REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE CONFERRING OF THE HONOUR OF SAOI IN AOSDÁNA
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE CONFERRING OF THE HONOUR OF SAOI IN AOSDÁNA ON SEOIRSE BODLEY AND CAMILLE SOUTER
Dia dhíbh a cháirde. Tá lúcháir orm bheith anseo libh inniu ar an ócáid speisialta áthasach seo. Is mór liom go bhfuilimid bailithe le chéile le h-onóracha a bhronnadh ar bheirt de na h-ealaíontóirí is cumasaí agus is tabhachtaí atá ag saothrú in Éirinn lenár linn. Cuirim béim fé leith ar an saothar, mar is é saothar na n-ealaíontóirí atá á cheiliúradh againn inniu, sin agus an t-ollmheas atá ag a gcomrádaithe in Aosdána ar a bhfuil bainte amach acu beirt ina saolta.
Ní sin le rá nach bhfuil meas againn uilig ar Chamille agus ar Sheoirse ina bpearsain daonna - deir Ó Dónaill go gcialaíonn ‘saoithiúlact’ “Learning, wisdom, skill, accomplishment” agus comh maith le sin “Humorousness, pleasantness, mirth”.
Eminent members of Aosdána, honoured guests, today we gather to confer on artist Camille Souter and composer Seoirse Bodley the torc which signifies their selection as saoi by their peers in Aosdána. As Ó Dónaill, that great lexicographer, reminds us, great artists are often persons of kindness and good humour - despite the stereotype of the grumpy, distracted genius - and I know that both Camille and Seoirse are beloved of their colleagues for these human qualities as well as for their outstanding achievements as artists.
I always look forward to these days when I have the privilege of conferring the torc for, on every past occasion, it has been clear that this award hits a very deep spot for its recipients, all of whom by definition are already deserving holders of many great honours and distinctions. This is a place where the prophet is honoured in his and her own land and where the recognition has a formidable intimacy and legitimacy and impact precisely because this is no remote laying-on of hands but the showcasing of the judgement and respect of one’s colleagues. No patronage here, no politics, no X-factor, no phone-in, just the simple distilled wisdom and gladness of your fellow and sister artists in Aosdána, an institution without equal anywhere in the world. And frankly this election comes at an important national moment when we begin to see in a very raw and as yet unredeemed way what happens when institutions and systems think of the worlds peoples exclusively as economies of consumers and forget they are communities of people. On this day and through your work, the work of Aosdána, its members of the Arts Council and arts community we are reminded of the mind, the heart, the spirit and not just the pocket and the credit card.
At any given time Ireland has only seven Saoithe, so what a truly beautiful occasion we have today when Seoirse and Camille join the legendary company of Anthony Cronin, Brian Friel, Seamus Heaney, Louis le Brocquy and Patrick Scott.
Thirty three years ago Seoirse Bodley premiered a song cycle that took its title from a line by Yeats, ‘Never to Have Lived is Best’. All I can say is he must have had his tongue firmly in his cheek. So many people’s lives have been steeped in musical pleasure and delight thanks to Seoirse’s life. At the unforgivably early age of thirteen, he began his life as a composer and today he, and we too, can reflect on a stunning portfolio of symphonies, chamber works, song cycles, works for piano, for solo voice and for choral ensembles. The title of his second symphony, ‘I have Loved the Lands of Ireland’, reveals a leitmotif in Seoirse’s work which has clearly been of real importance to him. His work has been performed across the globe, he is steeped in the world of classical music, of European avant garde, but Ireland is his home, his well, and he is profoundly at home in our native Irish traditions. One of the founders of The Folk Music Society of Ireland, a scholar and teacher, as a distinguished Professor in UCD, Seoirse has helped us to recast what it means to be an artist in Ireland. Not just a wise artist but an exemplary and inspiring citizen, a perfect saoi.
Camille Souter, it may surprise some of you to learn, trained in her youth as a nurse. I am struck by this because, no doubt unconsciously, it seems to fit with the two great qualities of her work - her profound compassion, and her modest willingness to look directly and unflinchingly at the world as it is. Her life has taken her all over Italy, to France, to London, to Dublin frequently, to Calary bog in Wicklow, and, over and over again, to her beloved Achill. In all her wanderings, certain things have remained constant - her ability to immerse herself in what takes over her imagination at a given time, her unfazed willingness to trust her gift, her genuine humility as a person and as an artist - all this and an unswerving dedication to what she has called ‘The Quest’, glossed by Garret Cormican as “the relentless search for meaning, purpose and understanding that engages every human being”.
I have heard that Camille was very reluctant to allow herself to be put forward as Saoi, so well done to those whose negotiating skills persuaded her to accept the honour. This is the woman who a few years ago when offered a retrospective at the Droichead Arts Centre asked that it be made a joint retrospective with her friend, the late Nano Reid. In a “me, me, me” world, Camille stands out, among artists she stands out, a towering figure in Irish painting, a good and noble human being. So very worthy of the title ‘saoi’.
What an honour it is to confer now the torc of saoi on two such truly wonderful human beings, Seoirse Bodley and Camille Souter.
Comhghairdeas libh, Seoirse, Camille ‘s go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.