Smashing Times and Front Line Defenders in partnership with Amnesty International, Fighting Words, ICCL, NWCI, Concern Worldwide, NXF & Trócaire will implement the 2020 Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival to showcase and highlight the extraordinary work of human rights defenders in Ireland and around the world, past and present, and the role of the arts and artists in promoting human rights today. The festival will run for ten days from Friday 16 October to Sunday 25 October 2020.
This year’s festival is moving online where we are creating a dedicated virtual space to share, celebrate, remember, explore, provoke and promote the arts for human rights. Join us as we bring together artists, activists, citizens, families, communities and all those interested in using the arts to celebrate and promote human rights and equality for all. Visit the official web page for the festival here (or click below).
The theme of this year’s festival is Voices of Hope, Courage and Resilience celebrating human rights and linking the arts to civil society, active citizenship and politics through a series of inter-disciplinary performances, film screenings, documentaries, theatre, music, dance, visual and digital art, poetry, literature, historical memory, discussions and arts-based workshops, featuring Irish and international artists and guest speakers celebrating and promoting dignity and respect for all people equally.
The festival is presented by Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and Front Line Defenders in partnership with Amnesty International Ireland, Fighting Words, Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), the National LGBT Federation (NXF), and the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI). Creative partners include John Scott Dance, Poetry Ireland, Create, dlr Mill Theatre, Dundrum and Trinity College Dublin.
The artistic curator for the festival is Mary Moynihan, Artistic Director, Smashing Times and the human rights curator Tara Madden, Front Line Defenders. Over ten days the festival brings audiences a mix of artworks that include the very best performances, vibrant dance acts, live music, visual art exhibitions and family fun combined with stimulating discussion and debate.
An assortment of workshops in performance, music, and song-writing are available for all ages as a part of this unique and vibrant festival of culture, arts and equality. The festival is a collaborative partnership showcasing world-class programming and presenting new and diverse artists and acts, with something for everyone to enjoy. Join us for a celebration of the arts and human rights – a festival not to be missed.
The festival will bear witness and remember the past, explore the present and celebrate the future linked to equality and rights for all, highlighting the role artists can play in a new society.
The festival will be launched next Wednesday, 9 September at 4.30pm, alongside the full programme. Watch this space.