Though we don't need the fans this week to keep us cool, we're feeling mellow and  ready for dancing as An Urban Fleadh lifts off over the coming Bank Holiday weekend, featuring musicians from Ireland, France, Germany and beyond in a non-stop family friendly programme. The hugely popular Opera in the Open series kicks off August 7th so grab a picnic and head down for your lunch time opera fix. Linda Shevlin's Supernature and Hannah Mooney's But Never Mind continue in The LAB, echoing nicely with our summer Art and Ecology Programme Urban Plant Life in Smithfield as part of Heritage Week. We're delighted to announce our fantastic 2014 Bursary Award winners and wish them all well  for the year ahead. For those with a playful inclination we draw your attention to a call for proposals from Hilary O'Shaughnessy (Make and Do) for Prototype- a weekend of playful design and novel interactions, the culmination of her residency with Project Arts Centre and DCC Arts Office.

Don’t forget, if once a month is not enough, you can follow us on twitter @labdcc, find us on facebook or watch us on vimeo.com/dccartsoffice

All the best from the Arts Office Team

This exhibition of film and installation was developed during a residency at the Organic Centre Co. Leitrim last year.  Working with the staff and students of the centre, Shevlin researched and recreated a series of experiments, inspired by the cult novel Supernature, by Lyall Watson (1973),   exploring the many and often astounding ways in which nature manifests itself and adapts to its environment including lunar cycles and Hashimoto’s experiments in giving voice to a cactus. 

But Never Mind is the most recent iteration of Mooney's continuing experimentation of split screen video, an approach that she describes as allowing 'instantaneous burps' of unrelated imagery to collide and spark new modes dialogue. Clichéd imagery recalls sentimental 1970s nature posters or stock video photography, offering brief yet unexpectedly emotive pairs of dual images, insistantly prodding the viewing to wonder at their meaning. 

Curated by Anne Mullee

The LAB is pleased to present

Quaternation Quest

Aisling O’Beirn

Preview: Thursday 11^th September 2014, 6pm – 8pm

Continues until: Wednesday 15^th November 2014

www.aislingobeirn.com

During a recent residency at the Natural History Museum, Saidhbhín Gibson explored the vast range of diverse species from the natural world featured in the museum's exhibitions and collections.  The work developed in response to her residency is inspired by wildlife from Ireland and investigates our understanding and experience of nature in both rural and urban settings.

An Urban Fleadh is a free two day Festival of Irish Traditional music with a world mix, taking place in Wolfe Tone Square on the August Bank Holiday weekend every year. Formally part of the NorthSide Music Festival, the Fleadh has carved out its own niche offering the best of Irish Trad Fusion and public access. This year will see two full days of Music and experience featuring musicians from Germany, France, the Netherlands, England and beyond.

Don't miss the An Urban Fleadh, and a chance to "dance at the cross roads", plus the very best in real Irish music with a global mix.

For more information contact Dublin City Council, Arts Office on: 01 222 5455 or email artsoffice@dublincity.ie

A Sleeping Princess, The fables of Aesop and a story shop run by the eccentric Mr. Higgle Piggle – we’re exploring all sorts of different stories this Summer, stories that will come in all shapes and sizes. So whether you want to create them or listen to them, theChildren’s Art in Libraries Programme is giving you the opportunity to discover the stories that are unique and special to you.

Running over three days, Prototype will invite local and international designers and artists to host a selection of games, exhibits and playful interventions in Project Arts Centre and beyond. 
You can read about the call here  http://blog-makeanddo.tumblr.com/post/92423209804/open-call-for-prototype

Prototype will the be the culmination of an Artist in Residence Programme at Project Arts Centre, supported by Project Arts Centre, Dublin City Council and the Arts Council of Ireland. Curated by Hilary O’Shaughnessy of Make and Do. 

Urban Plant Life is a programme of events and activities exploring and highlighting our natural heritage in the city and is part of Dublin City Council Arts Office Art and Ecology programme which coincides with National Heritage Week and an exhibition at The LAB Gallery, Supernature by artist Linda Shevlin.

Events are booking out fast, please check http://www.urbanplantlife.eventbrite.ie for availability.

Free film screening of this 1970's environmentally themed science fiction film directed by Douglas Trumball and starring Bruce Dern.

Silent Running is part of Dublin City Council Arts Office Urban Plant Life Programme of events exploring and highlighting nature in the city. It accompanies the current exhibition at The Lab Gallery, Supernature by Linda Shevlin and coincides with National Heritage Week.

As this science fiction classic opens, botanist Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) has spent eight years aboard the space freighter “Valley Forge” preserving the only botanical specimens left from Earth under huge geodesic domes. When he receives orders to destroy the project and return home, Lowell rebels and hijacks the freighter, while plunging the craft into the gaseous Rings of Saturn. From that moment on, he has only the trees, the gardens and two “Drone” robots Huey and Dewey to keep him company on his greatest adventure of all.

