Cork 2005

Poor auld COrk…. its been the poor cousin in all this Celtic Tiger boom business.

the council website: http://www.corkcity.ie,
doesn’t have much info on the city of culture thing either. I’m not sure they know exactly what they’re doing.

in fairness now lads, as one of my colleagues on another bulletin board pointed out, it does have the longest corridor in Ireland 😉

http://www.p45rant.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35053

surely they must have submitted detailed plans to be granted the award in the first place?

probably, but they don’t seem to have told anyone else.

Perhaps a new terminal at the airport? Well that is if it doesn’t get delayed…..again!

Jeremiah

PRESS RELEASE
April 22, 2003

CAPITAL OF CULTURE 2005 CALLS
FOR SUBMISSIONS

The Cork 2005 Office has issued its formal call for submission of ideas for consideration for the 2005 programme. Cork City is designated as European Capital of Culture 2005 and for the entire year the city will act as a host cultural capital, throughout Europe and beyond.

The team, under the guidance of Cork 2005 Director, John Kennedy, have produced A Statement of Intent in which they state that the designation is an opportunity “To celebrate the renewal of our city environment, to rekindle our spirit of community, to explore our culture and our identity, and to demonstrate to all our vision of a confident 21st Century city”.

Ideas from the public are a vital part of the process of planning for 2005. Idea proposers may include individual arts practitioners and arts organisations, community groups and organisations, private and public sector individuals, agencies and organisations, in fact anyone interested in making a meaningful cultural contribution to Cork 2005.

The office is currently reviewing more than 75 ideas, which have been received since the designation was formally announced. Close out dates for this year are May 30th and September 15th. Submissions should be marked IDEAS: CORK 2005 and sent to European Capital of Culture: Cork 2005, Carbery House, 67/69 South Mall, Cork or emailed to ideas@cork2005.ie

CORK 2005 will be responsible for making investments to enable an exciting range of cultural activities to be presented in 2005. CORK 2005 can offer project proposers promotion and marketing, networking and creative partnerships, financial investment, advice and project management as well as technical management.

Access to full statement of Intent available through website http://www.cork2005.ie

ENDS

For further Press Information: Please contact Jean Kearney on 087 2527495 or Ivor Melia on 087 2234194 email: kearneymelia@eircom.net

Part of the Cork 2005 submission was based on what Cork has at present: namely Irelands longest running Film Festival, One of the worlds largest Jazz Festivals, the Choral festival, the Opera House, The School of Music etc etc etc. There were no capital projects to speak of – which is one of the primary reasons the guy charged with running the 2005 show walked after a few months of being in the job. The only project of note is the new art gallery going into UCC – which looks very cool indeed.
It’s not really fair to say the Celtic tiger bypassed Cork – sure in terms of overheated overpriced poor quality apartment developments it doesn’t figure – and the centre of the city hasn’t exactly benefitted from years of contstant diggging for the necessary main drainage projects. But it does have a much better infrasturcture than the rest of the country in terms of the road network throughout. And let’s be honest places like Limerick and alot of inner Dublin were in dire need of alot of more rejuvenation.
There is a sense that certain problems are being addressed – the main streets are being upgraded and archaic planning for the centre has been revised to correct years of bad management in terms of zoning.
2005 is a catalyst for this.

Ckeck out http://www.corkbusiness.com for info on Cork
Next year sometime for lists of events? in 2005
every other town who have had the privilage of hosting this event had it done one year in advance

Well in the last two months something’s clearly been going on for 2005. Was down last weekend – from no new development whatsoever to nothing but cranes and wholesale clearance/demolition of nasty derelict sites all over the city. Some slightly nicer than an average IFSC office block type development on quays on both sides of the Lee, and some below average. Still it beats an empty site with car wrecks etc…
Loads of new hotel activity, plus as of yesterday immediate start to the snazzy new airport terminal. So it seems Aer Rianta can do something when they feel like it!

Also read that a list of undeveloped buildings/sites has been compiled and all owners that are refusing to redevelop these are being CPO’d by the city council (ala Carlton on O’Connell St). Some sites have been acquired already and are being refurbished. The others have taken the hint – example: Jacob’s Mill – a protected structure left rot for 30 years is FINALLY having something done with it.

