The Friday View 16/02
In praise of the event centre that's been up and running in an old church for more than a decade. Plus. our usual round up of news and events for the week ahead.
Good morning and welcome to The Friday View on T+D. Let’s get to it.
In praise of The Triskel
Many moons ago I worked at The Kino cinema on Washington Street when it was still a cinema. There was a lovely crew working there, the patrons were lovely too. While there were certainly were busy times, it wasn’t the busiest of cinemas. One particularly busy run was when The Kino was the only cinema in town showing March of the Penguins (narrated by Morgan Freeman). At the time, it was still of the era of when people would call the cinema and ask what was showing. Invariably they’d ask if the Belgian or Brazilian film was any good. (One friend advised explaining the plot to callers but always ending with the line ”And they all die in the end”).
While we were showing March of the Penguins there was call from a woman, but her inquiry was about the “dolphin movie”. I asked for a bit more information, oh I knew! but it must have been a slow night, to which she answered the “flight of the dolphins one”.
LOL.
The reason I recall the Kino is that when it closed there was a possibility there would be no venue for independent cinema and per chance to see a movie that might resonate with you across your life in a way that Hollywood content rarely does. (Aaltra, a pitch black comedy is one such movie from Belgium that played in the Kino that I will never forget).
Enter the Triskel Arts Centre to give it its full title. The Triskel has been ahead of the curve when it comes to the second life of churches as it’s been an arts centre for over a decade. Before that it held the city archives and before that, and indeed for centuries, it was a church. Over the course of a millennium, it’s been attacked, demolished, rebuilt, and repurposed. It’s a survivor. It’s also a burial site. This Triskel website is a great resource for the full history of the famous characters associated with the church including Attiwell Hayes, English poet Edmund Spenser and Oliver Cromwell.
The Triskel is not your typical cinema. For starters, the seats are pews - thankfully cushioned now - and the screen which hangs over where the altar was feels like… a screen hanging over an altar. Which it is.
But these are elements you get used to. Where the Triskel excels is in its programming. While it was a Protestant church, the programme is catholic: you’re as likely to find anime as you are art house and documentary and Hollywood classics (hello Die Hard!). In comparison, the Kino kept its programming to current art house releases.
In essence, it’s a thoughtful curation at the Triskel. This week I had the chance to see The Boy and the Heron, Hayao Miyazaki’s swansong. While it might not be the Japanese octogenarian’s greatest film, it’s a beautiful piece of work, reprising some of his lifelong themes - and anxieties - especially the degradation of the natural world and his love of capturing flight. And even better, the Triskel screened both the subbed and dubbed version.
A few days before catching The Boy and The Heron, I saw musicians Niamh Dunne, Bróna McVittie, Cormac Breatnach and Seán Óg Graham who have been thrown together by the charity Music Network for a mini tour of Ireland. The foursome is in Baile Mhuirne tonight (see below).
As a concert venue the Triskel is lovely, and while there was a bigger crowd for Miyazaki’s film, it’s worth reminding yourself from time to time to drop by the Triskel website to see which musicians are coming by. But it’s not just music and movies, the Triskel also hosts art talks, such as the current one on famous paintings and their hidden histories, as well as plays, and exhibitions. They have a mailing list you can sign up to here for all that goes on and down at the Triskel. So, long live the Triskel.
-JJ
News in brief:
A delegation from Cork City Council led by the Lord Mayor will soon decamp for America for the annual St Patrick’s Day shindig. The itinerary is being finalised, but New York and San Francisco are on the list. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Cork-San Francisco twinning.
In the spirt of adopting Americanisms, Ann Doherty, Cork City Council Chief Executive extended an invite to “key external stakeholders in the city before Christmas to invite them to join the delegation as part of a cohesive “Team Cork” approach.” Go Team Cork!
Sports grants: The City Council this week announced details of a €500,000 Sports Capital Grants for 2024. The grants scheme provides funds for projects that are directly related to enhancing facilities or the purchase of equipment. More information here.
Sticking with sports, League or Ireland football kicks off tonight with the 2024 season getting underway and once again Cork City FC find themselves back in the First Division. They have a long trip to Donegal to take on Finn Harps for the opening game. City’s first game is at home tonight in Turners Cross, where they take on Kerry FC for what is a historic opening fixture (kick off 7:45pm and thank to the reader for pointing out that the Finn Harps game is next week! apologies). There’s been a lot of movement in and out of the club since they were relegated in the play offs late last year.
And there’s also been news off the pitch: this week The Other Three Amigos Podcast, a fan podcast on all things related to the club, found out that the FAI, the governing body of football in Ireland, revoked the Aimgos accreditation for the new season. It’s always a downer when journalists get accreditation revoked as it means, in this case, access to players and management, in and around matches is denied. That’s not going to stop the Amigos publishing news episodes, but here’s hoping that an olive branch is soon extended to the Amigos from management at Turners Cross.
And one more sports piece, while going through the turnstiles at Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Saturday night to see Cork narrowly lose to Kilkenny in the hurling league, we were asked to produce our SuperValu club card before gaining admittance. True story. Not.
