Covid and culture: How people in the Cork arts scene are coping
Cork arts venue managers.
Almost exactly a year ago, Cork’s galleries, museums, theatres and music venues first closed their doors to the public. Twelve months on, some venues have remained closed ever since, while others briefly opened during an easing of restrictions during last summer.
Groups such as the Live Venues Collective and EPIC (Event Production Industry Covid-19 group) formed in 2020 and have successfully lobbied for additional funding to support not only performers and artists, but also the large number of entertainment and arts workers in technical and supporting roles.
An Arts Council exchequer grant of €130 million for this year, and a €50m live performance package announced by Arts Minister Catherine Martin in March, are hoped to ease some of the continuing pain being felt by the sector in 2021.
“We did a run of shows in Coughlan’s in November without an audience which were filmed and streamed, and then we did shows outside in December with an audience of 15, which was interesting because we had the worst weather.
“The new funding has been announced, but we’ve no idea how much of that the Live Venues Collective will get. We imagine there’ll be a lot more applications this time around because people are more aware of it and we’re hoping we’ll be successful and that we’ll be able to put on some shows over the summer, especially outdoor shows. Streaming fills the void a bit, but I think the artists really want to get back to their audience.
“I think it’s positive that the government are realising that everyone in the entertainment industry needs support, but this funding is nowhere close to enough for the rest of this year. Even if we reopened in September, we still need this funding, and we’ll need it again next year because it’s going to take our industry years to recover from this. Things don’t switch back on overnight and we have no idea what capacity we’ll be allowed.
“I think we’re all a bit weary now. It’s getting harder and harder because none of us in the Live Venues Collective imagined we’d be out of work this long. We were one of the first to close, and we’ll be the last to return. And that’s very mentally difficult because it’s not just a job: for everyone in the music industry, it’s a vocation, and something we’ve spent most of our lives learning how to do.”
“It’s an interesting time to be new in such an iconic building, and yet not be able to use the building to make work. The building is closed, but we are as open as we humanly can be. We’ve just launched a short digital programme, so we’re trying to have a voice and a say and a presence, particularly for artists from Cork. So the plan is to maintain a strong digital presence between now and the summer.
“I’m planning outdoor work for the summer and then hoping to be able to start getting audiences back into the building in the autumn and winter, but as you know, it’s all very tentative.
“We’re able to film in the building so we’re able to be working with artists, but a big worry for a particular chunk of our audience is that maybe the internet and digital work is not their cup of tea. So we have to be creative about other ways of connecting with audiences. I have plans to do that, via the phone or the doorstep or the post, but some of that is dependent on not being locked down.
“We have our new Play It By Ear programme of rehearsed readings, which is nine plays recorded on the stage, which can be listened to on demand, almost like a Spotify playlist.
“I feel like there’s something happening in the world of audio at the moment that can replicate the intimacy of theatre. Listening to things can stimulate the imagination a little bit more than watching something, and there’s the fatigue of working all day through a screen: sometimes the last thing you want to do is look at something on a screen, but you can pop in the headphones and listen instead.”
“Young bands learn on stages in venues like Fred’s, where we don’t vet bands. Anyone can come and play, whoever they are. Our dates are open to anyone.
“Every year bands break up, form new acts, have their first ever gig. Now we’re a year into this. We’ve had no college Battle of the Bands, and a lot of bands rely on those to get to a new audience. That’s how they grow, gain a reputation for themselves, maybe get support slots for bigger acts. It’s also how they try out their songs, in front of a live audience. There’s going to be a whole gap there if and when we get to open. Are the bands going to be there?
“Younger bands are overlooked. Anything to do with applying for government grants involves a lot of paperwork and some acts are used to that, and that’s normally the acts at the top, with the relevant people to put it all together for them.
“What we saw last year was some artists getting multiple grants for different categories, and most artists getting nothing.
“The government don’t have a plan. They seem to have built all their plans around vaccines and that’s it. It’s very frustrating. I understand that a lot of the world is finding themselves in the same place, but at least some countries, like the UK, have a bit of a plan.
