DEAF 2007
THURSDAY 25th to MONDAY 29th October 2007
www.deafireland.com
DEAF MISSION STATEMENT:
Now in its sixth year, the Dublin Electronic
Arts Festival is every year further cementing its reputation
as one of the most forward-thinking events of its kind in
Ireland's cultural calendar. Certainly DEAF's artistic remit
has widened considerably since its inception, moving beyond
the confines of its roots in club culture. Nonetheless,
the festival has succeeded in remaining true to its core
ethos: to focus on the experimental, and to promote a genuine
inclusiveness in its approach to showcasing the electronic
arts to new audiences in Ireland.
Our national un-preparedness for many of the changes affected
by the recent economic boom has resulted in further serious
cultural challenges to what had previously been quite an
isolated and inward-looking nation. Of course the Irish
themselves are famously no strangers to emigration, but
our first experience - in modern times - of a reversal in
this trend, has strained our national self-image to the
point of buckling. A recent feature in Ireland's leading
broadsheet The Irish Times described immigration as the
issue that dare not speak its name, and went on to note
(accurately) that the last
general election campaign was characterised by a lack of
real engagement with the subject across the political spectrum.
While Ireland's burgeoning non-national population is an
ever-increasing
presence in the businesses and on the streets of the capital,
the apparent political unwillingness to broach this potentially
inflammatory subject seems to me to necessitate a deliberate
and positive response, both from the artistic community,
and from organisations like ourselves that are not
locked on to the pursuit of profit margins at any cost year
after year.
DEAF 2007 Programme Overview:
DEAF celebrated its fifth birthday last
year with an all-Irish programme: a statement of confidence
in the quality of the work offered by Irish-based artists,
which culminated in the release of a 10-year retrospective
CD featuring the work of the pioneering Irish composer Roger
Doyle. Now for 2007, the theme of the festival is Asian
- offering audiences not just the opportunity to sample
the work of Chinese, Japanese and Thai artists amongst others,
but also the chance to witness Irish artists deliberately
engaging with other musical and artistic traditions in an
explorative and open-ended creative process. In choosing
such a theme at this point in our development (which to
say the least, runs contrary to local expectations) it is
our hope that we will be opening up an imaginative space
for both local artists and
audiences to contemplate anew their own ideas of what is
meant by the descriptive term 'electronic art'. Some musical
highlights of this year's programme include a return appearance
for the world-renowned thereminist Pamelia Kurstin who last
performed at DEAF in 2005; also, performances by Wu Fei
(a Beijing-born student of the traditional guzheng who has
marked out a space for herself by taking this traditional
instrument into a contemporary setting) and Miya Masaoka
(a leading Japanese koto player, composer and performance
artist whose sound projects have explored race and the interconnectedness
of different species).
We are privileged to have been kindly granted
space for these performances in the hallowed settings of
St. Audoen's church, in Cornmarket on High Street - beautifully
restored relic of another different wave of migrants, who
reached Ireland from foreign shores circa 1200 AD. We are
also blessed to have received such a positive response from
the artists so far invited to participate: a collaborative
improvisational performance is planned between Masaoka and
local musician Daniel Jacobson, while Kurstin will be stepping
into the role of tutor for the return of the highly popular
'DEAF Junior', a series of interactive classes aimed at
introducing 10-14 year-olds to the processes of making and
recording their own electronic music. Other highlights for
107 include a special presentation by the veteran cinematographer,
the Australian-born Christopher Doyle, describing hisexperiences
as a pivotal figure in the Hong Kong film industry for more
than twenty years, plus Trevor Knight will present a live
collaboration between Gyohei Zaitsu(Japan): Butoh dancer,
Itaru Oki (Japan):trumpet and accessories and Trevor Knight
(Ireland): keyboard /electronics called 'Featherhead'.
Once again DEAF will also be collaborating with Darklight
Film Festival, this time to host a special screening of
the controversial Thai film 'Tropical Malady' by Director
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, plus visually stunning new anime
Tekkonkinkreet - directed by American Michael Arias/Studio
4°C, Japan & soundtrack by UK electronica veterans
Plaid, both to run over festival weekend at the IFI.
With live club appearances from the likes of D-Styles, Jazztronic,
Ray Mang, Lee Douglas, UR live and The Boredoms amongst
many other performances (including an all-day improv session
to be run out of the karaoke booths of a city centre oriental
eatery), we believe that DEAF 2007 offers not just entertainment,
and an in-road into the electronic arts for new audiences,
but also a positive statement in favour of multiculturalism
- at a point in time in which we in Ireland perhaps need
reminding of its many benefits. DEAF 2007 partners: Arts
Council, Dublin City Council, IMRO, Tiger Beer, Totally
Dublin Lyric FM, and Newsxpress.
www.deafireland.com
full archive of press, artwork, photos, & audio from
2002 to 2006 now on website
