Things To Do: Hoard PDFs, explore absurdist ecologies, celebrate 10 years of marriage equality, read a dictionary

Our Picks

Our recommendations – no sponsored content, or adverts, just stuff we like.

Finite Space and Limitless Possibilities digital exhibition

A curious email landed in my inbox last week from artists Cillian Finnerty and Cóilín O’Connell, which provided a URL link to an online exhibition about digital hoarding, clutter and memory caches.

Clicking on the link guides the user to a site, which explains that Finnerty and O’Connell are carrying out an ongoing project, "Permanent Mirage", consisting of exhibitions, publishing and research, with its focus on the dual meanings of the terms “hoard” and “cache”: “both as the both as the compulsive accumulation of often worthless objects, and as a term for a valuable archaeological find".

Bouncing across the screen is a pop-up, listing a series of files, and to the sceptic, suggesting one has just downloaded malware. That however, I can assure you, is not the case. These files are, in fact, intentionally cumbersome PDF documents, made up of texts, supplementary reading materials and collages, consisting of chaotically assembled photo archives from the Central Assets Bureau’s Facebook page, messy apartments and old comic strips.

Titled "Finite Space and Limitless Possibilities", this latest installation in the artistic duo’s series can be downloaded here and viewed in all of its glorious inconvenience. Be warned, you may need to free up some space on your device beforehand.

Once again, let me assure you: it is not a virus.

Rafael Mendes, The Migrant Dictionary

The Brazilian-Irish poet Rafael Mendes first appeared on my radar as a participant in writer Tom Roseingrave’s monthly creative writing workshop: the Frustrated Writers Group (FWG).

Alongside his work appearing in the FWG’s second and most recent anthology, available here, Mendes’ poetry has also featured in Poetry Ireland Review, Propel Magazine, and Poetry Salzburg Review. But, earlier this month, Mendes announced the publication of The Migrant Dictionary, a pamphlet that “challenges our conventional sense of poetic form”.

One of two pamphlets to be published by The Ireland Chair of Poetry and HOWL New Irish Writing, with the other being Ben Keatinge’s Waiting for Goran at the Broz Café. The Migrant Dictionary uses the format of a dictionary to dissect definitions and the fluidity of words “in a word of instability and change”. While excerpts from the prose poem were published two years ago (check it out here), the full manuscript is now on sale ahead of a full launch of both his and Keatinge’s works at Bestsellers on 29 May.

Africa Day, 17 to 31 May

On Sunday, Africa Day is set to launch, with events planned across Dublin to celebrate the continent’s people, cultures and diaspora.

While the day itself is next Friday, 25 May, there are a plethora of events in the lead-up to, and following the main event.

First up on Sunday, 18 May, in the Royal Kilmainham Hospital, more than 50 performers, artists and cultural organisations will be taking part in a daylong, non-ticketed festival. Among those on the bill are Discovery Gospel Choir, Caleb Kunle, Eje Blakk, Tony Oscar, and Manden Express, while podcast Black and Irish are hosting a live recording and panel talk.

Over in Dún Laoghaire at the Dlr LexIcon library at 6pm on Tuesday, 20 May, the shared artistic heritage and cross-cultural connections between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Philippines will be celebrated with a photo exhibition, live music, food and a fashion show on the bill.

Also, tied in with this event is a presentation to honour the 1961 Irish Veterans UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Congo.

In Fingal, the Balbriggan African Community is hosting an event featuring music and dance performances and drumming workshops at Flemington Community Centre in Balbriggan on Saturday 24 May. That starts at 1pm, and will feature a presentation on "Place, Integration and Identity", which will recognise the accomplishments of young African people.

Public consultation for a traffic-free Parliament Street

After councillors at the South East Area Committee were brought through Dublin City Council’s plans to pedestrianise Parliament Street on Monday, the council launched a two-week non-statutory public consultation for these traffic management measures the following day.

These measures, which can be viewed here, could see the council reallocate the street to pedestrians and cyclists, who together make up 90 percent of its users, according to the council. Greening and public benches would be provided, with this proposed extension creating a “boulevard” of sorts, according to Green Party Councillor Claire Byrne, speaking at Monday’s committee meeting.

Before this stretch of road can be fully rendered traffic-free, the council will be accepting submissions from the public until 27 May. That feedback will then be presented to councillors in June at both the South East and Central area committees, which you will be able to stream here, before a traffic-free arrangement is implemented at the end of the month.

