Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival in Temple Bar this October

Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival – Europe’s oldest specialist theatre festival – is set to celebrate its 53^rd year in 2010 with a programme packed with the best and brightest in contemporary theatre. Featuring new and award-winning productions, the Festival will bring the finest in Irish and international performance to 22 venues around Dublin!

Running from 30^th September – 17^th October, the Festival will present 31 shows from 10 countries in 22 venues around the city. Featuring awe-inspiring large scale productions as well as smaller, intimate events, this year’s Festival has something for everyone. Large or small, Dublin loves drama.

Temple Bar is home to more than 50 arts and cultural venues and this year’s Dublin Theatre Festival will bring events to the following cultural organisations in Temple Bar:

The Ark, A Cultural Centre for Children

The New Theatre

Irish Film Institute

Project Arts Centre

Smock Alley Theatre

Temple Bar Gallery and Studios

Check the full programme of events at http://dublintheatrefestival.com/

Day 3 at the Summer Sensational in Temple Bar

Everybody wants to rock and roll at the Summer Sensational!

Giant disco for all the family today in Smock Alley Theatre. Everyone hit the dance floor (grown-ups too)!

A walking tour of Temple Bar’s public art

Shutter by Rachel Joynt, 1993                                   

Do you know where the Gallery of Photography’s logo comes from? Take a look at this piece at the entrance of the Gallery of Photography the next time you go there.

Absolute Jellies Make Singing Sounds by Maud  Cotter, 1994

Also take a closer look at the Green Building, 23-24 Temple Lane South, featuring a selection of recycling materials right at the door.

Click here to view to full list of public arts in Temple Bar.

Get into shorts with Filmbase – One  more day to go!

Lunchtime break in Filmbase everyday during the Summer Sensational (1-1.45pm). Shorts sessions in the Culture Box also on Sunday (5-6pm) and La Dolce Vita (7-8pm).

The notoriously difficult to spot Wally has been seen in Temple Bar today!

What’s the Buzz? – The Summer Sensational online competition

Check their blogs for more reviews during the festival!

WaterMemory, Girl from the Hills, I Am Steph, I Heart Ducks, Golden Plec, Tickets There, Culch, Dublin Culture, Irishetchings’s Blog

A Conversation & Screenings: Anne Tallentire & Jaki Irvine

On Thursday 22^nd April at 5pm in IMMA, Jaki Irvine and Anne Tallentire will discuss the work of  Tallentire in the context of the exhibition, Anne Tallentire: This and other things 1999-2010, questioning themes such as ephemerality, work and everyday life that inform the overall practice of  Tallentire. This will be followed by an outdoor screening of a series, in association with Temple Bar Cultural Trust, of single screen video works by Tallentire in Meeting House Square, Temple Bar.

Film Screening: 9.30pm, Meeting House Square, Temple Bar
Company (8min 25sec); Zero-58 (58sec); Telling I (18min 34 sec); Spool (3min); In Time (13min 15sc) and Instances (31min) by artist Anne Tallentire.

Win tickets to “The Girl who Forgot to Sing Badly” at The Ark!

The Ark, A Cultural Centre for Children and Temple Bar Cultural Trust have teamed up to offer one lucky winner the prize of four tickets to The Girl who Forgot to Sing Badly, on Saturday 30 January at 4pm.

To enter, simply reply to us with a comment telling us why you would like to come to a cultural event in Temple Bar this January.  The competition closes on Monday January 25^th.

THIS COMPETITION IS CLOSED.

The Ark, A Cultural Centre for Children, in association with Theatre Lovett, presents the world premiere of

Sometimes it takes a girl-sized human, to solve an adult-sized problem.

This is the story of Peggy. And the packing. And the blizzard. And the boat.  

Peggy O’Hegarty and her parents were packers.
Each day someone would call with a job and a time.
‘I want 17 foxes in boxes by breakfast’,
said the caller and all of the packers said: ‘fine’.

But one day the phone it forgot to keep ringing.
And then all the boxes forgot to need stuffing.
And then poor old Peggy, she forgot to keep singing.
And she opened the curtains and found outside … nothing.

Because all of the people in her city were gone.