The Examiner reported this week that “it is understood” - code for a source who didn’t want to go on the record - that an extra €35m and €45m will be needed for the (doomed?) Event Centre before the next stage of the famous sod turning can progress. Incidentally, the sod was turned eight years ago this week (and since then sod all has been done!).
Tánaiste Micheál Martin, in town for the opening of the Dunktelle Interchange - which at €215m could end up being cheaper than the Event Centre - said a decision on extra government funding will come within weeks. If the government does cough up, will the money come with basic strings attached? Afterall, Live Nation is not some charity case, it’s one of the biggest concert promoters in the world. At the very, very least the city council has at least bought a place on the board of running the Event Centre?
Out + About
Nudes Craft and Cocktail is a new bar with an LGBTQ+ friendly ethos and a great selection of local DJs. Open since just before Christmas, their monthly LGBTQ+ night, She/She Lounge, is aimed for ‘queer girls, fèmmmes, trans, non-binary, and anything in between!’ Taking place on Saturday, DJ on the night is Macalla for the second edition of exciting new space!
Time, date, place: 9pm, Saturday February 17, Nudes Craft and Cocktails, Lavitt’s Quay, Cork.
Cork Clothes Swap is a monthly exchange of clothes with the aim of offer the people of Cork a sustainable alternative to buying new clothes. Taking place at St Peter’s on Saturday, visitors can bring and take up to five items of clothing. There are, however, a few guidelines to follow: you have to wash and dry your clothes in advance as unwashed or damp clothes won’t be accepted, and you can’t bring swimwear, underwear, pyjamas, children’s clothes, shoes, accessories or bags. There is a minimum required donation of €2, tickets and more information available here.
Time, date, place: 11am-1pm, Saturday February 17, St. Peter’s, North Main Street, Cork.
Zoe Hayter is an English-Czech musician, theatre performer and street performer. She has been performing since she was a child, and released her debut album with a band at 14 years old. More recently, she has collaborated with Glen Hansard and Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich, and done two years of physical theatre training at the L’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. She plays in Levis’ in Ballydehob tonight at 8pm. More information here.
Time, date, place: 8pm, Friday February 16, Levis’ Corner House, Ballydehob.
Aoife Desmond is a local artist and filmmaker who explores the relationships between humans and nature. Her film, sirius - harbour’s mouth was shot at the Sirius Arts Centre and screens there until March 16th. The film explores the historical relationship between the people of Cork Harbour and the harbour itself, particularly in Cobh, which was historically a point of emigration, while the Sirius building was built for the Anglo-Irish elite. More information here.
Time, date, place: 12pm-5pm, Wednesday-Saturday, Saturday February 17-Saturday February 16, Sirius Arts Centre, West Beach, Cobh.
This evening the Crawford Art Gallery host a preview of their upcoming exhibition, A Matter of Time. Focused on time and its effects on the human experience, the exhibition features over twenty artists with over sixty works over two floors, it includes themes of climate change, nationhood, post-colonialism, appropriation, amongst others. More information here.
Time, date, place: 5:30, Friday February 16, Crawford Art Gallery, Emmet Place, Cork.
Maria Burke is a local acrylic landscape artist who takes inspiration from hedgerows, hillsides, sand dunes and bogs. Her latest exhibition, Wild Gardens, is currently taking place at Nano Nagle Place, with a launch yesterday afternoon. The exhibition runs until February 29th, more information here.
Time, date, place: 10am-5pm, Tuesday-Sunday, Thursday February 1-Thursday February 29, Nano Nagle Place, Douglas Street, Cork.
While it’s not Cork, Cork-based artist Caroline Bowles (from Sample-Studios and Greywood Arts Centre) will be conducting an interesting experiment this weekend in GOMA, Waterford where she will be live painting a Japanese butoh dancer from 1pm on Saturday, February 17 as part of her joint graduate exhibition with Maia de Faveri. Caroline has been working with dancer Haru for the past several months to create a new series of work for the exhibition which launched last weekend. The live painting is open to the public if you needed a reason to cross the county bounds.
Time, date, place: 1pm, February 17, GOMA, Lombard Street, Waterford city.
Test Site’s weekly Sketch & Chat returns this Sunday after a short hiatus. Like minded people are encouraged to come, bring a sketchbook and any other materials, and discuss, draw and look after the ecology of the site.
Time, date, place: 11am-2pm, Sunday February 18, Test Site, Kyrl’s Quay, Cork.
Music Network presents Niamh Dunne, Bróna McVittie, Cormac Breatnach and Seán Óg Graham in the Ionad Cultúrtha in Baile Mhuirne tonight. It’s the penultimate gig for the four musicians who were brought together for the mini-tour which finishes this weekend. Except a mix of beautiful songs and tunes from these four accomplished musicians and hopefully given where they are headed some as Gaeilge also. More info here.
Time, date, place: 8 pm, Friday, February 16, Ionad Cultúrtha, Baile Mhuirne, Cork
That’s it for this week’s Friday View.
Any tips, news or events you’d like to share with Tripe+Drisheen, you can contact us via at tripeanddrisheen@substack.com. We are always happy to speak to people off the record in the first instance, and we will treat your information with confidence and sensitivity. Get in touch. Have a lovely weekend.