Simon Judge looks at how Ireland's creative industry is coping


How does the Irish Government feel about the arts? The answer could mean that tough times are ahead for Ireland's artistic and creative industry. "Ireland is inherently a conservative and reactionary marketplace. The vast majority of people who are in decision making positions in government and business in Ireland grew up in a very closed society and economy" says Padhraig Nolan, an illustrator and graphic designer who was lived and worked in Dublin for more than two decades. "There is a newer and younger generation of business people who have travelled extensively, and are more au fait with modern business practice, but it still surprises me when I meet young, urban professionals who don't see the benefit of design and illustration, even believing that it gets in the way of their business." 
 
For a country with such a rich and vibrant cultural history in literature and music, adapting this creativity into professional business has proven to be a much more difficult task. Scott Burnett runs Studio AAD, a Dublin-based design agency who are making waves with their proactive outlook and design principles, but feels that there is some catching up to do. "There has never been a real culture of design in Ireland. In our experience people genuinely can't see the difference between good and bad design. "There was no gestation period for design in Ireland. It didn't have time to grow and learn, and never set down any roots."
 
Padhraig Nolan agrees with this. "There has always been a very vibrant artistic and bohemian creative side to Irish society, but in terms of translating that into business and making a living, it just hasn't happened. “We never really had the industrial revolution here. We went straight from an agrarian society into an information society. We missed out on mass manufacturing, such as they had in the Netherlands and Britain. "For example, in post-war America, you had designers such as Charles and Ray Eames who were coming up with new designs, functions, and uses for materials that were being manufactured en masse. There wasn't any kind of similar innovation in Ireland."
 
In the 1970s, initiatives such as Kilkenny Design—and later Design Factory and Design Works—began to bring Belgian, Dutch, and French artists and designers to teach our young creatives the importance of design. Design consciousness in Ireland is still relatively young, but within the visual arts, there is no doubt that during the boom years, fine art was bought and sold in massive quantities - the like of which will never be seen again.
 
Jay Roche graduated from art college in 1988 at a time when Charlie Haughey was still Taoiseach, and is one artist who has seen the highs and lows of the art market. He believes that although these are tough times, exciting possibilities lie on the horizon. "Since I graduated from college, arts funding in Ireland has increased hugely. People got very used to funding, but that has been hit badly in the past few years. In my day, we just had to get on and do it ourselves. It seems to be returning to that situation now. "I think the great thing right now is the amount of artist lead spaces, such as Firestation and CityArts, which makes for really exciting possibilities."
 
So while those in the visual arts appear to be adapting to the changes in the economic climate, Roche agrees with Nolan and Burnett that there is a need for a sea change in attitudes.

"I just don't think that the mindset of understanding is there on a governmental level. There just isn't the intellectual capacity within the government to appreciate what culture and the arts can bring to Ireland and its economy."
 
Indeed, Burnett feels strongly that the recent 'Your Country, Your Call' initiative by Irish businesses which aims to "ignite imagination and award thinking", is exactly the kind of idea that Ireland's creative industry doesn't need. “This [competition] is supposedly about innovation and ideas, where in reality it just a the Celtic Tiger 2.0. It's pure opportunism. "They are not trying to find the core of what is good... work with creative people... they are looking for a quick-fix €100,000 idea that they will try and build with no creative foundation. The money that has been sunk into this idea—including all the advertising and marketing costs—could have been put back into the arts, and used for long term goals."
 
The website also claims that the competition is about improving Ireland's international creative reputation, something that Roche is quick to point out is already second to none. "Internationally, Irish Art—specifically the visual arts—has grown hugely in the last twenty years."
 
All three agree that for an Irish artist or creative to succeed at the highest level, they will have to take their work elsewhere. As Roche states: "The unfortunate thing is that all of the best known [Irish] artists live abroad." Mixed times appear to lie ahead for Ireland's creative industry, something Nolan clearly agrees with. "There has never been as many people who have been networking at a ground level on creativity in Ireland. I am very optimistic about the future, even if there is a certain amount of stalling and curtailment as a result of the economic gloom."
 
simonjudge@gmail.com