Come along and enjoy the interactive PROJECT SPACE in the First Floor Gallery, designed specifically for children by Orla Goodwin. There are free art activities for all to enjoy that connect to the exhibition ‘Holdfast’ by Ann Ensor, which is showing in the Ground Floor Gallery. You are invited to engage with the themes and ideas presented in ‘Holdfast’ in a creative, fun way. Explore the space with your child in your own time over the course of the exhibition or come along on a day when one of our artists will be on hand for some creative guidance (see times and dates below for guided engagement). You can draw, read, watch and make, as you learn more about the wonders of kelp and the important role we all play in keeping our kelp forests healthy.

TIMES AND DATES:

Holdfast PROJECT SPACE in Draíocht’s First Floor Gallery opens from 10AM- 4PM MON-FRI over the course of the exhibition. The space has been designed for self-lead creativity for children aged 5-10 years, but older and younger children are also welcome to explore. We ask that children are supervised at all times in the space. Please leave the space as you would like to find it.

Open for self-lead engagement, daily during the exhibition, Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm, THU 12 DEC 2019-SAT 29 FEB 2020.

Open for guided engagement by Draíocht's Artist's Team: 
January:
SAT 04 (1PM-2PM & 2.30PM-7PM) SUN 05 (12.30PM-5PM),
SAT 11 (1PM-2PM & 2.30PM-7PM), SUN 12 (12.30PM -5PM),
SAT 18 (1PM-2PM & 2.30PM-7PM), SUN 19 (12.30PM-3PM),
SAT 25 (11AM-3PM).
February:
SAT 01 (11AM-3PM), SAT 08 (11AM-3PM),
SAT 15 (11AM-3PM), SAT 22 (11AM-3PM).


Further enquires: paula@draiocht.ie

Draíocht, in collaboration with Fingal County Council Arts Office, is delighted to announce a new commission from Ann Ensor for the 12th edition of Amharc Fhine Gall.

Holdfast is an immersive installation which explores the aesthetic properties and the environmental significance of kelp seaweed. Kelp has been around for millions of years and is hugely important in reducing and sinking carbon from the atmosphere to the sea floor bed. Kelp acts as a wave barrier and helps prevent coastal erosion. It shelters and feeds hundreds of marine entities in its holdfasts and fronds. Kelp is now coming under threat from excessive storm damage, pollution and mechanical cutting. This new commission continues to explore the aesthetic properties and the environmental significance of this natural material.

Ann Ensor is a visual artist based in Dublin 15 whose work combines sculpture, drawing, sound and text to explore environmental issues central to her practice. Ensor has just completed a residency at The Ballinglen Arts Foundation, North Mayo. Recent exhibitions include Matter Has No Density, Pallas Studios (2018); Heavy Weather at The Complex (2018); RHA Summer Show (2018); and Kfest, Kerry (2018). In 2017 she was a finalist in the RDS Visual Arts Awards Exhibition, curated by Nick Miller. Ensor holds an MFA Degree in painting (2017) from NCAD where she originally graduated in 2015 with a BA (1st Hons) in Fine Art/Sculpture.

Holdfast is accompanied by an interactive project space designed by Orla Goodwin for children in Draíocht’s First Floor Gallery, a public engagement programme facilitated by Draíocht’s Artist Team and an artist's book, designed by Siobhan Griffin, Alphabet Soup.This is Draíocht’s first formal exhibition addressing climate change.

Amharc Fhine Gall (Fingal Gaze) is an annual exhibition commissioned by Fingal County Council’s Arts Office and presented at Draíocht. Amharc Fhine Gall supports ambitious new artworks from artists at all stages of their career seeking to expand their practice through exploring new ideas, different media or variations in scale so as to take their work in new directions. The exhibition was initiated in 2004 by Fingal County Council Arts Office to celebrate the wealth of artistic talent in the county.  

Draiocht's Galleries are open Monday to Saturday 10am-6pm. Admission is Free.

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Visit Draíocht’s exhibition ‘Holdfast’ and its accompanying PROJECT SPACE. These tours will encourage pupils to examine and voice their opinion about the artist and their work as well as exploring the rest of the building including our two theatre spaces, backstage and dressing rooms. Please get in touch with paula@draiocht.ie. Tours will take 50 mins, are free and subject to availability, max 30 pupils with accompanying teacher.

