Smashing Times and Front Line Defenders in partnership with Amnesty International, Fighting Words, Irish Council for Civil Liberties, National Women’s Council of Ireland, Trócaire, and Poetry Ireland will implement the 2021 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 15 October to Sunday 24 October 2021. The artistic curator for the festival is Mary Moynihan, Artistic Director, Smashing Times and the human rights curator is Laura O’Leary, Front Line Defenders.
This year’s festival will contain both online and in-person events in line with current Covid-19 guidelines, and will facilitate the opportunity 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. The theme of this year’s festival is Hope, Courage and Resilience: The Story Continues. The festival celebrates human rights and links 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.
Mary Moynihan, Artistic Director and Curator
Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival
Niamh Clowry, Development Officer
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.
Events will take place online and in person. Site specific shows featuring theatre, poetry, literature, song, music and dance will be presented in the grounds of Rathfarnham Castle; live performances of theatre, dance and music will be presented on the rooftop garden of the Chester Beatty Library; an exhibition of visual artworks and film art pieces will be presented at dlr Mill Theatre Gallery Space; and a discussion on human rights, poetry and the environment will be held at the NUI Galway Human Rights Centre.
The Map visual art exhibition takes place at Rua Red Arts Centre, Dublin and a tour of the acclaimed film Limbo by Ben Sharrock travels to four venues, Droichead Arts Centre, Garter Lane Arts Centre, Solstice Arts Centre, Navan and Linenhall Arts Centre, Castlebar hosted by Access Cinema and Dublin International Film Festival. Duck, Duck, Goose, a new play by Fishamble Theatre Company can be seen at Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny, 16 October; Lyric Theatre, Belfast, 19-20 October; and Belltable, Limerick, 23 October, followed by an online post-show on 23 October, 7pm. Writing a Protest Song, consists of two song writing workshops on 9 and 16 October, hosted by Fighting Words ,and Voices of Witness is an online event featuring poetry readings and music performances on 21 October, 7pm.
Please be aware that some of the events in the festival programme touch on themes of a sensitive nature. All events are over 18s only unless stated otherwise.
Catherine Ann Cullen, Poet in Residence, Poetry Ireland; Liam Herrick, ICCL; Colm O’Gorman, Amnesty International Andrew Anderson, Front Line Defenders; Orla O’Connor, NWCI; Colm Quearney, Fighting Words Niamh Clowry, Smashing Times; Mary Moynihan, Smashing Times
The Opening Ceremony of the Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival takes place on the Roof Garden, Chester Beatty, Dublin, and features speakers from Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, and Front Line Defenders. Performance by singer-songwriter, Carla Ryan, and violinist Lisa McLoughlin-Gnemmi. Hosted by Festival Partners.
Free – €50.00
October 15, 2021 @ 11:00 am - October 24, 2021 @ 11:00 pm IST
Virtual Arts Exhibitions featuring artworks created as part of the State of the Art: Nation State as Both Violator and Protector of Human Rights project. This exhibition runs for the duration of the festival, from 15 - 24 October. Hosted by Smashing Times.
Free/ Donation
October 15, 2021 @ 11:00 am - October 24, 2021 @ 11:00 pm IST
Online gallery of artwork by feminist activist artists who wear gorilla masks in public and use facts, humour and outrageous visuals to expose gender and ethnic bias as well as corruption in politics, art, film and pop culture. This exhibition runs for the duration of the festival, from 15 - 24 October. Hosted by Smashing Times.
Stát na mBan (translation: The Women’s State / The State of Women) is a visual art exhibition and film installation in the DLR Mill Theatre, Dundrum, exploring gender-based violence, racism, migration, colonialism, feminism, silence, womanhood and women’s rights as human rights. The exhibition features visual artworks in the gallery space, a film installation in the Studio and is accompanied by a series of compelling poems in print form hung in the gallery. Hosted by Smashing Times and DLR Mill Theatre.
Free/ Donation
October 15, 2021 @ 11:00 am - October 24, 2021 @ 11:00 pm IST
Sound On! is a creative sound art project presenting experiences of human rights and happiness for and by people with an intellectual disability. This exhibition runs for the duration of the festival, from 15 - 24 October. Hosted by Smashing Times.