That whole messy main drainage thing is still Cork’s biggest problem – the centre is a mess of trenches still – but the moves to improve the streetscape as well as the built environment should all come to fruition as the drainage thing is finished up… I’d say by 2005 they’ll have the place only gorgeous (like).

this thread is due a revival. how cultural has cork gotten in the last few days? (haven’t been down since xmas)

The 5m euro Awakenings Ceremony – see http://www.cork2005.ie – looks set to be pretty spectacular, especially the River display. It will be shown live on RTE between 5pm and 6:30pm this Saturday 8th of Jan. The problem with the event, and the subject of much criticism is that only 26,000 tickets were made available for a city (greater) with a 325,000 population. It’s a bit of a farse really – 4 tickets were allowed per person and some outlets only issued 100 tickets, meaning, only the first 25 people at a particular outlet received tickets. The Irish Examiner is providing relative coverage of the proceedings leading up to that main event. Ticket issues aside – the opening ceremony is gearing up to be an eye-catcher – the amount of work taking place by Cork 2005, Spraoi and many others on the river is pretty substantial. Though I’m sceptical on the year of Culture as a whole – there are a lot of good ideas and proposals lined up for the reign and I really would like to see everyone get behind it and help postively enforce the title-ship.

I see Cork 2005 as an ‘all of Ireland’ event – but it’s nice to see Cork get a little limelight for a change too. 😉

try this for a list of alternative events

http://www.wheresmeculture.com/

Today is the day the official reign kicks off – Cork as European Capital of Culture 2005.

At 2pm – a spectacular carnival will proceed from South Mall through to MacCurtain Street (via Grand Parade and St. Patrick’s Street) – dozens of floats, street performers, acrobats, light spectacles and revellers will proceed through the streets in a party never before seen on Irish soil.

The city quays will open to ticket-holers only for the multi-million euro Awakenings Ceremony at 3pm, due to start at sunset 5pm. Spraoi will be co-ordinating the spectacle of light, fireworks, river-floats, music, dance, acrobatics and a 70-ft serpent which will weave under and over the city’s famous bridges along the Northern Channel of the Lee. The all-over-water based spectacle will be the largest of its kind in Europe this year and one of the largest ever full-stop. I’m really glad Cork 2005 have embraced the prime water frontage of Cork (with its strong merchant and naval history – the once proclaimed, ‘Venice of the North’ – a title now held by Stockholm) in this event.

Whatever about the rest of the Cork 2005 reign, Awakenings looks set to be something pretty damn awe-inspiring. There is such a good vibe around the city right now – and cold as it is, thank God the weather has cleared up overnight for this once-in-a-lifetime event.

People, get down to Cork for 2005!

All I can say is – WOW! For those of you who didn’t make the Awakenings Ceremony for Cork’s European Capital of Culture ‘christening’ – you missed something pretty awesome. I saw a recording of the event on RTE and it was exceptionally poor. You really did have to be on the streets to see it for all its glory. The closing fireworks display, not shown on RTE, was truly spectacular as fountain like fireworks lit up the length of the river (from the tops of major buildings) to the tune of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (also the national anthemn of the European Union) ending it a whopping explosion of light and confetti. Well done especially to Spraoi for producing such a world-class event. I’ve been sceptical about Cork 2005 – but what a way to start the year.

The city was buzzing, even when I left at 12am – the streets are packed with families, revellers, couples, the elderly – as performers and parties continue on into the night. It may as well have been middle of the day – it was great to see so many children able to walk the streets so late with their families awe struck.

I sincerely hope the atmosphere generated is just a taster for the rest of the year – roll on the rest of Cork 2005!!!

This really is a year for everyone to get involved – Cork is already booming, anyone who needs just to verify that, just take a stroll down Leeside this year and see for yourself the energy of the place.

Looked fantastic alright! There really is nothing like fireworks – forget all modern distractions, both adults and children are still captivated by them, even if high-tech wizardry is used nowadays to operate the things!
If the gushing report on Six One last night was anything to go by, it must have been good – you should have seen it… 😮

Just a nice shot of the Awakenings Ceremony last Saturday night (Jan 8th 2005) to mark the beginning of Cork’s reign as European Capital of Culture 2005 – the city looked especially beautiful!