So Peggy went out to explore…

Following the sell out success of Beware of the Storybook Wolves in 2008, and The Giant Blue Hand in 2009, The Girl who Forgot to Sing Badly is the first exciting initiative running as part of The Ark’s Theatre-Maker in Residence 2010: inspire new theatre for generations.

The Girl who Forgot to Sing Badly is suitable for children ages 7 and upwards, and runs from 26 January – 7 March with public performances on Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm and 4pm (excluding Sunday 31 January) and with extra performances during the mid-term break, Tuesday 16 – Friday 19 February.  School performances for 2^nd class and upwards run Tuesday – Friday 10:15am and 12:15pm during term time.

For full programme details, prices and booking please see www.ark.ie, phone 01.6707788 or visit The Ark, 11a Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2.

Celebrate 15 years of CoisCéim Dance Theatre in Temple Bar

Celebrating 15 years of award-winning productions CoisCéim Dance Theatre doubles up in the New Year with a programme of events at Project Arts Centre, Temple Bar this January.

As you Are by Muirne Bloomer

Who would you rather be Superman or Clarke Kent? We all want to stand out from the crowd – but are we willing to pay the price? In Muirne Bloomer’s quirky world, six extraordinary individuals are tested to the limit as they struggle for control over themselves and each other.

Faun by David Bolger

Audiences rioted when they saw Nijinski’s first ballet, L’Après midi d’un Faune, shocked by the shameless sensuality and revolutionary dance style. Mixing Debussy’s famous score with Queen, David Bolger explores how dance still reconnects us with our feelings and imagination and asks can we still break free?

Coinciding with CoisCéim Dance Theatre’s new production As You Are and Faun, there are also two lunchtime dance workshops for adults. The sessions offer participants the chance to get in shape with a lively dance warm-up as well as learn original choreography from the show. Come and discover more about contemporary dance theatre.  Workshops are led by a professional dancer with CoisCéim. Open to all levels, no previous experience necessary.

All workshop/performance tickets include a visit to see As Your Are/Faun at Project Arts Centre, East Essex Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2.

Designer Mart does Fridays!

Designer Mart at Cow’s Lane takes place every Saturday in the Old City area of Temple Bar and the good news is that during December this market will also run on two Fridays!

Now is your chance to pick up that extra special, unique hand made gift for that someone special this Christmas.  The Mart has a whole range of designs in jewellery, fashion, home ware, visual arts, photography and more.

If you haven’t already had a chance to visit Designer Mart on Saturdays then put Friday December 11^th and 18^th in your diary.

For a full list of Designer Mart traders visit http://www.templebar.ie/home_nav_32_m_3.html

Eat Your City, a new exhibition opening tomorrow at Exchange Dublin

“Eat Your City”, an exhibition by fourth year architecture students at University College Dublin, opens this week at Exchange Dublin in Temple Bar. 

The exhibition is organised by students taking part in a Research Seminar entitled “Building Dwelling Eating”. Under the tutorage of lecturer Samantha Martin-McAuliffe, the students have put together various pieces of work that have been influenced by research over the course of the 2009 autumn semester. “Eat Your City” illustrates the multi-faceted relationship between food, architecture and society.

There are scores of buildings and places in Dublin that have their origins in the culture of food. However, many of these buildings we may pass by unknowingly on a day-to-day basis. Several have been forgotten and have fallen into disuse. Or, over time, their meaning has changed to the degree that they no longer resemble their original use. Initial seminar projects aimed to ‘uncover’ one of these forgotten places in Dublin’s food culture. Further research examined new and existing projects around the city of Dublin that strive to reaffirm community values and have a connection between food and living, giving a taste of what might be possible for the future. 

“Eat Your City” aims to map what has been learned over the course of the semester in three different categories representing Dublin’s past, present and future food culture. Ultimately, we hope that this exhibition will serve as a springboard for further discussions about the city. 

“Eat Your City” runs from December 15th- 20th at Exchange Dublin, 1 Exchange Street Upper, Temple Bar, Dublin 8. Hours: 12.00-22.00. Admission is free. All are welcome.

