Maedhbh Fiona Mc Cullagh
Profession and company: Director, Solas Nua Capital Irish Film Festival.
How do you celebrate your Irishness? I celebrate my Irishness through my work, presenting Irish artists and filmmakers in the US and showcasing the exceptional talent that is emanating from Ireland. I love Irish arts especially contemporary Irish work across all disciplines. I regularly attend events organized by the Irish community in NYC and stay up to date with Irish diaspora through reading the Irish Echo as well as other newsletters. To keep up to date with what is happening at home in Ireland I read the Irish Times every day. I support Irish arts and crafts makers when I can and I love to speak and write my 'cúpla focal" as Gaeilge which has led to a renewed love for the language and a drive to relearn it again. For me expressing my Irishness is a lived experience - it's about being open minded, tolerant, welcoming and compassionate. It's about fairness, equity, standing up for others and speaking out against injustices everywhere.
Name a hero you admire and why? Ireland's first woman President of Ireland, a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Chair of The Elders; iconic change-maker Mary Robinson. She has been and continues to be an inspiration for my generation and women and girls of all ages. Her message of openness, equity, and tolerance is so needed, especially now. She is a fearless advocate for justice and peace and through her work with Project Dandelion, she is leading the charge to engage women in the fight to combat the effects of climate change. She leads the way in convincing legislators to take the impending climate catastrophe seriously by enacting laws and developing environmental policy that moves us away from dependence on fossil fuels. She is a woman of courage and speaks truth to power but most of all she is a tireless and compassionate champion for the care of all human beings and our planet.
Something people would be surprised to know about me... I am a twin, the 7th daughter and the 9th child!
Biography: Maedhbh Mc Cullagh is an independent multidisciplinary cultural producer, arts programmer, and creative consultant from Ireland. For more than two decades she has been producing and managing artistic programs, presentations, productions, and special events for international festivals, cultural institutes, and organizations, in Europe and the US. Through a broad range of arts leadership roles, in Dublin, New York, and Washington, D.C., she has centered contemporary Irish arts, culture, and diverse voices. She is the Director of Solas Nua’s Capital Irish Film Festival and the U.S. creative producer for the Dublin-based interdisciplinary hub, The Trailblazery. Previously she was the Associate Director of Irish Screen America and worked as the Managing Director of the Henry Street Settlement’s contemporary interdisciplinary Abrons Arts Center, NYC. As an independent producer she has worked with an array of award-winning theater companies and cultural institutions including PS122, (now Performance Space NY), The Civilians Theater Company, The Foundry Theatre, the Alliance of Resident Theatres, Elevator Repair Service, American Opera Projects, Poets House, The Chocolate Factory, Restless Productions and Make Music New York. Before migrating to America, she was the Program Manager of the international Dublin Fringe Festival and Associate Producer of the award-winning Aurora Nova international program of physical theatre, dance, and cross-disciplinary performance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