The image depicts the slaying of the serpent as it rises from the River Lee. Over 100,000 filtered into the city centre for the event, with 30,000 on the designated quays.

Just a small comment:

the recent press flurry regarding the ‘failings’ of Cork2005 to raise sufficient funds and provide an effective year as city of culture have irritated me somewhat.

Yes, at 13m euros, I do not believe Government funding for such a relevant appointment was adeqaute. Yes, the 20m euro budget was sub-par. Yes the response by businesses has been somewhat disappointing, many of which, only seem now to be getting off their financial behinds – however, it’s the typical old Irish response of ‘moan and let moan’. If we spend the year complaining, then yes, the year will be a failing. It’s only 4 months on, and quite frankly, I don’t think it has been bad at all. In fact, for the culturally minded, there has been a feast of activity from Choral displays, street art, the Awakenings, Liebeskind, Art Festivals, Tournaments – and the year isn’t even halfway through.

This year, Cork businesses and the city council, should be focusing on the promoting Cork as a place to do business and to help draw continued inward investment. It is essential that, for an inclusive and superb docklands to emerge, a core, critical mass of financial and business activity is needed to sustain such development. The city has much to offer, so much – but local business will not solely promote and help assist viability of creating the docklands as envisaged. We need to look up, look out and embrace this year not only as a celebration of local and European culture, but also as a unique opportunity to go out there and bring businesses back with us.

I for one, tire of this backward ‘always find fault’ mentality – yes, let’s not deny the problems, but more importantly, look to how we can solve them – and look how we can use what we have to our advantage.

I hear a lot of people complaining about Cork 2005 and yet they aren’t making an effort to go to any of the events that are organised. On any given day, there are multiple ongoing exhibitions and there is no shortage of performance art.

If I had a criticism of the event it would be the failure of communication. I went to the Ape Opera House exhibit in the old ESB substation on Caroline St on Saturday. I just stumbled across it while in the city centre shopping. I hadn’t seen any publicity for it and, unfortunately, it was the last day of it, so I couldn’t recommend it to anyone else.

The Irish Examiner noted on Saturday that the details on the Cork 2005 website were out of date. Cancelled and rescheduled performances were still shown on their original date. As they have total control over the site, there’s little excuse for this.

The one time I didn’t have a proper camera on me…

…but I will try to get a few images up at some stage. Well done to all involved – the Solas: Journey of Light event held along Lavitts Quay, Shandon Bridge, Pope’s Quay and Christy Ring Bridge was an imaginative and colourful display which effectively utilised the existing infastructure and buildings surrounding the noted quaysides. Among the buildings participant in the event were Cork Opera House, No.17 Lavitts Quay, 21 Lavitts Quay, the William Clarke Building, St. Marys Cathedral (to great effect) and the Cork Civic Centre (Cork2005HQ). It’s genuinely amazing how simply use of light can highlight not only the city at night, but enhance structures which are often lost at night in the ability to be appreciated. It draws the question – would some areas of the city benefit from such imagination year round? Effective lighting schemes can enhance the nature of a city and its structural elements to a great extent.

Again, congratulations to all involved – including some regular users of this site! Good show. 😉

Cork 2005: Solas – Journey of Light

Apologises for the poor image quality. Some images of the Solas – Journey of Light event.

Stages of Life – at OCP HQ 21 Lavitts Quay, the building’s various levels and sweeping glass facade are effectively used in a display that seem to chart varying stages of life’s development from Birth at ground level, to Childhood at 1st Floor Level to Adolesence at 2nd Floor Level. Attractively coated in varying light projections

Shadon Lane – off Pope’s Quay to the north of Shandon Bridge, was stunningly decorated in a pattern of simple candles which illuminated the tiny laneway and created an extraordinary sense of continental romance – if only my image was able to convey the atmosphere sufficiently without ‘Romeo’s’ inclusion to the left!!! 😀

St. Mary’s Cathedral on Pope’s Quay looked nothing short of spectacular in a dressing of multi-spectrum light projections. The trees to the garden on the eastern elevation were individually dressed in primary colour light with a beautiful ‘Olympic Torch’ style fire in the foreground.