Ireland. Eire. Part III. Фомина И.В. - 14 стр.

2001), When Brendan Met Trudy (Kieron J. Walsh 2001) and Disco Pigs
(Kirsten Sheridan 2001).
      Annual film festivals in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Belfast showcase Irish
and international films while a year-round venue for art house cinema is pro-
vided at the Irish Film Centre in Dublin, the Kino in Cork and the Town Hall in
Galway.

      Ex. 3. Ask 10–12 questions to the text.

      Ex. 4. Use your questions as a plan and retell the text.

                                       UNIT VII

      Ex. 1. Pre-reading task.
      Answer the following questions:
             1.    What Irish artists do you know?
             2.    Where have you seen their works?

      Ex. 2. Read and translate the text.

                                    VISUAL ARTS

       In the end of the last century commercial and state patronage of the visual
arts had many beneficial effects. In Northern Ireland the Arts Council worked
assiduously to promote the arts, including the visual sector. In the Republic,
since the restructuring of the Arts Council in 1973, similar regenerative powers
are in evidence. In both parts of Ireland, bursaries are widely available, while
through the Dublin Arts Council, artists can now enjoy pension rights, a previ-
ously unheard of benefit.
       As early as 3,000 BC, Ireland had a distinctive art. The earliest Irish art
consists of carvings on megalithic monuments dating from 3500 B.C. Celtic art
flourished for many centuries, unimpeded by outside influences. By the eighth
and ninth centuries it had reached its apogee in the manuscripts of the gospels,
with the creation of works like the Book of Durrow and the Book of Kells.
These feature interlaced animal and geometric forms in bright primary colours.
Celtic art still provides inspiration for artists like Jim Fitzpatrick. Through the
periods of the Viking and Norman invasions of Ireland, the visual arts went
through their own dark ages. After the ninth century Irish art absorbed Viking,
Romanesque and Gothic influences producing, for example, richly carved stone
High Crosses.
       From the mid-seventeenth century decorative arts such as goldsmithery,
plasterwork and glass flourished in conjunction with the large-scale public
buildings of the time. Not until the eighteenth century did art flourish once
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