Things To Do: Swot up for our pub quiz, do an actual marathon, hit the play button on a CD player, and contemplate the written word

Our Picks

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

Manuscripts & the Mind

This evening, the Chester Beatty is launching a new exhibition, which explores the hidden language of books and the layers of meaning within a manuscript.

Manuscripts & the Mind: How We Read and Respond to the Written Word puts its focus on paratexts, or any part of a manuscript that is not the main text, be it the illustrations, stamps, inscriptions, titles, annotations, footnotes, bindings, borders or bibliographies.

Using the museum’s own collection of rare and unique books, the exhibition looks to reveal how the paratexts of these manuscripts are not merely decorative, but essential tools that guide the reader.

On display as part of the exhibition will be ancient manuscripts from Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, Jewish and Samaritan traditions, which reveal how people have interacted with sacred texts over centuries. Manuscripts & the Mind will also include interactive and multi-sensory elements, like touchscreens that animate the texts, and a “graffiti” book where people can add their own book notes, doodles and inscriptions.

The exhibition, which runs until 1 March, will also be accompanied by a series of weekly lectures. For more information on these talks, and to find out more, visit the Chester Beatty website here.

Dlúthpháirtíocht

Also, this evening in the Flux Studios on Chatham Row, the art collective Dlúthpháirtíocht is launching a new group exhibition.

Dlúthpháirtíocht is a non-profit, multidisciplinary group that primarily consists of Irish and Palestinian artists. Since July, they have held exhibitions in London and Cork, and one is scheduled for Belfast in November. Between 23 and 29 October they are holding the Dublin edition of this series.

The exhibition aims to highlight the historical links between Ireland and Palestine, as well as exhibiting contemporary responses to the genocide unfolding in the occupied territories today. Curated by artist Spicebag, it is set to feature works by Amal Al Nakhala, Jim Fitzpatrick, St. Diabhal, Aoife Cawley, Council Baby, Hasan Yikici, Wankers of the World and more.

All proceeds from the show will be donated to Dignity for Palestinians, a charity run by UNRWA doctor Musallam Abukhalil.

For more information, visit Dlúthpháirtíocht’s website here.

Climate MESS

On Friday, Technological University Dublin’s Media, Emotion, Society and Security (MESS) research group will be holding a one-day conference on the climate crisis.

The conference will look at what role ideas play in humanity’s existential, ecological crisis. Among the speakers who will grapple with this are Dr. Steve Quilley of the University of Waterloo and Roger Hallam, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain. And also on the docket is a panel on data centres, ecology and inequality.

The conference will be held tomorrow, Friday, 24 October, between 9.30am and 4pm in TU Dublin’s East Quad at its Grangegorman campus.

Tickets are free. To book a space, visit their Eventbrite page here.

IFI Horrorthon

The Dublin Marathon will once again be held in the city this weekend. But, if you too failed to sign up for that ordeal, we’ve an alternative suggestion.

The Irish Film Institute is also kickstarting its own annual marathon, the Horrorthon this evening, and unlike the other one, it is way easier to book a slot, and requires far less running.

Among the titles on the bill for this year’s seasonal event is a new 4K restoration of Neil Marshall’s The Descent to mark the twentieth anniversary of his claustrophobic exploration of Appalachia’s caves.

There is also a rare screening of the James Brolin-led 1980 kidnapping thriller Night of the Juggler, as well as The Exorcist II: The Heretic, dubbed by critic and Exorcist fanatic Mark Kermode as “the worst film ever made by anyone ever” and the new Lovecraftian found-footage flick Man Finds Tape.

Also on the bill is a pair of films that exemplified the French New Extreme movement: Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible and Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs. Please note, however, these are two films that I cannot, in good conscience, recommend you attend. I note them only as options available to those who do not believe that entertainment, hope, or a lack of motion sickness are essential to the cinemagoing experience.

And finally, on Sunday, the IFI is running its traditional secret screening, with the only hint being that it may be a world premiere, as well as the heavy metal supernatural movie Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon. But don’t let its title put you off. It probably isn’t essential to have seen the first Deathgasm beforehand.

The IFI’s Horrorthon, which starts today and ends on Monday night, is a lot longer than the Dublin marathon, which only happens for a few hours on Sunday, and therefore is a far more impressive achievement.

For more information and to book your tickets, visit the IFI’s page here.

Zaireeka listening party

The Flaming Lips’ eighth album, Zaireeka, cannot, quite literally, be played casually, if you want to listen to it as the Oklahoman psychedelic group intended it to be heard.

Released as a CD in 1997, Zaireeka came out as a four-disc box set. But, rather than each disc containing different songs, they each contain separate parts of the same eight tracks, thus asking the listener to play all four at the exact same time.

Second only to Beck’s Song Reader, which was published as a book of sheet music, Zaireeka ranks high as one of the most inconvenient albums ever released.

It isn’t enough that the listener owns four CD players, or record players, if you managed to secure the 2013 vinyl reissue. No. The listener must also possess between one and three friends, as you will need a few extra hands to help hitting all of those play buttons.

Fortunately, artist Enola Christ Metalizer and independent record label Spoker are stepping in to ease that task. On Wednesday, 29 October, they are hosting an unofficial listening party for the cult classic in Kirkos on Little Green Street, and will be asking the audience to press play on four separate CD players simultaneously.

Entry is free, but attendees are invited to donate to the OCHA Democratic Republic of the Congo Humanitarian Fund.

Doors open at 7.30pm, and Fancy Dress is encouraged, although not strictly necessary.

For more information, visit the event’s page here.

Dublin Inquirer pub quiz

Finally, we, the Dublin Inquirer, will be hosting our annual pub quiz next month, on Thursday, 20 November.

The quiz will be held at Cleary’s pub near Connolly Station, and as is tradition, it will be written and emceed by Louise O’Connor.

It's teams of four. Doors will be at 7.30pm, with the quiz starting at 8pm. Entry is €10 for subscribers and €15 for non-subscribers. 

There will be prizes for the winning team, as well as some more prizes to be won in a mid-quiz raffle.

All money raised will go towards running the paper.

Email Sam at sam@dublininquirer.com to book your table – they usually book up quickly! – and/or to contribute a prize, or swap one for an advert in one of our newsletters, or our print edition.

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English Language Course

Kaplan International Languages in Temple Bar is currently offering a free English course for those at an A2/B1 or B2/C2 level.

The course dates are from 3 to 28 November, between 2pm and 4.15pm.

For more information, or to find out more, contact ailsa.davidson@kaplan.com.

Met Éireann historic weather transcription project - Irish Weather Rescue

Met Éireann is calling on the public to help rescue millions of historic weather observations currently held in handwritten paper records.

The Irish Weather Rescue Project aims to digitise 3.5 million historic rainfall observations from 763 stations across Ireland.

Members of the public are invited to transcribe the Rainfall Registers Series that dates from 1864 to 1951 which is held in the National Climate Archive, managed by Met Éireann.

For more information, or to offer your assistance, visit The Irish Weather Rescue Project’s website here.

Halloween Comes Alive

O’Connell Street and North Earl Street will come alive with giant Spooky Halloween props, “Boo-tiful Decorations”, from 3pm to 7pm on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 October.

To find out more, or to see what other horrors the council has in store for the city over the next few days, visit Dublin City Council’s events page here.