TBCT’s year of non-stop culture

Our Temple Bar Cultural Trust (TBCT) events programme has finished for 2009 and what a success it was. The number of visitors who came out and joined us at our TBCT events doubled in 2009 from15,000 visitors in 2008 to 30,000 in 2009 and this is excluding Culture Night which attracted 152,000!

This April saw a whole range of events throughout Temple Bar and across the city to celebrate Handel and his Dublin connections, paying particular attention to the 250^th anniversary of his death. We are sure the jam-packed streets, concert halls, churches and ships would have made GF Handel very proud!

Midsummer in Temple Bar was a bit of a wet day in Dublin (no surprises there!) but, thanks to the magical festivities on Meeting House Square, spirits were not dampened. The longest day of the year was celebrated with fire, feasting and film on Meeting House Square that appeared like never before as it was covered in grass for one day only!

There were plenty of belly laughs and fun at the Temple Bar Circus Festival this July when the streets and spaces of Temple Bar echoed with peals of laughter and gasps of amazement while visitors experienced the biggest Circus Festival in Temple Bar to date.

In September, thousands of Irish people and visitors to the country came out to experience Culture Night and they were not disappointed with more than 120 venues opening their doors with free events for the public in Dublin and 10 other towns, cities and counties across the country getting involved for the largest late night cultural event this year.

Choc-a-block is the only word to describe our weekend-long Temple Bar Chocolate Festival that took place throughout Temple Bar in October. All events were fully booked and thoroughly enjoyed by people wanting to get stuck into all things chocolatey!

On behalf of all the team at TBCT, we would like to thank you all for your support in 2009 and for choosing a TBCT cultural event this year. We look forward to seeing you all next year for another year of cultural discovery.  A full programme of events will be announced in January so be sure to keep in touch with us.  In the meantime, if you have any suggestions or if you’d like to share some ideas with us, please do at feedback@templebar.ie.

Book your day out in Temple Bar! Book lovers have lots to look forward to in Temple Bar in the coming weeks…

This evening sees the launch in the No Grants Gallery (NGG) of Nude a new collection of short stories by Nuala Ní Chonchúir to coincide with a visual arts exhibition called Naked Ambition presented by the Three Rock Art Group which open in our NGG tomorrow Thursday 26^th November and runs until 9th December. 

The launch of Nude comes hot on the heels of the opening in Temple Bar of Dublin’s newest independent bookshop, Gutter Bookshop, at Cow’s Lane in the Old City area of Temple Bar.  This bookshop sells a great range of titles and has a fantastic kids’ section, as well as stationery and gift ideas.  

Booklovers can also check out the wonderful Temple Bar Book Market every weekend on Temple Bar Square.  

Dermot McLaughlin, CEO of Temple Bar said: “Independent bookshops are essential and Temple Bar Cultural Trust welcomes the Gutter Bookshop as a new addition to Temple Bar’s book culture. Readers need more choice and the passionate people who run independent bookshops, and the booksellers at the Temple Bar Book Market, provide that extra layer of adventure and choice that readers love.  Writers need more outlets that are prepared to take risks and not succumb to commercial pressure and skewed artistic direction from accountants and bankers. Dublin prides itself as a city of literature.  That means a city where writers and readers are cherished and supported and Temple Bar is a great place for this.”

So if you’re thinking of giving the gift of reading this Christmas then the literary offering in Temple Bar is well worth a look!

 NGG is located at the Temple Bar Cultural Information Centre at 12 East Essex Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2.

Cow’s Lane Designer Studio – Customer and Friends evening

Artists and designers from the Cow’s Lane Designer Studio in the Old City area of Temple Bar are inviting you to an open customers and friends evening next Thursday December 3^rd 2009 from 6pm – 9pm.

This is an opportunity for you to get a taste of the wonderful creations on sale every weekday at the Studio and indeed every Saturday at Designer Mart at Cow’s Lane.

So come along and meet the hard working and truly talented designers from the Studio and pick up some handmade Christmas gifts for all the family.  There is something individual to suit every pocket at the Studio so its well worth a visit!

Cow’s Lane Designer Studio is located next door to The Bakery in the Old City area of Temple Bar.

For a full list of artists and designers at Designer Mart at Cow’s Lane http://www.templebar.ie/home_nav_32_m_3.html