The Art of W/Rights

A literary Carnival of Arts and Rights
Outdoor Site-Specific Shows, Live Projections, Pop-Up Installations and Creative Conversations
promoting equality, compassion + rights

Rathfarnham Dublin

In the Open – Faoin Spéir

Funded by The Arts Council

As part of The Art of W/Rights, two parks in Dublin – Rathfarnham Castle Park and St Enda’s Park -play host to a carnival-style performing arts spectacle by Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality featuring site-specific outdoor shows of theatre, film, literary pop-up installations and creative conversations, promoting equality, compassion, and human rights in changing times.

Live performances take place at Rathfarnham Castle Park from the 18 to the 24 October 2021 for the annual Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival and live performances and outdoor cinema screenings will take place at the Pearse Museum, St Enda’s Park in April 2022.

The Art of W/Rights is presented as part of the Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival 2021, organised by Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and Front Line Defenders, in partnership with Amnesty International, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the National Women’s Council of Ireland, Fighting Words, Poetry Ireland, and Trocaire.

The festival promises 10 days of exciting events celebrating and promoting 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 theme of this year’s festival is Hope, Courage and Resilience: The Story Continues. The festival reached an international audience of over 10,000 in 2020 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.

The Art of W/Rights partners are Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, South Dublin County Council Arts Office, Rathfarnham Castle, Pearse Museum and the Office of Public Works – Rathfarnham Castle Park and St Enda’s Park. The Art of W/Rights is funded by the Arts Council, South Dublin County Council Arts Office, the Creative Ireland programme of South Dublin, Erasmus+ and the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme (CERV). 

The programme generates a celebration of literature, visual and performing arts and discussion on key themes of equality, compassion and rights in a time of Covid.