Come and pick up Draíocht’s new Children’s Gallery Guide (free from Draíocht’s Creative Corner during opening hours) to help you and your family explore our exhibitions and building at your own pace and in your own time. Our Box Office staff will assist you with paper, clipboards, colouring pencils and a cushion! Look around the building, talk about the artwork, draw with the viewfinder, play a game of I Spy in the gallery!

This gallery guide was designed and created with generous support from Creative Fingal’s Cruinniú na nÓg 2019 programme, an initiative of Creative Ireland, in collaboration with Kotryna Kotoviciute from TU Dublin Blanchardstown’s, Creative Digital Media Degree course. Draíocht’s Creative Corner was designed by Artist Andrew Carson.

Explore the kelp seaweed forest in the exhibition ‘Holdfast’, listen to the sounds the sea creatures make and with the help of our artists and lots of interesting recycled materials, stick, cut and create real or imagined many-eyed-many-legged crazy sea creatures of your own.

FAMILY DAY NOTES:
Sessions Are Free, But Space Is Limited. Max 50 per workshop.
Session 1: 12PM-12.50PM
Session 2: 1PM-1.50PM
Session 3: 2PM-2.50PM
Dress for Mess. Unless otherwise stated workshops are designed for children from 5-10 years, though younger and older siblings are welcome to take part. Please be aware that Draíocht’s Family Days are not designed for groups. All children must be accompanied by an adult and all adults must be accompanied by a child!

Booking by phone 01-8852622.

Draíocht is delighted to be working with Mother Tongues Festival for the first time in 2020 to present a range of workshops and performances in different languages for children, young people, families and adults. Pre-booking advised tel 01-8852622 or Online

Please also see https://mothertonguesfestival.com/ for Full Programme in All Venues.​

Click the links below to read more about each event and for direct booking link:

My Little Album of My Own City – Illustration Workshop
FRI 21 FEB 10AM-11.30AM Draíocht Workshop Room
Age: 8-10 yrs Cost: €5
Main Languages: Portuguese/English/Multilingual
With illustrator Tarsila Kruse

Drumming Workshop with The Akano Brothers
FRI 21 FEB 12.30PM-2PM Draíocht Workshop Room
Age: 11-13 yrs Cost: €5
Main Languages: Yoruba/Igbo/English
With Segun and Micheal Akano

‘BOX’ and ‘Parakayapravesham’ – Film Screenings
FRI 21 FEB 6PM-6.45PM Draíocht Studio
Age: All ages Cost: €0/FREE
Languages: Malayalam/English
With Film Maker, Jijo Sebastian Palatty

Feet To The Beat - Sean Nós Dancing
SAT 22 FEB 10.30AM-11.30AM Draíocht Studio
Age: 4-6 yrs Cost: €5 per child (accompanying adults free)
Main Language: Irish
With dancer and musician Sibéal Davitt

Physical Theatre with Simona
SAT 22 FEB 12.30PM-2PM Draíocht Studio
Age: 6-8 yrs Cost: €5
Main Language: Italian
With Simona Roveda

In My Own Words – Painting Workshop
SAT 22 FEB 12PM-1.30PM Draíocht Workshop Room
Age: 13-17 yrs Cost: €5
Main Language: Romanian
With artist Anca Danila

Super Power! - Interactive Workshop
SAT 22 FEB 2.30PM-3.15PM Draíocht Workshop Room
Age: Family Groups  Cost: €0/FREE
Main Languages: English
With Dr. Maria Garaffa and Rosa (age 9)

Present From The Future - Painting Workshop
SAT 22 FEB 4PM-5.30PM Draíocht Workshop Room
Age: 10-13 yrs  Cost: €5
Main Language: Polish
With environmental artist Beata Daly

Family Show With The Akano Brothers & Friends
SAT 22 FEB 5PM-6PM Draíocht Studio
Age: Family Groups  Cost: €7 adults / €5 children
Main Languages: Yoruba/Igbo/English
With Segun and Micheal Akano​

​Draíocht is delighted to be working with Mother Tongues Festival for the first time in 2020 to present a range of workshops and performances in different languages for children, young people, families and adults. Pre-booking advised tel 01-8852622 or Online

