The Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA) and the Arts Office of Clare County Council are delighted to announce that the first Duala: Creator-in-Residence Scheme has been awarded to joint applicants Jack Talty and Maurice Gunning.

Jack and Maurice will compose an audio-visual installation that explores the relationship between music, people, and place, specifically drawing on ITMA multimedia collections of traditional music and musicians of county Clare as its primary inspiration.

Jack Talty is a traditional musician, producer, composer, and researcher from Lissycasey in county Clare. He is the founding director of the traditional music label, Raelach Records. In October 2018 Jack was appointed Traditional Artist in Residence at University College Cork. Maurice Gunning is a photographer and documentary filmmaker from Limerick. He is the Photographer in Residence at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, and his work has been exhibited internationally with support from the Arts Council and Culture Ireland.

The open call for this pilot initiative between Clare Arts Office and ITMA attracted a large number of applicants excited by an opportunity to reflect /respond creatively to collections and materials that are of relevance or reference County Clare held in ITMA.  Along with traditional musicians and dancers, applications were received from a multitude of art forms including visual art, sound art, opera, film and photography.

The project will be delivered in 2019 and the residency is valued at €8,000.