Eternal Rebels

Artists

Mary Moynihan, writer, director, theatre and filmmaker, Artistic Director of Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality

Full Event Details

A reflection on the stories of  women change-makers in Irish history including Eva Gore-Booth  (1870-1926), a poet, writer, trade unionist, campaigner for equality and a sister of Constance Markiewicz;  Hanna Sheehy Skeffington (1877-1946), a feminist, pacifist and human rights campaigner and one of Ireland’s foremost suffragettes;  and Mary Elmes,  (1908-2002) from Cork, who was the first Irish person honoured as ‘Righteous Among Nations’ for her work saving Jewish children from the Nazi gas chambers during World War II. Two of the women in the exhibition are Maude Jane Delap (1866-1953), a pioneering marine biologist, and Helen Blackburn (1842–1903), suffragist and writer, both from Valentia Island in County Kerry. The exhibition is open from 24 July to 13 August 2023, 10am-4pm Monday to Saturday, 1-5pm Sunday

The exhibition features Change-Maker Stories – A Book of Names capturing timeless change-maker stories and photographs of activists and artists from the Decade of Centenaries period in Irish history, with space in the book inviting you to share the name of a change-maker who inspired you.  Artists involved in the project are Mary Moynihan, Writer, Poet, Theatre and Film-Maker, Artistic Director, Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, Artistic Curator of the Dublin International Arts and Human Rights Festival; Hina Khan, Visual Artist and Miniaturist; Amna Walayat, Visual Artist, Féilim James, writer, Michael McCabe, choreographer and performer and John Scott, of Irish Modern Dance Theatre. 

Set in the beautiful St John’s Church built to a design by the Irish architect Joseph Wellard 150 years ago. The building is surrounded by a Sensory Garden to cater for people with disabilities. The garden provides individual and combined sensory opportunities and focuses on the five main senses such as smell, touch, sight, hearing and taste.

Page image is Edge by Mary Moynihan.

Artist Biographies:

Mary Moynihan, (she/her), MA, is an award-winning writer, director, theatre and film-maker, an interdisciplinary artist and one of Ireland’s most innovative arts and human rights artists creating work to promote the arts, human rights, climate justice, gender equality, diversity and peace. 

Mary is Artistic Director of Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and works  collaboratively with artists and over 50 organisations across Ireland, Northern Ireland, Europe and internationally, using the arts to promote rights and values for all.   Company patrons of Smashing Times are Sabina Coyne Higgins, Senator Joan Freeman, founder of Pieta House, Ger Ryan, actor and Tim Pat Coogan, writer and historian. Founding patrons were writers Maeve Binchy and Brian Friel.

Mary’s work has won a number of awards including the Allianz Business to Arts Awards, a GSK Ireland Impact Award, a Dublin Bus Community Spirit Award, a National Lottery Good Cause Award, the international #ArtsAgainstCovid award, an Arts Council Project Award and an Arts Council Agility Award.

Mary is Artistic Curator for the annual Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival implemented by Smashing Times and Front Line Defenders in partnership with Amnesty International, Fighting Words, ICCL,  NWCI, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Trócaire and Poetry Ireland, funded by The Arts Council. The aim of the festival is 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.

Mary’s artistic practice encompasses theatre, film, literature, poetry, and curatorship. Mary’s work focuses on primal, visceral and intuitive responses to vulnerability and conflict and an exploration of self and the other. Her work explores an interconnectedness of the body, voice and imagination, revealing the inner life through physical and spiritual energies and intuitive engagements. Mary has a focus on using historical memory in her artistic practice as inspiration for the creation of original artworks across a range of mediums, remembering stories of ordinary yet powerful women and men from history and today who stood up for the rights of others.

As a playwright, Mary’s work includes the highly acclaimed The Woman is Present: Women’s Stories of WWII co-written with Paul Kennedy, Fiona Thompson and Féilim James;  A Beauty that will Pass; Constance and Her Friends – selected by President Michael D. Higgins for performance at Áras an Uachtaráin for Culture Night 2016;  In One Breath from the award-winning Testimonies(co-written with Paul Kennedy); and Shadow of My Soul, May Our Faces Haunt You and Silent Screams. 

Mary’s film work includes the hour-long documentary Stories from the Shadows, the short film Tell Them Our Names, inspired by women’s stories of WWII and selected for the London Eye International Film Festival and Kerry Film Festival, the creative documentary Women in an Equal Europe and the short film Courageous Women inspired by powerful women’s stories from the 1916 to 1923 decade of commemorations period in Irish history.  

States of Independence

This show is part of States of Independence, a project that celebrates the stories of ten change-makers from the Decade of Centenaries 1912-1922 linked to the stories of ten change-makers today working to make society a better place. The twenty stories gathered act as inspiration for the creation of new artworks by ten artists, working in visual art, film, dance, theatre, creative writing and digital arts. The artists come together to create a range of artworks and performances for public display in eight sites – both ancient and modern – across Ireland and for display via a creative billboards campaign and online on the Smashing Times Virtual Art Gallery. The stories, artworks and performances are shared with public audiences to reflect on modern day revolutionary visions for the future inspired by the past, launched for the annual Dublin International Arts and Human Rights festival 13 to 22 October 2023. The internationally acclaimed team of ten artists is led by Mary Moynihan, an award-winning writer, poet, director, theatre and filmmaker and Artistic Director, Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, working with John Scott, Artistic Director and Choreographer, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, and a range of artists working in literature, visual arts, theatre, film and new digital technologies.

The team collaboratively create a series of interconnected artworks including a live multi-disciplinary performance, visual art projections and a creative billboards campaign to be launched for the 2023 annual International Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival taking place from the 13 to 22 October 2023. Events are accompanied by panel discussions and public talks on new visions for a peaceful and equal society for all.

Events take place in Dublin, Kerry, Clare and Donegal with online work accessible across Ireland and internationally celebrating changemakers and heroes from the past and today,  bringing people together to promote active citizenship,  equality, human rights and diversity and celebrating new visions for a peaceful and equal future for all. Events take place in a range of venues both ancient and modern including Office of Public Work spaces throughout Ireland.

For further information please contact Freda Manweiler, producer, telephone 087 2214245 or email freda@smashingtimes.ie

Supported by The Arts Council Open Call as part of ART: 2023 a Decade of Centenaries Collaboration between The Arts Council and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Supported by Creative Europe as part of the Theatre in Palm project.

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