Welcome to the annual Irish Arts and Human Rights Festival

Friday 10 – Sunday 19 October 2025

In Solidarity: An International Celebration of Arts and Human Rights

“In a world where human rights continue to be under attack, Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival sets out to celebrate the people who have stood up for them around the world and throughout history and highlight the role artists can play in promoting a more just society.”
– Kevin Courtney, Irish Times

Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and Front Line Defenders, and a range of partners, present the seventh annual Irish Arts and Human Rights Festival from the 10 to 19 October 2025. The festival features exciting and innovative events that promote equality, human rights and diversity throughout Ireland, Northern Ireland and internationally.  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.

The 2025 festival comprises over sixty events including five multidisciplinary exhibitions with 198 days of viewing;  twelve live theatre shows  with 30 performances; one installation; seven children and youth workshops; three launches with artist talks;  two music shows;  three film screenings; six artist-curator-guest speaker panel talks and discussions; one major international environment eco-conference; two walking tours; two radio shows with Dublin South FM; one unveiling and one online interview. The artistic curator for the festival is Mary Moynihan, Artistic Director, Smashing Times and the human rights curator is Laura O’Leary, International Events and Promotions Coordinator, Front Line Defenders. 

Flagship events include From the Forest to the Ocean, a major multidisciplinary exhibition by artists Mary Moynihan and Hina Khan, 16 September to 2 November, 2025, at Rathfarnham Castle; a world premiere of Memorial Monologues: The Path of Memory Part 2 by Mary Moynihan on site at The Iveagh Gardens, Dublin, in partnership with Front Line Defenders, and a range of events taking place at the new Smashing Times centre,  30 Sandycove Road, Dublin, A96V9P1, the first Arts and Human Rights centre in Ireland.

Join us for a range of events presented by Front Line Defenders including the Human Rights Open Mic Night  at the Button Factory; the Mother City Film Screening and Discussion on land and housing in Dublin and Cape Town at the Pearse Centre and From Mexico to Ireland; a discussion on corporate responsibility & Human Rights featuring a live panel discussion with woman Human Right Defender Grecia Eugenia Rodríguez Navarro, from the Zacatecas Mining Conflict Observatory, Mexico who shares her testimony of resistance and resilience from the front lines. Also at the Pearse Centre is a live interview presented by Front Line Defenders with Lana Estemirova who talks about her book ‘Please Live: The Chechen Wars, My Mother and Me’’ and the story of her mother, Natalya Estemirova, murdered in Chechnya in 2009 for her human rights work. Lana Estemirova is a presenter of the Trouble with the Truth podcast, and works for the Justice for Journalists Foundation.

The festival is a hybrid programme delivered over 10 days with a number of events running before and after the festival from August to December 2025, reaching audiences locally, nationally, and internationally. The festival hosts an exciting blend of events happening in-person and online, featuring Irish and international artists and guest speakers. There is something for everyone interested in the arts for equality, human rights, and diversity. 

In Solidarity: An International Celebration of Arts and Human Rights

The aim is to have the Irish Arts and Human Rights festival take place in every county in Ireland and to have international events and partners. The festival has sought to be as inclusive as possible; opening up to all artists across Ireland and internationally and to all communities including those experiencing marginalization and disadvantage, to ensure that artistic voices are championed, and that the scale of the festival can grow to broaden a wide range of arts participation, playing a vital role in the fabric of Ireland’s cultural, social and political landscape.

The festival promotes human rights and justice for all, and the vision of a world where all people are treated equally, with dignity and respect – linking the arts to civil society, active citizenship and politics, aiming to celebrate and unite community connections, artists, human rights organisations and human rights defenders.

The festival showcases world-class and diverse acts, artists and speakers, including up and coming performers. It brings arts and human rights together through interdisciplinary events which include workshops, theatre performances, musical performances, visual arts, exhibitions, film screenings, panel discussions, poetry and literature events, historical memory performances, live art, digital installations, and more.

Join us to illuminate stories of courage and inspiration and to share stories of ordinary people who stand up for human rights. We bear witness to, and remember the past, explore the present and celebrate the future linked to equality, human rights and diversity for all.

Download the festival programme here

Partners: The annual international Irish Arts and Human Rights Festival is organised by Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and Front Line Defenders, a Dublin based international organisation working to improve the security and protection of human rights defenders at risk, in partnership with Amnesty International, Fighting Words, Irish Council for Civil Liberties, National Women’s Council of Ireland, Trócaire, GOAL NextGen and Sightsavers Ireland.

Creative partners include Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Rathfarnham Castle, The Pearse Museum and Saint Enda’s Park, the OPW, the Iveagh Gardens, Rua Red, Dah Theatre, Zid Theatre, Lighthouse Cinema, Humanist Association of Ireland, Clondalkin Library, Mother Tongues, Hill Street Family Resource Centre, Clondalkin Tower Drama Group, Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, Department of Justice, Haven Horizons, Reclaim the Agenda, Belfast & Lisburn Women’s Aid, Lime Tree Theatre | Belltable, Lemon Soap Productions, The Freedom Theatre Jenin, Revolutionary Stage, Create, Ballina Arts Centre, Wexford Arts Centre, Ramor Arts Centre, Curve Ball, Pearse Centre.

Support:  The TREES Project, Creative Europe, Erasmus+, Foras na Gaeilge, Office of Public Works, Dublin South FM, Dublin City Council, The Arts Council of Northern Ireland, The Arts Council Commissions Award under visual art, literature, and festivals. Special Thanks to the Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights Network, the Smashing Times Artist Development Programme, and The Trees project.

Festival Events

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List of events in Photo View

 

 

View the 2024 festival programme here