Things To Do: Scale Phibsborough Tower for a film festival, study the ways of the magazine writer, dwell on the unstable material world

Our Picks

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

AS IF

Over in North Wall, PhotoIreland is premiering AS IF, a new exhibition by photographer Eamonn Doyle, artist-designer Niall Sweeney and composer David Donohoe at the International Centre for the Image.

Composed of silver gelatin prints, film works, montages, sound, music, painting, drawing and text, AS IF is the latest project from this interdisciplinary trio. Shot and recorded between Ireland and Japan, in city locations, on constructed studio sets, and in photographic darkrooms, the project is assembled from thousands of images with composed and recorded sound.

Presented in installation form, the events of AS IF take place simultaneously inside one structure and “fold together the combined forces of an unstable material world and the inner worlds of its inhabitants”.

AS IF will run from Friday, 6 February until Sunday, 5 April.

For more information and to get updates on when artist talks are planned over the course of its stay in the recently opened International Centre for the Image, visit the exhibition’s page here.

The Bohemian Environmental Justice Film Festival

Bohemian F.C. is kicking off the third edition of The Bohemian Environmental Justice Film Festival today.

From this evening (Thursday, 5 February) until Saturday, 7 February, the club’s Climate Co-op will be screening films throughout the city, beginning with the Irish premiere of the 2025 documentary Khartoum.

Directed by Rawia Alhag, Timeea M Ahmed, Anas Saeed, Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad and Philip Cox, the film follows five people as they navigate war-torn Sudan, with their stories intertwining as they pursue dreams, face political turmoil, and overcome obstacles.

It is showing in the Irish Film Institute at 6:30pm today, and there will be a post-screening panel discussion titled "Telling the stories that matter: exploring the role of art and film in sharing stories of conflict and atrocities" in the Oak Bar from 8:30pm.

Tickets for Khartoum are available here.

On Friday then, the Spark Lab in Phibsborough Tower will be screening Koyaanisqatsi, the seminal non-narrative documentary by Godfrey Reggio and scored by Philip Glass. A dialogue-free exploration of the relationship between humans, nature and technology, Reggio’s 1982 film is a hypnotic rumination on the notion of “life out of balance”.

Koyaanisqatsi will be showing at 7pm.

Then, on Saturday, beginning at 12.30pm, the Spark Lab will be screening The Last Harvest & Sowing Seeds, a documentary which looks 100 years into the future on a drastically changed planet. Afterwards, at 2.30pm, in the tower too, there is a chance to catch Gints Zilbalodis’ enchanting animated dystopian adventure film Flow, which will include a post-screening conversation with filmmakers Liv O'Donoghue and Aoibhéann McCann as well a panel discussion, "From Storytelling to Movement Building" with Sam Ahern, Elaine Walsh, and Daragh Goan.

Finally, at 5.30pm, the festival concludes with Evil Does Not Exist, a Japanese drama film featuring a cast of non-professional actors, and which tells the story of how a large real estate project divides a rural village as some see it as an opportunity for growth while others fear its environmental impact.

To see what else is in store over the course of the festival and to book tickets, visit the Bohemian Environmental Justice Film Festival website here.

Writing for Magazines

On Monday evening, the Neill Lecture Theatre in Trinity Long Room Hub is hosting a conversation on writing for magazines.

Led by Trinity College’s School of Law professor David Kenny, the discussion will feature A Thread of Violence author Mark O’Connell, and American magazine writer, novelist and editor Dan Kois.

The event will discuss the craft and process of writing for magazines with O’Connell and Kois, the latter who, during his time at Slate, hired O’Connell as a regular culture columnist. The pair, with Kenny, will also touch on the challenges and opportunities in this particular form of longform non-fiction.

The talk will begin at 6:30pm.

For more information, visit the Long Room site here.

MART Awards Show

If you missed its launch last week, there is still time to catch the MART Awards Show 2026 over in Rathmines.

Running until 14 February, regarded by some as Valentine’s Day, the group exhibition at the MART Gallery on the Rathmines Road Lower features works by artists Vicky Ochala, Nicole Manning and Lily Mannion.

Celebrating innovation and experimentation in the contemporary visual artists, this year’s awards show is putting on display emerging artists who explore personal narratives within political histories and architectural structures, examine the processes of exploitation, extraction, control, and industry, and draw on mind-body connections and the experience of chronic pain.

The gallery is open weekly from Wednesday to Saturday between 1 and 6pm.

For more information, visit MART’s website here.

Behind the Wire

Next Thursday, the 1974 Troubles documentary Behind the Wire will be getting a rare outing at the New Theatre in Connolly Books.

Produced by the London-based Berwick Street Film Collective, Behind the Wire features first-hand documentation of the early years of the Troubles. Shot in Belfast’s Catholic community, and composed of testimonies and life “behind the wire”, the footage gathered by the investigative collective would go on to inform and be re-used by many other films including 1978’s The Patriot Game, directed by Arthur MacCaig.

Behind the Wire is being screened as part of the Connolly Books Film Club on Thursday, 12 February, at 7pm.

To book a ticket, visit the New Theatre event page here.

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Profiles open call for submissions

Profiles is looking for submissions for its fifth annual issue beginning on 15 February.

The journal publishes portraiture in prose and visual art and is accepting submissions of fiction, non-fiction, translation and artwork.

The closing date for submissions is 15 March.

For more information, and to read their submissions guidelines, visit the Profiles website here.

SVP open call for volunteers

The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) is appealing for new volunteers in Dublin to support individuals and families who are struggling with the rising cost of living, isolation and unexpected financial pressures.

To find out more and register your interest, visit their website here.

Suspended in the Landscape

Kildare-based Cuban artist Brady Izquierdo Rodriguez will be launching his new exhibition, Suspended in the Landscape, this evening (Thursday, 5 February) at 6pm in Tøn Gallery.

Curated by Rodriguez and AnneMarie Saliba, Suspended in the Landscape brings together the artists’ work in illustration, caricature and painting, with a particular focus on themes of the misuse of technology, climate change, loss of values and migration, to show “a new way to dialogue with his reality.”

The exhibition will be displayed until 28 February 2026.

For more information, follow Tøn Gallery over on Instagram here.

Irish Fling – Dance like a Georgian

The Irish Fling is an evening of Georgian-era social dancing, preceded by a series of four classes to learn the dances.

If you’ve ever admired the dancing in period dramas and wanted to give it a try, now’s your chance. No previous dance experience or partner is required. 

The classes are on Monday 9 and 23 February, 9 and 23 March between 7 and 8:30pm at St Finian’s Church Hall, Adelaide Road.

Then the dance will be on 28 March at 7pm in City Assembly Rooms, South William Street.

It is €150 for the classes and dance combined.

For more information and to register, contact Irish Fling via email at theirishfling@gmail.com.