For further information and bookings see http:/urban plantlife.eventbrite.ie

Andrew Douglas, founder of Urban Farm, has transformed water cooler bottles in to potato planters which he uses to grow a large variety of heritage and heirloom potatoes. He has also created  AQUAlab, an aquaponic system for cultivating plants using fish and water. The system is hooked up to twitter and the fish and plants can somehow tweet when they need to be fed and watered!  Join Andrew to find out more about potato culture and these alternative urban gardening techniques.

"Renewable, sustainable, environmental" are all terms associated with green energy or energy harnessed from naturally renewable resources. Join artist Linda Shevlin to find out how many potatoes it takes to light a lightbulb. Participants will then use their naturally powered LED’s to create an installation.

Join ECO UNESCO on an urban nature trail from The LAB Gallery to Smithfield, exploring nature in the city, wildlife and biodiversity and featuring community gardens and parks. This ECO UNESCO interactive guided walking tour will highlight a number of Dublin city's natural environments. Suitable for all ages.

Join Damn Fine Print at Block T for this specially tailored screen printing workshop. Bring along your own pressed flowers, collected leaves and plant foliage to create stunning screen prints.

There are a number of places still available for this storytelling event on Saturday 23rd August 2 – 2.45 pm at The LAB, Foley Street, Dublin 1. For bookings see http://urbanplantlife.eventbrite.ie  

A scientist recently discovered that trees make music; within them is a frenetic and incessant drum roll, a pulse of life, a heartbeat. Like us humans, trees stand upright, have roots and arms. Trees and people have a special connection, a complicity that this show would like to celebrate. You will hear a selection of folktales about trees from a diversity of cultures. 

There are a few places remaining for this event on Thursday 14^th  August, 3pm, The Red Stables, St. Anne’s Park, Mount Prospect Avenue, Dublin 3. For bookings see http://urbanplantlife.eventbrite.ie

We have been using plants as medicine for millennia. True holistic healing with plants involves all the senses, smell, touch, sight, taste and even sound. This talk will look at traditional approaches to herbal medicine and how each one of us interacts with plants on a multi-sensory level. We will discuss how the interpretation of both subjective and universal patterns and symbology have been and can be used to glean the medicinal qualities of a plant. DCC Parks and Landscape Services have kindly offered us an exclusive opportunity to explore and interact personally with medicinal plants in the newly designed physic garden at St. Anne’s park, prior to its official opening next year.

This exciting programme will include spectacular, large-scale shows and once-in-a-lifetime performances to entertain theatre-goers and first-time audiences alike. The festival features 13 world premieres from great Irish writers and companies, alongside an extensive programme of international work. 

Priority booking for Friends of the Festival:  21st July | General public booking:  12th August

For Full List of Events : CLICK HERE

BOOKING DETAILS: Online: www.dublintheatrefestival.com / Phone: +353 1 677 88 99 / In person: Dublin Theatre Festival Box Office, 44 East Essex St, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

Roisin Beirne, Clare Breen, David Lunney, Andreas Kindler Von Knobloch, Blaine O'Donnell, Liliane Puthod, Daniel Toumey, John Ryan and Tom Watt.

In March 2014, a group of nine artists ventured to Peanmeanach, a remote peninsula in the Scottish Highlands. They spent six days living together in a bothy* and exploring the surrounding landscape. This was an experiment in communal living with the potential for artistic practice within a limited time period in a geographically isolated area.

The works made specifically for this exhibition draw upon the experiences of the group during their time in Scotland. The artists have used the site at PP/S as a platform to recontextualize their experience in response to a wider audience and in an urban setting.

Exhibition continues: 12–6pm until Saturday 16th of August 2014. A guided expedition to Kippure Mountain will take place on Saturday 9^th of August (weather permitting).

Tiger Dublin Fringe has launched with an invigorating and stimulating programme that takes place from Sep 5 - 20. TDF is Ireland’s leading multidisciplinary arts festival featuring the new and next in performance, music, theatre, live art, comedy, dance, circus, and visual art from Irish and international artists. Every September the city is transformed with the energy of all things Fringe as up to 650 events take place throughout the city in over 40 venues presented by the 1000+ people involved. See more at fringefest.com

The Irish Writers Centre and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig have come together to offer a two-week fully resourced Writer-in-Residence Bursary to take place in spring 2015. The award is named in honour of Jack Harte, founder of the Irish Writers Centre, in celebration and acknowledgement of his contribution to Irish literature.

We’d love you to get involved. This Autumn, the Jack & Jill Children’s Foundation would like to supply you with a fibreglass sculpture of a pig. It will be 1.1m long, 610mm high and 410mm wide.
It’s yours to transform into a unique work of art in time go on display around Dublin in early 2015 as part of Pigs on Parade, a celebration of our public space and a much needed fundraiser for Jack & Jill. 
What would you make of one of our pigs?
For an invitation to participate, email your name and contacts to pigparade@jackandjill.ie or contact Dave Southern on 087 923 9187.