As part of this project, the council will also be organising a series of summer events in the space, and we’ll keep you posted on some of these in the coming weeks.

The 34th at the IFI, 18 May

Ahead of the 10th anniversary of the yes vote on the Marriage Equality Referendum on 22 May, the Irish Film Institute is joining with Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre to mark the occasion.

On Sunday, 18 May, Linda Cullen and Vanessa Gildea’s 2015 documentary, The 34th, will screen at the IFI. Looking at the founders and members of the Marriage Equality campaign and Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan’s 2006 High Court case against the Revenue Commissioners, the film focuses on how their unsuccessful “KAL” case sprouted a grassroots movement, culminating in the vote for marriage equality nine years later.

Tickets are available here. The screening will be introduced by Cullen and Gildea, and followed by a Q&A with Oisín O’Reilly, CEO of Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre, Moninne Griffith, CEO of Belong To - LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland, and Mamobo Ogoro, CEO of GORM.

Siúnta in Pallas Projects/Studios, Thursday, 22 May

Opening in Pallas Projects/Studios next Thursday as part of its Artist-Initiated Projects is Niamh Coffey’s solo exhibition Siúnta.

Inspired by the Irish Folklore Commission’s collection of local histories in primary schools between 1937 and 1939, Coffey uses textile collages and tufted acrylic wool to recreate the more fantastical tales gleaned by the commission. Gooseberry bushes sprout evil eyes, hares transform into “milk-hungry witches”, needy children are turned into stones.

With its title derived from the Irish for “seam” or “joint”, Coffey’s Siúnta uses these recollections of metamorphosis to dive into an imagined Irish past where the lines between human and non-human are blurred.

Siúnta opens on 22 May, and will run through until 7 June. For more information, visit the Pallas Projects website here.

Noticeboard

Listings of events submitted by readers – you can submit yours for next week's newsletter, via this form.

Mise en Abyme and You Mustn't Go Looking at Photo Museum Ireland

Currently showing until 29 June at Photo Museum Ireland, Meeting House Square, Temple Bar are two solo exhibitions – Mise en Abyme by Sharon Murphy and You Mustn’t Go Looking by Emma Spreadborough – which explore the role of performance, memory and imagination in contemporary photography. Admission is free. For more information, head over to the Photo Museum Ireland website here.

Why Wouldn’t You? at DCU's Glasnevin Campus

This 12-minute film, created by Dublin City University’s Irish Refugee Integration Network (IRIN) and Sanctuary, "is a visually evocative exploration of solidarity with forcibly displaced people in Ireland. Told through the voices of community activists, educators, and local residents from across the DCU hinterland, it offers a counter-narrative of welcome and collective care — timely in light of recent anti-immigration protests and the national conversation around belonging." The launch is scheduled for Monday 19 May at 10.30am in the Student Centre "U" Building. There are tickets here.

Resolve 25

Students and graduates of the Royal Hibernian Academy of the Arts will be exhibiting their work as part of a group show in the RHA Gallery, Ely Place, on Monday, 26 May, and running until 3 June. Admission is free. For more information, visit their website here.

195th RHA Annual Exhibition

Also on 26 May at the RHA Gallery is the 195th RHA Annual Exhibition, Ireland’s largest and longest-running visual arts exhibition, with more than 350 artists working across paint, sculpture, drawing, print, photography and architecture set to go on display. Admission is free. For more information, visit the RHA site here.

Azure Dementia-Inclusive Tour at Photo Museum Ireland

On 26 May, Photo Museum Ireland is hosting the Azure Dementia-Inclusive Tour, designed for individuals living with dementia and their loved ones, offering a supportive and engaging experience exploring the gallery’s exhibitions.

Led by trained facilitators, this free program promotes meaningful connections through art, encouraging conversations and creativity. The tour will run between 1 and 3pm. For more information, visit their page here.

"Reach for the Stars" astrophotography competition

Ireland’s biggest astrophotography competition, "Reach for the Stars", is now open for entries. If you have taken any astro-photographs in Ireland between 26 April 2024 and 2 June 2025, submit them over at the competition website here.

For the first time, under-18s can enter the smartphone category: "Night Sky in Your Hand". The deadline is 4 June, with the shortlists announced later in the month. Visit the Reach for the Stars website for all information relating to competition guidelines and categories.

Please Share

If you know anyone who'd like to get this newsletter, please share it with them – and they can sign up for free via the button below.