Cork 2005: The National Sculpture Factory is continuing to deliver on the promises made when it introduced Cork Caucus as part of its contribution to the Capital of Culture year.
Perhaps the general public won't find it easy to relate to all the elements gathered for this particular programme, yet the objective is to generate a productive excitement among the art community. The idea is that this will spill over to influence attitudes among the decision-makers and among the people for whom the decisions are made, whether in social or community services, planning or economic development.
Because much of this imaginative debate is presented through lectures or exhibitions it can seem to be taking place at a public distance, and to counteract any such difficulty the new Cork Caucus programme from June 20th to July 11th includes two big outdoor events. First comes BangCork, a two-day open market held at Bishop Lucey Park and reproducing the stalls and products and atmosphere of a Thai street fair. Organised by Surasi Kusoiwong with the collaboration of local market traders, artists and neighbourhood groups, it will include not just food but music and Thai massage, with the intention of creating an interplay between art and shopping.
Food is again the focus of the second open-air event: The Discursive Picnic takes place at the gardens of Bessborough House in Mahon on July 2nd. Here Stephen Brandes and Mick O'Shea, who both use food as the source of their art projects, are designing a special menu for a barbeque which will be the centrepiece of a schedule of debates. There's a strong element of social realism in this venue as Bessborough, beginning as the 18th-century home of prominent Quaker shipbuilders in Cork, has been most recently a mother-and-child refuge and orphanage, and is now run as a social support service.
Local familiarity is also the key to the Ford Boxes project beginning on June 20th. Examining the role of the Ford motor company's plant in Cork, architectural researchers Liesbeth Bik and Jos van der Pol start from the way the citizens re-used the large wooden boxes in which car parts were delivered to the factory (which closed in 1984). These were often converted to kennels, garden sheds or small workrooms, and the intention of the artists is to assess the influence of a global industry expressed through such domestic thrift, and to design a similar box suitable to the current environment.
Among the several other creatively challenging events planned for June and July by Cork Caucus is Aesthetics and Politics, a day-long seminar at the Granary Theatre on June 21st, with Curator Catherine David focusing on human migration and especially on the experience of the Sangatte Red Cross camp at Calais. On June 23rd courageous graduating art students can take advantage of a public review of their final degree show by the Liverpool-based group Static - the artists Becky Shaw and Paul Sullivan. (More information on the Cork Caucus programme is available from the National Sculpture Factory or from www.corkcaucus.org)
• The Cork Orchestral Society programme of summer music for the European Capital of Culture continues its fortnightly lunchtime recitals at the Crawford Gallery with the Atos Piano Trio from Germany on Tuesday June 14th, while on Thursday June 16th the "Welcome Home" series features a performance by Patricia Moynihan (flute) and Jean Kelly (harp) at the Aula Maxima at UCC at 8pm
