Things To Do: Ponder Utopia, check into a sanatorium, view the garden sculptures

Our Picks

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

the soft fall of land, The Library Project

It’s always good to start the week of cultural pursuits with the unattainable, and Black Church Print Studio is leading that charge with the soft fall of land, which explores the concept of Utopia.

Curated by Ciara Hickey, this new group show launches tonight at The Library Project in Temple Bar. And it will be exploring this imagined, impossible and aspirational state from a range of perspectives, considering it as both fantasy and as a blueprint for an alternative, better world.

The show will feature members of the studio as well as invited artists Bassam Issa Al-Sabah, Sighle Bhreathnach-Cashell, Chloe Brenan, Aisling Conroy, Grace Ryan, Soft Fiction Projects.

Opening this evening at 6pm, the soft fall of land will run until 27 September, including a late opening for Culture Night on Friday, 20 September.

Sculpture In Context

After last year’s hiatus, Sculpture in Context, Ireland’s largest and longest running sculpture exhibition is returning to the National Botanic Gardens for its fortieth anniversary today.

Running until 10 October, the range of sculptures that will be gracing Glasnevin were chosen from over 500 entries submitted via open call. Among those on display this year are Róisín De Buitléar, Ester Barrett, Fiona Smith, Alva Gallagher, Ayelet Lalor, Ray Delaney and Helen Merrigan Colfer.

As part of the anniversary celebrations, this year’s exhibition will also feature invited artists Eilis O’Connell, Alison Kaye, Ken Drew, Ana Duncan, Seamus Gill, Beatrice Stewart, Ciaran Patterson, Penny Lacey, Michelle Maher, and Richard Healy.

Entry is free. The National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin are open from 9am to 5pm on weekdays, and 10am to 6pm on weekends and Bank Holidays.

Fiona Whelan and Ciaran Smyth at Rua Red

While I have no doubt that you, the reader, have been down to Rua Red to see Together in Commune, the first exhibition from the centre’s studio programme, some people need a gentle reminder.

And tomorrow might be the perfect day to both take in the exhibition, curated by Marysia Więckiewicz, while also catching artist Fiona Whelan discussing her practice with artist and researcher Dr. Ciaran Smyth.

Whelan will be reflecting on the content and process of making The River, her large-scale visual mapping of the “processual features” of her practice, which looks at systemic power relations and inequalities through long-term collaborations. Smyth, meanwhile, will be sharing his own experience working with her as the pair developed new cartographic strategies for visualising this work.

The conversation, moderated by Carolann Courtney will be on at 11am. You can book your tickets here.

The Songs Of Tom Smith, Anseo

The last time The Songs of Tom Smith performed at the Little Gem Sunday evening sessions in Anseo, its chief visionary Tom Smith captivated the room in a glittering priest’s outfit.

From Australia, Smith is currently touring around Europe, and on Sunday evening 7 September, he is dropping back into Dublin. Combining jangly, lo-fi indie guitars with a country-western influence and punk spirit, Smith approaches a range of taboo topics, like religion, masculinity and gender identity with a heavy dose of dark humour.

Smith will be sharing the bill with the improvisational jazz, pop and ambient Irish-Swiss trio Hyperlynx.

Doors open at 8pm, and it is €10 entry.

Sanatorium, Irish Film Institute

On Friday evening, the Irish Film Institute will be hosting a screening of Sanatorium, the debut documentary of director Gar O’Rourke.

Filmed outside the city of Odesa in the Kuyalnyk Sanatorium, O’Rourke’s documentary looks at how each summer, thousands of Ukrainians travel to avail of its therapies, including a mysterious black mud, which is believed to cure infertility among other ailments. Told against the backdrop of the ongoing war, O’Rourke follows the staff over the course of a single summer season, showing a different perspective of life in Ukraine today.

Sanatorium screens at 6.20, and will be followed by a conversation with O’Rourke and journalist Aoife Barry.

Tickets are available here.

Sean O’Casey Arts Festival

The Sean O’Casey Arts Festival is back again, with events kicking off on Monday, 8 September.

Over the course of twelve days, the Sean O’Casey Theatre in East Wall will be hosting a range of music, art and community celebrations, beginning with a weeklong exhibition by local artist Joe Moran, and a free talk at 8pm on Monday evening.

Also joining Moran on the line-up is a staged reading of playwright Gerard Lee’s new play, The Ballad of Pockets and Zoz, an indie night, featuring performances by bands Delivery Service and Gag Reflex, and A Lament in One Eat, a Song in the Other, a multimedia live documentary about music in the works of Sean O’Casey.

The festival will run from 8 to 19 September, with tickets costing between €5 and 10.

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D8 Social Weekender, a celebration of soul

The D8 Social Weekender is back for its fourth year celebrating all types of soul music and bringing in acts locally and internationally. 

Running from 5 to 7 September with events in the Commercial Rowing Club, as well as an afternoon session on Saturday at the Fidelity Studio Bar, a weekend pass is €35.

If you are interested in this event, want to buy tickets, or have any more queries, contact Wolversonlisa@hotmail.co.uk.

Brazil Day 2025

On 6 September, the National Stadium will be celebrating Brazilian independence with the third annual Brazil Day.

Promising food, music, dance and more, the event will run between 3pm and 10pm. Tickets start at €6.34 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.

‘Reviving Gaza’ Benefit event at Whelan's

This Friday, 5 September, a number of artists, including Steve and Joe Wall, Naoise Dolan and Caoi De Barra, will be performing at Whelan's on Wexford Street to raise funds towards mutual aid in Gaza.

The initiative was started by three Gazan siblings who have direct experience of the war in Gaza.

Strictly over 18s, tickets begin at €21.50 and can be booked here.

Tógála, Emerging Irish fashion designers

Later this month, on 24 September, at the Chocolate Factory, fourteen artists from all across the country will be showcasing their collections.

The event will combine a showroom and runway with the early daytime programme from 10am to 2pm showcasing fashion textile and pop-ups. This part of the day is free and donation based, while the evening will be bouncing with a DJ set and runway show at a cost of €17.04 and a free drink.

For more information, visit the Chocolate Factory’s website here.

Slippery Like Mango Juice

Artist Ella Bertilsson is to launch her new solo show at The Horse gallery on Bethesda Place this evening.

Slippery Like Mango Juice, which runs until 4 October, is a survey of recent work that draws us through her exploration of aesthetics and attachment to objects, actions and vignettes, drawn from life experiences.

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