 and its term of office will expire in 1983. The board meets about ten times a year to set Council policies and make decisions within the terms of the Arts Acts. These policies and decisions are implemented by a staff headed by a Director, appointed by the Council. The Council reports to the Oireachtas through the Taoiseach and its accounts are audited by the Auditor General. Annual grants from the Oireachtas are the Council's main source of income. These grants are supplemented by income from local authorities and private organizations and the Council also administers a number of trust funds, set up privately for specific purposes. The arts are defined in the Arts Acts and include: The Visual Arts (painting, sculpture, architecture, print-making, design); The Performing Arts (theatre, dance, music, opera); Literature; Film; Crafts. Meitheal '78 Arts Council Sculpture Seminar Chairman's Introduction This introduction to the report is a tribute to the work of the outgoing Chairman, Patrick Rock and his Council. He led the way, during his term of office, to a new direction for the Arts Council. Theatre, Ballet, Literature, Film and Community Arts were given equal prominence to and were treated in the same way as the Visual Arts and Music had formerly been treated. Furthermore, greater efforts were made to reach into the less populated regions of the country in an endeavour to enlarge the area of the Council's influence. The following report is its own justification and I wish merely to emphasise that the policies it has developed will receive full support during my term of office. Every effort will be made to continue to foster the activities referred to and to generate other signs of growth in the arts wherever they may show up. It falls to me to offer the sincere thanks of the Council and the staff for the continuing support of the Government. We particularly thank the Taoiseach for his personal concern for the arts as administered by the Arts Council and we would like to place it on record that every approach to him has been met with sympathy. In conclusion I would like to take this opportunity of welcoming the six members who were appointed by the Taoiseach to the Council in December 1978. They have all served the arts in Ireland with distinct- ion and their knowledge and expertise will be invaluable to the Council in the years ahead. James White September 1979 Report The term of office of the Arts Council whose activities are recorded here expired in December 1978. In a review of the Council's work over the last five years, the outgoing chairman, Patrick J. Rock, counselled against complacency: "The taxpayer should be under no doubt that public funds have been used to secure the maximum possible activity from every organisation supported. Co-operation with other organisations has been a feature of our policy and this has ensured that the costs of new development have been shared where possible. However, the danger signs are there - the Council has stretched its resources to the limit and the momentum created must not be allowed to diminish. "Because arts organisations have been continually concerned with the problems of mere survival, there is a real danger that a period of stagnation will ensue unless we commit ourselves to solutions which reflect the high value and place of the arts in our culture. A civilized country must face these questions openly. The demand for economies, so much a feature of recent years, must be replaced with a programme of incentives that allow talent to be rewarded and which place the arts on a secure footing within the community. Otherwise the concept of state-aid to the arts becomes little more than a cosmetic exercise and the Arts Council little more than the caretaker of the status quo. "Looking back at the last five years, it seems that questions of survival have dominated discussion of the arts, when the Council has lacked the necessary funds to offer firm incentives for major development. New buildings are needed to house the arts throughout the country, and arts organisations must be allowed to plan with confidence for the future and undertake the risk of presenting new and challenging work. In addition the status of the artist within the community needs to be taken seriously — seriously enough to offer him a reasonable return for his work." "Culture is always something that was" wrote Patrick Kavanagh, remarking on what seemed to him to be Ireland's reverence for things of the past and indifference towards its contemporary writers and artists. Perhaps the major achievement of the Arts Council over the last five years has been its attempt to respond to this challenge by instituting a wide ranging programme of bursaries, designed to cater for writers, musicians, visual artists, theatre producers, stage designers and dancers. Unlike academic institutions or museums, the Council cannot afford to wait until certain artists are promoted to a level of greatness or until their work is regarded as a cultural treasure. The task of the Council is to support culture as it creates itself and this means providing opportunities for experiment and innovation, the results of which cannot be foreseen. The bursary programme and the tax exemption on creative work combine to provide opportunities which were not available in Patrick Kavanagh's day. Nevertheless it would be wrong to assume that creative artists are sufficiently provided for. The vast majority cannot provide for themselves through their artistic work alone. The extent to which this problem exists for writers, artists, musicians and actors forms the basis of a survey into their living and working conditions, which was commissioned by the Council at the end of 1978. It is hoped that the findings of the survey will provide a basis on which direct provision for the individual artist can be seen in its true context. During the year, however, great concern was expressed by many writers and artists over their liability for Value Added Tax. Some were informed that they owed substantial sums under VAT and many were notified that they should compulsorily register for VAT. This tax is singularly inappropriate to artists, since their income is highly unstable. A series of meetings with the Revenue Commissioners was begun in December, with a view to clarifying the legal and administrative implications for artists. The long-term resolution of this problem may well depend on a change in the law, and the draft Seventh Directive of the EEC Council of Ministers which proposes to exempt artists from the payment of VAT on supplies and imports of works of art is to be Paint-in at Wexford Arts Centre welcomed on that basis. Co-operation with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland was formalised for the first time in 1978, when both Councils met in joint session, once in Belfast, and once in Dublin. Among the matters discussed at these joint meetings were proposals regarding the extension of touring by the Irish Ballet Company and the Irish Theatre Company in Northern Ireland and joint projects under the sponsorship of UNESCO. In addition, a writers-in-schools scheme embracing second-level schools both North and South was established and detailed plans for the administration of Annaghmakerrig House, Co. Monaghan, were drawn up. This was the home of the late Sir Tyrone Guthrie and the property passed into the Council's possession from the Minister for Finance on 1st November 1978.