22 - 24 October - Walk in the Park with an Artist: The Artist Speaks
Date & Time:
Friday 22 October, 2:30 PM
Saturday 23 October, 11:00 AM, and 4:00 PM
Sunday 24 October, 11:00 AM
Venue: Rathfarnham Castle Grounds
Tickets: €12
The Smashing Times Walk in the Park series are an artistic celebration of Ireland’s rich cultural heritage, sharing stories of artists, human rights defenders and citizens. Smashing Times have created two public performances as part of its Walk in the Park series – Walk in the Park: The Artist Speaks and Walk in the Park: People Who Inspired. While visiting the iconic setting of the grounds of Rathfarnham Castle, we invite you to listen to stories about the thrilling lives and work of some of Ireland and Europe’s unique artists and citizens.
Walk in the Park: The Artist Speaks is a promenade performance created for The Art of W/Rights, a literary carnival of arts and rights taking place in Rathfarnham Dublin, as part of In the Open – Faoin Spéir funded by The Arts Council. Two artists walk the park on a magical journey of reflection on the work and life of artists from the past and today. Join the stroll and be regaled by stories, poetry and a few surprises along the way. Listen to the stories of visual artist Angelica Kauffmann, the ‘the 18th century Tracey Emin of her day,’ who once visited Rathfarnham Castle where our walk is set, and to Irish singer Rachel Baptiste who enjoyed a successful career performing the length and breath of Ireland for over twenty years. Enjoy a reflection on the life and work of writers William Butler Yeats, J.M. Synge and Lady Gregory and stories of women writers and freedom of expression today.
Walk in the Park: The Artist Speaks is supported by the Creative Ireland Programme South Dublin.
The Art of W/Rights
A literary Carnival of Arts and Rights
Outdoor Site-Specific Shows, Live Projections, Pop-Up Installations and Creative Conversations
promoting equality, compassion + rights
Rathfarnham Dublin
In the Open – Faoin Spéir
Funded by The Arts Council
As part of The Art of W/Rights, two parks in Dublin – Rathfarnham Castle Park and St Enda’s Park -play host to a carnival-style performing arts spectacle by Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality featuring site-specific outdoor shows of theatre, film, literary pop-up installations and creative conversations, promoting equality, compassion, and human rights in changing times.
Live performances take place at Rathfarnham Castle Park from the 18 to the 24 October 2021 for the annual Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival and live performances and outdoor cinema screenings will take place at the Pearse Museum, St Enda’s Park in April 2022.
The Art of W/Rights is presented as part of the Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival 2021, organised by Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and Front Line Defenders, in partnership with Amnesty International, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the National Women’s Council of Ireland, Fighting Words, Poetry Ireland, and Trocaire.
The festival promises 10 days of exciting events celebrating and promoting the extraordinary work of human rights defenders in Ireland and around the world, past and present, and the role of the arts and artists in promoting human rights today. The theme of this year’s festival is Hope, Courage and Resilience: The Story Continues. The festival reached an international audience of over 10,000 in 2020 and links the arts to civil society, active citizenship and politics through a series of inter-disciplinary performances, film screenings, documentaries, theatre, music, dance, visual and digital art, poetry, literature, historical memory, discussions and arts-based workshops, featuring Irish and international artists and guest speakers celebrating and promoting dignity and respect for all people equally.
The Art of W/Rights partners are Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, South Dublin County Council Arts Office, Rathfarnham Castle, Pearse Museum and the Office of Public Works – Rathfarnham Castle Park and St Enda’s Park. The Art of W/Rights is funded by the Arts Council, South Dublin County Council Arts Office, the Creative Ireland programme of South Dublin, Erasmus+ and the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme (CERV).
The programme generates a celebration of literature, visual and performing arts and discussion on key themes of equality, compassion and rights in a time of Covid.
Open call: Stories and Poems inspired by people who have helped shape our lives
We are all formed and shaped by the people who pass through our lives. As part of The Art of W/Rights Smashing Times conducted an open call for stories and poems based on the theme ‘people who inspire or have shaped us in some way’. A selection of 100 stories and poems will be displayed in a ‘digital book’ online via the Smashing Times Virtual Arts Gallery telling stories of people who have inspired us, a person from the past or present who has inspired or shaped us in some way and who has promoted equality, compassion and rights in our lives and the lives of others. The digital book containing the stories and poems will be projected onto the walls of Rathfarnham Castle in 2022 with a page of the book turning very slowly every few minutes.
In keeping with our themes of equality, compassion and rights and the metaphor of a river (both parks feature ponds and have strong connections with rivers) where we can create a flow of equality, compassion and rights in the wider society, we are asking citizens to tell us stories of the people who have helped carry you forward,.
The stories and poems collected are a celebration of all that is good and kind in the world, a reflection on life and a celebration of connections made, the interconnectedness of people as no person is an island. They are stories of people in the past and today who shaped society in a positive way. Our aim is to create a ‘gathering space’ to celebrate stories of care and compassion and to act as a catalyst to generate creative conversations on visions for a better world.
Please submit using the online form. Submission is free.
Why Walks in the Park – A Walk on the Wild Side!
Dublin is a city of incredible energy and excitement, with heritage and history around every corner.
The Smashing Times Walk in the Park series are an artistic celebration of Ireland’s rich cultural heritage, sharing stories of artists, human rights defenders, citizens and forgotten heroes, men and women from history and today who stood up for the rights of others.
Parks are freely used by members of the public for walking, running, chatting, meeting friends, enjoying nature, playing sport, walking with the family, walking the dog, spending some ‘alone’ time, doing yoga and so on. Our aim is to utilise the park space as a centre for arts and creativity intersecting with sustainability linked to equality, rights and diversity. Smashing Times are committed to working in local settings and our aims for parks are:
To build a co-creative space in the parks of Dublin
To utilise the park space for positive exchanges and community-building linking the arts to community development, sustainability and equality, human rights and diversity
To create an inspirational model for community parks and gardens combining the arts with creativity for sustainability
As Ireland opens up once again, it is important to celebrate Dublin as a cultural and creative hub for the arts and human rights. Storytelling is a key way to share Dublin and Ireland’s rich heritage, while showcasing the talent of our local artists and performers, and also sharing knowledge about why promoting human rights is an important aspect of contemporary society.
