The Museum of Literature Ireland celebrated the relaunch of RadioMoLI, the museum’s flagship digital programme, with a special event at MoLI on Thursday night. Titled Words on the Waves, and presented in partnership with Ebow Digital, the event was a rich evening of discussion, reading and song.
A vast and ever-growing digital archive for Irish literature, RadioMoLI features hundreds of audio recordings, video and images, all of which are free and accessible. First launched in February 2019 – several months before the museum opened its doors for the first time – the platform has now been completely redesigned and rebuilt, to create an open and vital new home for literature on a national and international scale.
RadioMoLI will continue to grow its collection, combining in-house productions and live broadcasts with media from partners in the Irish literature community. The collection includes podcasts, lectures, readings, discussion, commissioned films, digital exhibitions and much more. Highlights include the MoLI-produced Writer Presents series, in-depth interviews with contemporary writers such as Anne Enright and Frank McGuinness, or the museum’s long-running Past/Present/Pride series.
Signalling an exciting future for RadioMoLI, the launch event included both a live audience and listeners all over the world tuning in online. The programme featured breathtaking performances from musicians Julia Spanu (song) and Elsa Kelly (harp); a moving essay inspired by the Shipping Forecast by writer Henrietta McKervey; and a fascinating panel discussion about the art of digital storytelling including Sinéad Clandillon (Head of Content, Ebow Digital), Jennifer Forde (producer of West Cork, Havana Helmet Club), Zoë Comyns (producer of The Prompt, Marconi and Me), David Douglas (MD, Ebow Digital) and Benedict Schlepper-Connolly (MoLI).
Speaking at the event, David Cleary, CEO of MoLI said: “RadioMoLI speaks to the digital strategy championed by the museum’s founding team: one which saw the power of the digital medium to be a boundary-pushing, accessible and democratic route into the artform – creating a museum within a museum, with the power to meet people where they are.”
David Douglas, Managing Director of Ebow Digital, commented: "The reason Ebow Digital supports this wonderful museum is not just out of my own love of books … I wanted to do something, with somewhere that I believed had shared values about truth and expertise, creativity and the human condition, literature and the arts. I believe we have found that here at MoLI."
A recording from the event is now available on RadioMoLI.
RadioMoLI and MoLI’s digital programme is sponsored by Ebow Digital and produced with the support of the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon. The redevelopment of RadioMoLI was made possible by funding from the DOORS Digital Incubator for Museums, a programme designed to support the digitilisation of museums across Europe.
Tune in at radio.moli.ie
