Welcome to Project Arts Centre’s 2017/18 season. I am delighted to bring you this packed programme featuring new work, the best of international artists and some old favourites.
Project has supported brave, creative and amazing ideas since 1966. This season marks a step in a new direction for Project and the launch of a new strategic vision for our organisation. Project is Ireland’s first arts centre; an independent and ambitious multidisciplinary organisation in the heart of Dublin with a local, national and international remit. We are a home for contemporary arts, a producing house, a resource for artists and a critical hub. Project works with artists across all art forms to make and present extraordinary work that inspires and provokes audiences.
Project Arts Centre was founded in 1966 as Project 67. When the founders of Project Arts Centre came together they did so with the philosophy that a creative person is capable of managing their own affairs; Project was an organisation set up, managed and governed by artists – the founding spirit of Project was centred on artists at a time when art was created in established institutions.
Project became a home for the independents; for artists whose work challenged the status quo. Project was created at a time of change in our country and in the wider world. Looking to the future is embedded in our DNA. Over the years Project’s personality has always reacted these values, whether embracing the punk movement, presenting edgy contemporary performance or confounding audiences’ ideas of what constitutes an exhibition. We are proud of this legacy but it is not a history that lies heavy on our shoulders; it is a history of reinvention, of evolution, of looking to the future and of change.
Our 50th anniversary in 2016 provided a catalyst to re-examine our purpose as a space for artists and audiences. As Ireland’s first arts centre we used this occasion to reflect, to re-imagine our future and to develop new ways to ensure that everything we do remains innovative and is delivered to the highest possible standards under the best possible conditions.
Project’s independence and history has always been defined by three things, Artists, Location and Ambition – these will continue to play an important role in the
Project of the future.
As we roll out our new strategy in the coming months, we look forward to welcoming you to Project to experience some of that inspiration.
Be Brave! Come visit us at Project Arts Centre and check out our new season brochure below.
Cian & the whole Project team.