Now in its second year, Public Art Walking Tours launches for the summer with tours every Sunday at 1pm. Relax with a walk around thirteen artworks – find out about wrapped walkways, a poet who inspired Shane McGowan, tributes to two Nobel Prize winners and who has a sinister grip on one of our writers?

Learn a bit about history and a lot about public art. Find out more at www.publicartwalkingtours.ie

Under a new editorial team in Dublin, PVA are seeking reviews of exhibitions (of 700-1200 words), but also longer-form essays and articles on the visual arts.  PVA will also consider pieces of creative fiction, personal essays, dialogues, interviews, or other forms of writing that relate in some way to contemporary art themes and issues.  We would also be interested in receiving essays which address the borderlines between the visual arts and other areas/art forms, such as theatre, literature, publishing, politics, economics, etc.

Please see our submission guidelines at http://papervisualart.com/?page_id=38 for more details.

Choral Workshops will explore topics such as: vocal techniques, breathing, physical warm ups for singing, appreciation that each of our voices is completely unique, taking care of our voices, understanding changes in our voices (eg through medications, hormones, the process of transitioning etc) in a fun & creative way. 

This is an opportunity to explore how you feel about your voice, and to develop your confidence with singing in a safe and understanding place. Nobody will be forced to sing on their own; people will be encouraged to progress at their own pace. 

This world-class annual exhibition, although in its 49th year, has never been on display in Ireland before. The images show outstanding wildlife pictures captured in their natural environment. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year is organised by the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London and BBC Worldwide.The 100 award-winning images are beautifully displayed with each image accompanied by its photographer’s story and technical details.

www.wpy.ie / www.chq.ie / https://www.facebook.com/WildlifePhotoIreland

A tradicomedy in Two Acts – Beckett’s play pioneered an expressionistic minimalism that captured the existential post World War II Europe and man’s inexhaustible search for meaning. This play remains one of the most beautiful and allegorical of our time.

29th July - 23rd August @ 7:30pm in the Main Space

Tickets : €16/14 conc.

Booking : www.smockalley.com | (01) 6770014

This Visual Artists Ireland professional development event brings together speakers that make a living in the creative sector. The speakers have very different approaches to their careers in the arts and include entrepreneurs that have started their own businesses in different fields and artists that work in community arts.

The afternoon session will feature ten recent graduate artists giving five minute presentations about their work followed by a seminar on how to price your work from Patricia Clyne Kelly of the Clyne Gallery, Dublin.

The event will take place at the Catalyst Arts Gallery, Belfast on Friday 1st August 2014.

Personal Effects: a history of possession is a work by artist and writer Alan Counihan based on the personal effects of dead or discharged patients of Grangegorman Mental Hospital which were discovered in an attic of that institution in 2010. The work takes present form as a multi-media installation and will next be shown at Axis, Ballymun, Dublin from 5th - 15th August 2014; 12pm - 6pm daily (excluding Saturday).

Morning Gloryville, the pre-work music festival that sold out at it's Dublin launch in July is back.  Episode #2 will take place from 0630 on Wednesday 6th August at CHQ (The Vaults) in the IFSC.  Expect a magical sober experience with festival name DJs, Motivational Dancers, Yoga, Massage and much more.  July's event saw a mix of Bankers, Hippies, Gym heads and parents all starting the day with a positive vibe.

Great DJs | Free Yoga and Massage | Smoothie Bar | Amazing Coffee | Motivational Dance Team | A BANGING DANCEFLOOR!

Tickets are €15.  For more details go to https://www.facebook.com/events/719306618133544/ or http://morninggloryvilledublin2.bpt.me/

The Irish Writers' Centre is host to several exciting literary events over the next few months. Make sure you keep up-to-date and check their website  www.writerscentre.ie or call the Centre on  01-872 1302.  In the meantime here are just two events for the diary. 
1. Milk & Cookie Stories - 12th August 6.30 -9.30 pm  Free admission

2. Titter of Wit – lunchtime theatre - 15th , 16th, 22nd and 23rd August 12.50 -1.50 pm.

Tickets: €10/ €8 members  (Light lunch included)

On opening day, 15th August, a special price of €8  (€6 for Irish Writers’ Centre members) applies.

Bookings can be made online, by telephone or at the door. For further information, please contact the Irish Writers Centre by email events@writerscentre.ie or by telephone (01) 872 1302.

The Learning Together Conference, 2014 is now accepting proposals from  organisations, museums and individuals for papers, posters and presentations. We invite community organisations, museums and individuals to submit proposals for posters to be displayed at one of the three community-based workshops on Thursday 11 September 2014. 

For more information see: http://www.learningtogetherconference.com/participate.html