Culture Night / Oíche Chultúir returns for its fifteenth edition today Friday, 18 September 2020. This is the first year that the Arts Council has taken stewardship of Culture Night, and it will feature its biggest programme to date. Many of this year’s events take place online with offline events programmed around the country in accordance with COVID-19 guidelines. Here, we are highlighting some of the events featuring Aosdána members in different counties.
Playwright and performer Little John Nee, a Culture Night Ambassador for Culture Night this year will be flying the flag for the rich cultural history and heritage of Donegal, and performing at 6pm online.
Artist Trish McAdam has created a video work to accompany the aria ‘I Oedipus’ from the electronic Opera ‘i-girl’ by composer Roger Doyle. This features a libretto by Marina Car and will be shown at 620pm, Sarsfield Street, Clonmel. Poet Moya Cannon will read from her work alongside poet Lorna Shaughnessy for the 2020 Clifton Arts Festival, 5:30pm – 6:30pm in the Station House Theatre, Clifton, Co Galway. Please note this offline event is now sold out.
‘Ghosts from the Recent Past’ is an exhibition which opens on Culture Night in the Main galleries of IMMA. Featuring artworks from the IMMA collection, this exhibition explores key political events of the past 40 years through works from the 1980s onward and features works by artists Barrie Cooke, Dorothy Cross, Vivienne Dick, Willie Doherty, Patrick Hall, Brian Maguire, Janet Mullarney, Isabel Nolan and Kathy Prendergast among others. IMMA is open for culture night from 11am until 8pm. The exhibition is free but ticketed, booking in advance is necessary.
Artist Sean Fingleton, a founder member of Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, will be available for a virtual studio visit in his studio Temple Bar Studios from 4pm until 8pm for Culture Night in Dublin.
A new solo exhibition ‘Strange Beasts’ by artist Michael Quane opens at the Lavit Gallery in Cork, with a chance to meet artist Michael Quane in person at the gallery from 6pm. Artist Nigel Rolfe will perform online “The Source to Mouth – Wings Of Fear” for the Green on Red gallery this evening.
Author Christine Dwyer Hickey will speak with Helen Meaney at the Mermaid Arts Centre about her book ‘The Narrow Land’, which won the Walter Scott Prize and Dalkey Book Festival Novel of the Year Award. This online event will be available at 8:30pm this evening for Culture Night in Wicklow. Poet Gerry Smyth will read online for Munster Literature Centre in Cork alongside fellow Cork poets.
Poet Rita Ann Higgins and Author Mike McCormack are among many artists for whom Galway has been a huge influence. Both contribute to ‘Cumar’, a new feature-length documentary about Galway and the Arts which won Best Documentary Award at the London Irish Film Festival 2019 and will premiere on TG4 at 9:30pm this evening for Culture Night.
Artists Diarmuid DeLargy and Dermot Seymour both have solo exhibitions at the Hamilton Gallery, 4 Castle Street, Sligo. Omphalos by Diarmuid Delargy and The Settlement by Dermot Seymour will be available to visit in person from 3pm until 6pm. No booking required.
Artist Hughie O’Donoghue has a long association with the Galway International Arts Festival, and this year his new exhibition ‘Night Cargo’ delves into the world of Nosferatu and silent movies. The exhibition is available to visit in person for Culture Night in Galway, with a virtual gallery visit with the artist due very soon. Entry to the Festival Gallery is free but ticketed to comply with public health guidelines. Maximum capacity is 50 and you can pre-book a free ticket on giaf.ie
The Sean Scully room in the Hugh Lane Gallery will be available to visit in person for Culture Night from 5pm until 9pm. Admission to the Hugh Lane Gallery is free, and advanced booking is not required. However, please note that the Gallery will be adhering to a maximum of 50 people in the space at anyone time as per current guidelines.
Culture Night is brought to you by the Arts Council, in partnership with local authorities and cultural organisations throughout the island of Ireland. For further details on these events and more please visit https://culturenight.ie/