Culture Night '09
29 September 09
In recent years Ireland has joined its neighbours on the continent and launched its very own night of culture. Known as the nuit blanche to the French and the noche blanca to the Italians, Culture Night here in Ireland meant one whole night devoted to cultivation, history and the arts.
Feeling that I had been sorely lacking in all things refined of late, I decided to embrace the opportunity offered. A look at the website told me that one night would probably not be enough to sample all that was on offer. From 'live art', to street salsa performances, to free trips around the Dail, choices were endless and the culture bug seemed to have spread all over the city.
The GPO had organised free postcards for the occasion, and the Temple Bar markets were kept out much later than usual with groups of people idling their way around the second-hand book and record stalls, taking their time to decide between an old Dylan LP or a battered copy of The Catcher in the Rye.
The last event of the night (ending at 1am) was Voyage to the Stars, an exploration of the galaxies projected onto a big screen in Meeting House Square. Crowds cheered as rockets lifted off, and watched in awe as nebuli and black holes were thrown up onto the screen, in stark comparison to the cloudy and impenetrable night-sky over the built-up capital.
The highlight of the night, however, was found outside the usual hub of Dublin activity, in Usher's Island.
The James Joyce House of the Dead is the site where James Joyce reportedly set his famous short story, 'The Dead', and where John Huston later set the film of the same name. Usually the building is dedicated to the memory of the great writer and the short story, with letters and paintings exhibited. On Culture Night, however, there was no feeling of stiffness and formality often encountered in museums. The entire three storeys were lit only with flickering candles sitting in wine glasses. The second storey was home to a dining room table laid with tiers of apples and oranges just as the story says, the cheerful curator explained.
Visitors squeezed into the room to take a seat where they could. We listened as all sorts of people told all sorts of stories, and singers (some talented, some merely brave) kept the room captivated. It is quite the feat to rekindle such an old Irish tradition without making it clichéd or forced, but this is what the House of the Dead achieved on Culture Night. People left lamenting 'the way things used to be', a view I firmly shared as soon as I set foot on the Nitelink home. Cultured, it ain't.
- Alison Treacy