“As a promoter, I’m dealing with UK agents who are booking tours now. I’ve several acts who have dates for later in the year and their UK dates are sold out and they’re selling ok here, but we’re not getting anything from government: all we’re hearing is that it’s going to be an outdoor summer.”
“In the first lockdown, a plan was published with milestones and dates. The level of uncertainty we now have doesn’t permit for proper planning because we don’t know when we’ll be able to open to the public.
“Last year when the first lockdown happened, there was this drive towards online, but it seems to have been provoked by the need to demonstrate that we are still active, because we need to justify the funding we receive.
“Last March and April, we were dealing with the unknown from a health perspective, so it was enough to say to people, stand by, spend a week reflecting, figure out what measures you need in place. It wasn’t about, let’s put things online so we can show we’re still here. It’s a very capitalist, neo-liberalite idea: you need to sound productive. Art becomes a product.
“It’s important to recognise that there’s been an investment in the sector during the pandemic. But comparing strategies between the UK and here, my concern is that we are caught up in a system that does not invest in infrastructure.
“It’s a redistributive model that encompasses all players from individual arts practitioners, to organisations, and in my opinion there is a lack of clear understanding that the engine is the arts organisations.
“In England they have the opposite model: the arts organisations are funded and then they support the artists, commission new work and further the artists’ development. It frees up arts practitioners from bureaucracy and creates a productive tension between the arts organisations and keeps the sector vibrant.
“We haven’t had a member of the public in to see a performance on our stage in just over a year now, and that’s sad, and really the opposite of what we want when we’re trying to fulfil our mission. I suppose like a lot of organisations, we’ve had to look at our objectives and adapt to the circumstances we find ourselves in.
“We did a season of filmed winter concerts, where we focused on giving opportunities to local artists. We have to look at the potential positives and opportunities we have and we can’t really present a commercial programme at the moment because of the circumstances we find ourselves in, so we do have an opportunity to invest with our local artists. I think the focus will continue to be that: we’re talking about doing another online season later in the year.
“All of that is of course dependent on circumstances and funding. It’s really important that the funding of mission-driven, non-profit arts organisations is kept on the agenda.
“If it wasn’t for Covid, I can’t see a time where an institution like the Opera House would have moved into the digital world. It’s never going to be the same as having 1,000 people sitting in front of the stage, but it’s offered this whole new audience to us that we would have never been able to engage with before: audiences all over the world are able to see what we do.
“We’ll open when we’re allowed to, and what we’re trying to do between now and then is make our plans. What would be important would be that we would be consulted with, and given a roadmap for reopening. The hardest thing with all of this is trying to plan when the goalposts keep changing.”
“We’d done a total revamp of Cypress Avenue and we’d been open a year when the closure happened. We had a big programme and couple of festivals of our own planned.
“Now, agents, managers, bookers, bands, venues have all been rescheduling dates, reorganising again and again and again. It’s self-defeating, but we don’t know where we stand because we’re not being told.
“Catherine Martin deserves enormous credit because she listened to our concerns and she got money for our sector. We streamed 33 gigs in December and created a lot of employment days, from bands to sound engineers and lighting crew, even down to our own kitchen staff who came in to cater. It gave us a purpose for a period of time.
“The Government are now telling us that it’s a data thing, not a date thing. But they could give us some indication, with provisos. We’re entitled to know where we stand, when things are going to change, and what needs to happen for them to change.
“The term ‘non-essential worker’ is terrible. I find it offensive. I am now a non-essential person: I am not essential to this country or to anything.
“There’s a divide happening between essential and non-essential workers that will last years. If you’re a landlord, are you going to rent to an ‘essential worker,’ or someone who has been deemed non-essential and who’s been living off government support, through no action of their own? If you’re trying to buy a house and you’ve been classed as non-essential, will you be able to compete with people whose work is deemed essential? You’ll be disadvantaged into the future.”