Draíocht is delighted to show two films by Dublin 15 based collaborative Film Maker, Jijo Sebastian Palatty, both made with community casts. BOX (16 mins) was made in Dublin 15 in 2015 and was a collaboration between Palatty and ‘Neoron’ aka the Indo Irish Atheists. ‘BOX’ looks at themes of religious extremism, racial and religious practices, feminism and social freedoms amongst minority communities and the Irish Intercultural context where communities can find themselves increasingly ‘boxed’. Box was funded through the Art’s Council’s ‘Artist in the Community’ programme managed by Create, the agency for collaborative arts practice in Ireland.
‘Parakayapravesham’ (To Take Another Human Form) (15 mins) explores immigrant angst through the lens of a dark comedy.

മദർ ടങ്‌ ഫെസ്റിവലിൻറെ ഭാഗമായി ബ്ലാഞ്ചാർഡ്‌സ്‌ടൗൺ ഡ്രിയക്റ്റിൽ ഹസ്ര ചിത്രങ്ങൾ 'ബോക്സ് ' 'പരകായപ്രവേശം ' പ്രദർശിപ്പിക്കുന്നു. താൽപര്യമുള്ളവർ ദയവായി വന്ന് ഈ ഇവന്റ് വിജയിപ്പിക്കണം. നന്ദി

Read more about Jijo

More Events

​Draíocht is delighted to be working with Mother Tongues Festival for the first time in 2020 to present a range of workshops and performances in different languages for children, young people, families and adults. Pre-booking advised tel 01-8852622 or Online

Do you know that more than half of the world’s population is bilingual or multilingual but many are not aware of the super powers that bilingualism has on your brain and health. Join Dr. Maria Garaffa and her 9 year old daughter Rosa, for this interactive workshop for families, where we will explore the language system, discover mysterious languages and find out why bilingual brains are more flexible and how they can keep us healthy.

More Events

New Impressions
Neil Dunne, Margot Galvin, Fiona Kelly, Aoife Scott
Ground Floor Gallery
&
Works from the Graphic Studio
Members from Fingal
First Floor Gallery

MAKing Art: PRINTing is the third in a series of exhibitions aimed at children and young people, which explores a particular visual art discipline, its materials, processes and varied manifestations. Printmaking is the focus of this third exhibition. It celebrates different techniques, styles and approaches to the use of print, to the act of printmaking and to the print as a finished artwork.

It includes two exhibitions: New Impressions (Ground Floor Gallery) explores how traditional printmaking techniques have been re-imagined and re-worked and invites us to consider: what makes a print a print? Common conceptions of printmaking are expanded, from two-dimensional to three-dimensional, from mass-produced to unique, from paper to mixed and digital media. The exhibition features artists whose work, though rooted in or referencing print, expands the boundaries of that medium. New Impressions includes artists Neil Dunne, Margot Galvin, Fiona Kelly and Aoife Scott.

Works from the Graphic Studio (First Floor Gallery) is an exhibition which marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Graphic Studio and features members from Fingal who work across a range of process including etching, woodcut/lino, screen print and lithography. Artists include: Susan Early, Mary Grey, Julie Ann Haines, Michelle Hetherington, Ernada Husic, Siobhan Hyde, Des Kenny, Michael Killen, Jenny Lane, Pamela Leonard, Ned McLoughlin, Sorcha O'Farrell and Una Sealy. The exhibition will also feature work by master printmakers, Niamh Flanagan and Robert Russell.

MAKing Art PRINTing will be accompanied by a programme of engagement for children and young people facilitated by participating artists and Draíocht’s Artist team.

Draiocht's Galleries are open Monday to Saturday 10am-6pm. Admission is Free.

Image: Aoife Scott, Three Bottles.



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10-11 JUNE / AGES 0-4 YEARS

A host of wonderful artists and art forms awaits you to see, hear and experience new adventures during our Toddler Take Over Adventure 2020! Draíocht’s Toddler Take Over, now in its 6th Year, celebrates the limitless imagination of the very young child and the magic that happens when it is combined with the world of artists and the arts. With a combination of book-in and free drop-in events, children are invited to explore all the creativity that awaits them. Draíocht transforms into a big space for adventure through story, visual arts, music and dance for the very young.

Ensure you get an email reminder, by emailing marketing@draiocht.ie with Toddler Takeover in the subject field.