Something For The Weekend: Anna Lardi's cultural picks

Anna Lardi is CEO of Music for Galway and the co-founder (with Finghin Collins) of the Cellissimo festival, a triennial cello event which returns to Galway city from from 18th to 26th May.

She has also devised the concept of Songs of Travel, a transnational project aiming to raise awareness and foster empathy for climate change and migration through music, and to develop and implement a sustainable operational model for specialised music festivals.

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FILM

It's not recent and certainly does not make for easy viewing, but it’s relentless and unvavering in its message. In the ninties, Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski made a series of short films called Dekalog, ten films based on the ten commandments. At the time, the film society in my hometown showed Dekalog 5 – A Short Film About Killing. It first shows a brutal, violent murder. The more disturbing part of the film however, is yet to come; it is the capture, sentencing to death and ultimately the killing of the murderer. Whilst many in the audience might thirst for the perpetrator to suffer the worst immediately after witnessing the murder, at the end of the film nothing is clear any longer… Our days seem to be filled more and more with the quick simplistic message, the fast visual hit, the catchy sound bite. We tend to look for a clear and safe place to position ourselves. Perhaps this film might not be something for an easy weekend, but it is something to help us all to stay awake and stay questioning.

Dekalog 5: A Short Film About Killing pic.twitter.com/ufLQkSVMLB
— Güney Birtek (@guneybirtek) December 10, 2016

MUSIC

Recently, I had the absolute privilege to hear Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Times performed in someone’s home. In the past few years we had programmed it twice in the Music for Galway season. Once as part of our Midwinter Festival CAPTIVE, which featured music written in or about captivity. Messiaen wrote this work as he was a prisoner of war in a German concentration camp during World War II. He wrote it for the instruments and players that were available to him: piano, violin, clarinet and cello. The piece is based on the Book of Revelations and consists of eight movements. While I am not sure how I would enjoy it, were I to listen to it as a recording, hearing it live is one of the most profound experiences I have ever had. Anyone who would like a chance to hear it can join on Wednesday 22nd May at the Town Hall Theatre, as it is programmed as part of the ‘Songs of Travel’ strand of Cellissimo.

BOOK

Mostly I read fiction, but recently someone recommended to me what is an autobiography of sorts, by French Nobel Prize-winner Annie Ernaux entitled The Years. It is a beautifully crafted book where she tells her life by using photos taken of her as a starting point. We ‘see’ her as a baby, into childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, motherhood and so on. She begins with the description of the photo with a certain detachment, meticulously describing the protagonist as if it were someone else. Then, somehow seamlessly, she widens the personal, intimate focus into a wider socio/political context, thereby also giving us an insight into the history of her country. A fantastic read for anyone interested in good writing, the story of a woman born in 1940 (just about my mother’s age), and the development of post-war France.

THEATRE

Last night I saw Mikel Murfí’s one-man show The Mysterious Case Of Kitsy Rainey at the Town Hall Theatre here in Galway. I went along because I had seen Mikel’s work in the past, simply trusting that it would be worthwhile. This came at the end of a rather scattered week of work and as I ran into the theatre, afraid I might have missed the start, I had no idea what it was about. The place was completely choc-a-bloc, there was a great buzz. Out go the house lights and on stage appears this man, this old man, no cane needed to point that out, just the subtlest of wobble now and then… Then there is another old man, a very different energy about him. They are good friends. Our hero is grieving his late wife as he is facing his own death. A story about that. Grief, age, dying, friendship, caring, love. Just go and see. He is touring now.

There is an Italian soap that has been running for decades now called Un posto al sole – A Place in the Sun. My grandmother who was not much of a TV person apart from watching the news would watch this every night, Monday to Friday. My Mum eventually started watching it too and when I would visit, invariably I would be sitting there with the two of them trying to figure out what had happened since I had last seen it a few months previously…not really a very difficult task. Anyway, when my grandmother passed away, I found out that this show was available on the RAI Player and I started watching it regularly as well. I am no expert in soaps - this is the only one that I watch – but I do find this one quite engaging. It is set in Naples and has the most hilarious storylines. For instance, there is one character that is a tour guide and so is a vehicle to show off the ritch cultural heritage of this wonderful city. Then there is the odd mafia story, where you can see how the writers are trying to explain this malaise and to encourage people to resist it. Just now they are showing a little girl being sucked into cyberbullying, plenty of subtle (or not so subtle) social engineering going on… and all of this is peppered with lots of complex and cheesy love stories. Definitely one for my weekend as I sit down to catch up on the missed episodes!

GIG

A very different kind of gig was on in the Roisin Dubh a couple of weeks ago as the Strolling Homes strutted their stuff on stage. I’ll leave it to you to work out what their setlist is. Their frontman Jimmi Jagger McDonnell is outrageous and wonderful, all the musicians are bang on and if you like a good bop around, make sure you go and hear them when you see them coming to a venue near you!

ART

The Galway Arts Centre just hosted a fantastic exhibition showing the work of sculptor and video artist Laura Buckley – Painting With Light. This Tuam-born woman made a name for herself on the international art scene working in London. This show is a rich retrospective of her work that is truly worth travelling for. One can trace the artistic path she trod and the distinct language that she developed. There is elegance, surprise, questioning and a strange beauty in her work.

Work by Laura Buckley, from her exhibition 'Painting With Light'

Kudos to Megs Morley, director of the GAC, for having the vision to bring this to Galway and to Eamonn Maxwell for curating the show and presenting Laura’s work in a way that gives it the fullest and most deserved respect.

TECH

If you are into cycling or hillwalking or simply walking, and you like to simply head off for a few hours wherever you may find yourself, as I do on foot, you should have the Outdooractive app on your phone. It is a bit like a satnav, but made for walkers and cyclists. You can enter what it is that you would like to do, like walking from Satlhill to Maree for instance, and it will guide you on paths away from traffic through housing estates and trails you never knew existed. It works great in the mountains too, and basically references ordinance survey maps, giving you all the trails where ‘theoretically’ you have a right of way. Like everything in life, it is not foolproof; the odd time you might find yourself outside a field with stile that has a ‘Beware of the bull’ sign… so it is up to you whether you call the bluff or bring a stick. It got me (mostly) safely through a lot of Ireland, France and Switzerland.

THE NEXT BIG THING...

Cellissimo 2024! Definitely the next big thing. From 18th to 26th May in Galway city and county the cello shall be king – or queen! Concerts from solo performances right up to orchestral events, talks, theatre, film, masterclasses – and computer gaming…nine days and 46 events. Check it out here.

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