The Red Square Kibosh group are made up of Bridget, Danny, Eavan, Eleanor, Freja, Graham, James, Mark, Orla, Sean, Shannen and Suzanne. In the lead-up to the Kilkenny Arts Festival, after doing some art workshops together, they met artists and curators from the festival and made their own minds up about the work they saw. Responses to these encounters and experiences can be found on the blog the group set up which can be found at www.redsquarekibosh.wordpress.com Included in this is their manifesto which goes as follows:

- We will experience the Kilkenny Arts Festival for ourselves, exploring art from all cultures and media, while expanding our capacity to interpret and evaluate art.
- We will apply artists’ own techniques and ideas for ourselves as a group and as individuals.
- We will communicate with those involved in the Arts Festival (Artists, Curators, Organizers etc.) to help further our understanding of Art and the Festival as a whole.
- We will critically acclaim or condemn the exhibitions in the Visuals Arts Strand One and Two and also the fringe programme.
- We will create fresh, fun and innovative expressions of our opinions and responses to the work we see.
- We will attempt to exterminate all flaws and weakness from art, and to shape the art world in a positive manner.
- We will expose our audience to our opinions and in doing so we will recommend exhibitions to our audience.
- We will be daring!
- We will have the Craic!
- We will sail to Byzantium!
- We will not pay!

The account below gives an idea of the extent of the programme –

We met with Oliver Dowling (Visual Arts Curator, 11 Patrick Street); saw the Guerrilla Girls (Arts Office) and met with Mary Butler (Arts Officer); saw Eoghan McTigue (Kitchen Corridor, Kilkenny Castle) and interviewed him; heard Susan Philipsz (Castle Park) and met with Frank (installation of work); saw Tony O’Malley: Constructions (Butler Gallery); interviewed Tom Creed (Theatre Curator); saw Dennis McNulty (Ormonde Carpark) and interviewed him; saw Ciaran Walsh (Rothe House) and interviewed him; saw Victor and Gord (Una McKevitt, Cleere’s Pub); attended the dress rehearsal for Where did it all go right? (Ponydance, Left Bank); met Mah Rana (National Craft Gallery), participated in her piece; heard Susan Philipsz’ Artist Talk (Left Bank); ‘Gave Kilkenny Some Loving’; encountered Baghdaddies (Parade); heard Willie Doherty’s Artist Talk (Left Bank); saw Façade (Set); listened to ‘The Future of Music Distribution and Promotion’ (Arts Office), watched the FML Ensemble and Erik Friedlander (Set); listened to Catherine Dowling, Morten Valence and Mick Flannery (St. Canice’s Cathedral); saw Willie Doherty and Declan Clarke (Rothe House); experienced The Smile Off your Face (Ontroerend Goed, Rothe House) and met with Damian Downes; volunteered for ‘Construct with Nature’ Butler Gallery Family Workshops; saw Willie McKeown, Michael Coleman, Stephen Loughman, Eithne Jordan (11 Patrick Street), saw Endangered Studios (Shutterbug) and met with Patrick O’Connor; met Brock Butler (Market Cross), saw Pen Pal Pears (Little Ghost Gallery), saw the 5 to 6 Womens’ Project; saw Embracing Technology (National Craft Gallery); Interviewed Anna O’Sullivan (Kilkenny Castle); saw A Western (Action Hero, Kytler’s Inn); listened to Django a la Creole (Set); saw Group Therapy for One (Theatreclub, Cleere’s Pub) and experienced a group workshop with them; listened to 40 Years of Feminism and asked a question! (Ormonde Hotel); heard Konono no. 1 and Damo Suzuki (Set); visited Endangered Studios, the Workhouse Test, Fennelly’s (Callan), KCAT and met with Etaoin Holahan; met Derek Landy (Skulduggery Pleasant) and Eleanor interviewed him; visited Grennan Mill, The Barracks, Framewell Gallery, Berkely Gallery, the Awesome Power of Curation (Thomastown) and met Kate Strain; saw On/ Off (La Baracca, Barnstorm) and got over our fear of the dark; met Susan and Darren (Quarantine and Company Fierce, Watergate Theatre), danced to Barry White and watched their performance. 

The Red Square Kibosh group hope to continue to meet, review exhibitions together and think up new ideas for youth projects. They will emerge again on Kilkenny’s Culture Night 2010, Friday 24 September where they lead tours of the Tony O’Malley: Constructions exhibition at the Butler Gallery.

The Butler Gallery’s ‘Red Square Kibosh’ group is funded by the Arts Council of Ireland’s Young Ensemble Programme and the Butler Gallery.  Please contact Jean Tormey at jean@butlergallery.com or 056 7761106 for more information.

CULTURE NIGHT, KILKENNY
FRIDAY 24 SEPTEMBER, 2010

BUTLER GALLERY ACTIVITY, 18.00 – 22.00PM

The Butler Gallery will open late for Kilkenny’s Culture Night, transforming itself into a speakeasy of sorts for one night only. Activity includes constructions and constellations of music and word from traditional Irish musicians and well known poets who get together for an impromptu session, in the surrounds of the current exhibition at the Gallery – Tony O’Malley, ‘Constructions’. The event has been programmed in collaboration with Jane O’Malley and author, critic and poet, Brian Lynch. Other voices from the Gallery’s education programme will be there on the night in the form of an exhibition of the work of children attending the Solas family programme in the Kitchen Corridor and from ‘Red Square Kibosh’, a group of young critics who will lead tours of the O’Malley exhibition throughout the evening and who may be instrumental in getting a ceili beag going in the Gallery. Read on to find out more!

Exhibition
Tony O’Malley: Constructions, 18.00 – 22.00pm

Embark on a late night viewing of the Butler Gallery’s current exhibition, a display of Tony O’Malley’s rarely seen construction or assemblage pieces – sculptural, colourful works that reveal another dimension to O’Malley’s range of abilities as an artist of extraordinary ingenuity. These three-dimensional works of various shapes and sizes incorporate many components – wood collage, oil, nails, string and other found materials. Be surprised and dazzled in a late night viewing of this body of work by one of Ireland’s most acclaimed artists.

Exhibition Tours
Red Square Kibosh, 18.00 to 22.00pm

Grab a quick tour of the Tony O’Malley exhibition with our resident ‘culture vultures’ - the Butler Gallery Young Critics and self proclaimed ‘Red Square Kibosh’ group, who have been constructively critiquing and discussing the exhibition in the context of the Kilkenny Arts Festival during the summer. These short, sharp and alternative introductory tours take place throughout the evening.

Performance
Constructions of Music and Word, 20.00 – 22.00pm

Tony O’Malley used titles such as ‘Ceol’ and ‘Sea Harp’ for his constructions, and was an avid musician in his own right who played the accordion and mouth organ. Hear scintillating collages of music and word from well-known poets who knew O’Malley personally, and traditional Irish musicians living locally. This musical and poetic response to Constructions, where the Butler Gallery transforms into a ‘speakeasy’ of sorts is hosted by poet, playwright and art critic Brian Lynch.

Exhibition
Solas is Ten
Kitchen Corridor, Kilkenny Castle, 18.00 – 22.00pm

View the fruits of the Butler Gallery’s Solas Family programme in Kilkenny Castle. Solas, the Butler Gallery’s longstanding family programme led by artists Jean Conroy and Jenny Dunne, celebrated 10 years of existence in April 2010 with workshops and a party. The exhibition displays the results of these workshops through photography, drawing, mixed media pieces and a short film. Some of the artists will be there to talk about the work on the night!