PhotoIreland Festival 2010

In 2010, we estimated a total of 45,000 visitors to the festival, and media exposure to over 1.5 million in this our first year. Supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport, we engaged more than 60 organisations to develop 35 exhibitions in 35 venues, offering the work of a total of 250 photographers around the city of Dublin. We also had the kind support of many leading cultural organisations and individuals, most noticeably Dublin City Council, The Irish Times, LUAS, and ‘Dragon’s Den’ investor Bobby Kerr.

Visit the PhotoIreland Festival 2010 web site.

Activities and Achievements

Find here a comprehensive list of the activities, achievements and benefits of PhotoIreland Festival 2010.

Cultural Outreach

- Celebration of the first International Photographic Festival ever held in Ireland with an estimated 45,000 visitors and media exposure to over 1.5 million. – Successfully engaged more than 60 organisations to develop 35 exhibitions in 35 venues, offering the work of a total of 250 photographers around the city of Dublin. – Developed a relationship with 5 of the European Cultural Institutes in Ireland that will result in a collaborative project towards 2011 within the EUNIC umbrella. – Established a new and strong bond amongst Irish based Photographers and Photography students, promoting networking events and the know-how on the use of Social Media. – Establishing a similar bond amongst several organisations that now are working together on future projects. – Developed a friendly open model for an Arts festival that could cater for all audiences; the array of exhibitions was planned not to alienate sectors of the audience and to propitiate individual investigation.

Cultural Support

- Supported independent organisations and events outside the main cultural quarters to promote a sense of regeneration, as in the case of Smithfield: Space 54, The Complex, and The Light House Cinema. – Supported small organisations with a strong cultural focus like The Centre for Creative Practices, the Severed Head Gallery, ‘For The Love Of’, and ‘Free Fun’. – Through our engagement, we highlighted the existence of a number of independent studios with a proved interest in Photography. – Focused on bringing down the wall between high Art and Photography that many Art galleries today still perceive, working with spaces like The Stone Gallery, Monster Truck Temple Bar and The Sebastian Guinness Gallery.

Sponsorship

- We raised 75% of the sponsorship on public funds from the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport on the strength of the project, and a further 25% from privates, to a total of 40k. – We engaged entrepreneur Bobby Kerr to gain advice, contacts and public support.

Media

- We earned the RTE Supporting the Arts Scheme, thanks to which our TV advert was broadcasted for free. On the 29^th of June alone, the ad was shown to 1 million people (RTE’s Nielsen Media Research). – The 1st of July feature on RTE’s 6 O’Clock News brought us to just under half a million people. – A 6 pages feature and front cover on the Irish Times on Saturday June 26. – A variety of Radio features including interviews in Newstalk and other Dublin based stations – The Director of the Festival was featured in All About Business, Bank of Ireland’s web site dedicated to SME entrepreneurs.

Brand

- We developed a strong but friendly brand, carried successfully onto print, the web and merchandises, with the kind support of Keith Nally from makeitworkdesign.com - We gained a large constituency of followers through Social Media, especially through Facebook, where we enjoyed more followers than the National Gallery of Ireland, for example.

Legacy

- The success of the festival has increased the interest in the inclusion of new photographic workshops in many studios and cultural organisations as much as an interest in taking part on these. – A number of exhibitions have followed the success of the artists during the festival, like in the case of Maurice Gunning exhibiting in Argentina, and Erin Quinn here in Dublin at The Centre for Creative Practices. – The generated interest during the event has helped also putting Ireland in the international photographic map, and we are aware of various galleries and collectors interested in Irish artists. – IMMA’s Director, Enrique Juncosa, has shown an unequivocal interest in promoting Photography in Ireland, and we thank him for his support to the festival and for his dedicated effort over the years.

Benefits

On this first year, the visitors where a mixed section of tourists, nationals traveling to Dublin from many parts of Ireland, artists, students, photographers, and people with an interest in the Arts and Culture. PhotoIreland benefited a number of sectors, including these visitors, that we can divide as follows:

General Public We experienced a high demand for the exhibitions and workshops, for both entertainment and educational values. For tourists, the festival added value to their visit with free events, while for photographers it served as source of inspiration and a place to develop a wider international network. The Photography students have now an event to look forward to as a natural step between the graduation and entering the Art market, as well as a local space where they can test and further their skills.

Partners, Sponsors, and Grant Providers Our partners benefit from wide exposure on the media, through our online and print marketing. Being associated with the event brought an increase in reputation (social responsibility and recognition), for their sociocultural engagement. For example, the Irish Times increased sales on the Saturday magazine (est. readership just under half a million), and the SME sponsors raised awareness of their businesses, increasing footfall. Finally, the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport added Ireland’s first ever festival of Photography to their portfolio.

Partner Venues Further to their benefit as partners, the venues associated with the festival enjoy international exposure, and the local recognition of participating with a wide number of organisations supporting Photography and photographers in Ireland. All the venues engaged in 2010 increased their visitors statistics. The best example is the National Photographic Archive, which received over 1,000 visitors during the first 3 days alone.

Artists Not only does PhotoIreland serve as an interface to exhibit and consume work, but for artists the event now marks a point in the year where the world will focus on Irish Photography. On top of the exposure, PhotoIreland continuously helps to bring about new interdisciplinary approaches bound to enrich the cultural arena. As direct benefits, some of the people selected through the Open Call are currently exhibiting in Ireland and abroad, in Argentina and Berlin, amongst other places.

Volunteers The experience of volunteering for the festival helps to develop the volunteers’ skills and to broaden their existing networks. Throughout the event we make sure we put the volunteers in contact with an existing market of artists, curators, galleries, sponsors, and the different organisations involved. We are aware that some of our volunteers were hired after the festival as Photographer Assistants, or even managed to develop their own relationships with galleries, securing exhibitions.

Suppliers From printers to event-hire companies, our suppliers benefit from sales and the exposure. They also have the opportunity to become partners or sponsors.

The Festival represents an important addition to the Irish cultural landscape. In the long term, its nationwide growth will mean an increase in Ireland’s International embodiment as a cultural destination. For this, the benefits for the Tourism industry can be many and broad – not only adding to an increase of the number of visitors to various destinations, but also contributing to raise their own cultural profile. ____________________

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