International Festival of Rural Arts and Culture – June 27th & 28th

Seminar and Festival of Rural Arts and Culture to Inspire and Renew Communities.

A collaborative project involving a voluntary arts group in South Tipperary and a range of international partners is to culminate with a public seminar and a Festival of Rural Arts and Culture at the end of June. ‘Inspiring Rural Creativity’ is a collaborative project which explores the reality of arts and culture in rural areas and it’s potential to renew communities.

The project features in the Arts Council’s EU Presidency programme for Culture Connects, and has also been supported by the INTERREG funded Green & Blue Futures Initiative and The Gathering 2013. It is led by the Arts Office of South Tipperary County Council and co-ordinated by Conor O’Leary of Artlands

As a result, South Tipperary Rural Arts Group, are hosting the first International Festival of Rural Arts and Culture on Thursday, June 27th and Friday, June 28th, 2013. Key events will take place in the intimate setting of Burncourt Community Centre and The Farmhouse Pub, Graigue, near Clogheen over two days and will celebrate inspiring examples of arts and cultural initiatives in rural areas from home and abroad.

The festival programme starts with the opening of ‘The River Culture Pop Up Space’, on the evening of Thursday, June 27th at 7p.m. in Burncourt Community Centre. Admission €3 and includes food and refreshments. This will be a celebration of local food and river culture and will include an exhibition and installation, a ‘smokery’ demonstration and the premiere of a short-film made by local young people as part of ‘The Cut’ community film project.

This installation and exhibition is a collective effort by the artist Deirdre, O’Mahony, the South Tipperary Rural Arts Group, local fisher folk, hunters and the county museum to assemble a collection of museum objects and local collections of tools, flies, rods, traps and hunting and fishing related materials that speak to the specific culture of river life on the Suir and its surroundings. The artist has interviewed local fisher folk and hunters and these will provide the soundtrack to a DVD projection in the shed behind the community center. It’s all curated by artist Deirdre O’Mahony from Clare who will give a talk at 7.30p.m. on the X-PO Project, which she initiated in a former rural post office in Kilnaboy in 2007 and shows the potential of arts and culture to revive rural areas.

‘Inspiring Rural Creativity’, a public seminar and exchange event, takes place in the community centre on the following day, Friday, June 28th from 9.30am-4p.m. and will feature guest speakers from across the UK and Ireland present innovative examples of initiatives which tackle the issues of arts and cultural promotion and provision in rural areas and it’s role in regenerating our society.

For example, hear how in Wales the Night Out Scheme brings over 600 shows to local communities every year! And how does the Ballymena Arts Partnership work? Voluntary Arts Ireland will explain how they promote active participation in the arts in local communities, whilst Fragments Ensemble and South Tipperary Rural Arts Group will discuss the experience and outcomes of developing a community film project with young people in the local area and show the film.

Plus it will also explore the role of the community and rural development sectors, the impact of arts networks and volunteer promoters, and the relationship between artists and local communities. Seminar places are limited and cost €10 including lunch. Bookings to the South Tipperary County Museum at Bookings or email .

The events will conclude on Friday night with a ‘Crossroads Gathering’ event celebrating the best of rural culture in the region and beyond taking place in the Farmhouse Pub, Graigue, near Clogheen from 9.30p.m. till late.
The partners in the project are drawn from the Arts Office, South Tipperary County Council, South Tipperary Rural Arts Group, Artlands, Voluntary Arts Ireland, Fragments International Ensemble (UK/Ireland) and the Night Out Scheme (Wales).

For further information contact project co-ordinator Conor O’Leary, Artlands at or and check out