Culture Night 2019 at CMC: 'nowhere better than this place' by Sean Clancy

The 14th annual Culture Night in CMC featured the premiere of ‘nowhere better than this place’, Seán Clancy’s work for multiple synthesizers, live and recorded concrète sound, and projected text about people needing a safe place to call home.

Performed by Seán Clancy and Andy Ingamells, the work was produced especially for Culture Night following an open call for submissions by CMC.

Seán Clancy on the idea behind the work:

In Ireland we face a threefold dilemma of mass homelessness, unaffordable rents and mortgages, and direct provision.

Our closest neighbour, the UK (where I work) is on the verge of sending hundreds of thousands of EU citizens back to their home countries after Brexit, not to mention scores of commonwealth citizens that have already been deported in the last number of years.

Additionally, hundreds of refugees try to escape war in the Middle East and North Africa, crossing the Mediterranean in an effort to find a new home. Further afield in the US, we see families in search of a new home being torn apart at the hands of ICE, and being imprisoned in sub-human conditions.

All of these issues are conceptually linked to the idea of people fundamentally needing a safe place to call home.

Whilst a 45 minute piece of music can in no way seriously address these massive problems, it is my hope that by drawing people’s attention to these issues, it can lead to action, which may ultimately lead to change.