Live Theatre performance celebrating the life of Margaret Kearney Taylor followed by post-show panel discussion, created as part of State of the Art and Forgotten Voices. Presented for 5 performances only. Hosted by Smashing Times.
Film installation in the Lecture Theatre of the Chester Beatty featuring a selection of artworks displayed on screen created by artists working on State of the Art: The Nation State as both Violator and Protector of Human Rights. Hosted by Smashing Times.
International Partner Exchange attended by partners of the Forgotten Voices: Stories of Hope, Courage, Resilience from the Holocaust and WWII project. Hosted by Smashing Times.
Live showcase performance of theatre, poetry, song and dance – a personal reflection on equality and rights. Each performance is followed by a State of the Art post-show panel discussion with the key artists.
Live performance and post-show panel discussion created as part of State of the Art: The Nation State as both Violator and Protector of Human Rights, funded by The Arts Council. Hosted by Smashing Times.
Front Line Defenders, Trócaire and Christian Aid discuss the campaign to hold Irish companies to account for harming people and the planet abroad, featuring case studies from Colombia and Chile.
Work in progress performances of original musical pieces created by youth performers at M.A.D. Youth Theatre. Hosted by M.A.D. Youth Theatre and Smashing Times.
Film installation in the Lecture Theatre of the Chester Beatty featuring a selection of artworks displayed on screen created by artists working on State of the Art: The Nation State as both Violator and Protector of Human Rights. Hosted by Smashing Times.
Join the Climate Queens online this October, as they provide the ultimate climate activist toolkit hearing directly from youth activists. Hosted by Front Line Defenders.
Stát na mBan (translation: The Women’s State / The State of Women) is a visual art exhibition and film installation in the DLR Mill Theatre, Dundrum, exploring gender-based violence, racism, migration, colonialism, feminism, silence, womanhood and women’s rights as human rights. The exhibition features visual artworks in the gallery space, a film installation in the Studio and is accompanied by a series of compelling poems in print form hung in the gallery. Hosted by Smashing Times and DLR Mill Theatre.
These workshops will look at the history of protest songs and draw on these themes to create our own songs relevant for today's generation. 13-17 year olds only. Hosted by Fighting Words.
Live Theatre performance celebrating the life of Margaret Kearney Taylor followed by post-show panel discussion, created as part of State of the Art and Forgotten Voices. Presented for 5 performances only. Hosted by Smashing Times.
Live showcase performance of theatre, poetry, song and dance – a personal reflection on equality and rights. Each performance is followed by a State of the Art post-show panel discussion with the key artists.
Live performance and post-show panel discussion created as part of State of the Art: The Nation State as both Violator and Protector of Human Rights, funded by The Arts Council. Hosted by Smashing Times.
Film installation in the Lecture Theatre of the Chester Beatty featuring a selection of artworks displayed on screen created by artists working on State of the Art: The Nation State as both Violator and Protector of Human Rights. Hosted by Smashing Times.
Practical Workshop on the Suzuki Training technique and Viewpoints Training technique with Ellen Lauren (co - artistic Director of SITI Company and associate artist of The SCOT Company, Toga. Hosted by Ellen Lauren and facilitated by Michael McCabe in collaboration with Smashing Times.
Live Theatre performance celebrating the life of Margaret Kearney Taylor followed by post-show panel discussion, created as part of State of the Art and Forgotten Voices. Presented for 5 performances only. Hosted by Smashing Times.
Live showcase performance of theatre, poetry, song and dance – a personal reflection on equality and rights. Each performance is followed by a State of the Art post-show panel discussion with the key artists.
Live performance and post-show panel discussion created as part of State of the Art: The Nation State as both Violator and Protector of Human Rights, funded by The Arts Council. Hosted by Smashing Times.
Film installation in the Lecture Theatre of the Chester Beatty featuring a selection of artworks displayed on screen created by artists working on State of the Art: The Nation State as both Violator and Protector of Human Rights. Hosted by Smashing Times.
