Project Arts Centre’s annual Open Day is returning for its second instalment. As well as throwing open the doors to the big blue building and showcasing some of the country’s finest artistic talent, this year’s event has a special focus on disability and gender diversity.

The free day-long event is open to all this Sunday, August 27, giving visitors a chance to fully experience the vibrancy and inclusion that has always been at the heart of one of Ireland’s most important arts spaces.

Founded in 1966, Project Arts Centre has been at the forefront of fostering new and emerging artists, and since it first staged two plays by The Gay Sweatshop in 1976, it has also played a vital role in creating space for LGBTQ+ voices.

This year’s open day will see the centre giving queer artists a leading role in presenting their vision of what Project is all about. 

The day will be split into two parts. From 12pm to 2pm, it will start with a ‘Quiet Opening’ where the building will hold space for artists, audiences and communities who would benefit from a sensory-adapted environment. 

Everyone is welcome to attend these events but is asked to please wear masks to protect immunocompromised attendees.

Lianne Quigley will present a live ISL-interpreted performance of stories told through visual language (Visual Vernacular), expressive movements of the hands, and lyricism in the body. Meanwhile, Áine O’Hara and Tara Carroll of The Chronic Collective will be discussing how making art accessible to all is a radical act.

 

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Queer artists Léann Herlihy and Day Magee will both present screenings of their film work, followed by discussions on their practice.

Visitors are invited to bring something fabulous that they no longer wear to the Queer Crip Fits session with Renn Miano, co-founder of Origins Eile and DiaXDem.

They’ll be creating “a joyful space for LGBTQIA+ and disabled communities to talk about and experience fashion as a creative expression, as armour, and as a way to accentuate individual identity, in defiance of heteronormative and ableist aesthetics.”

 

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In the afternoon, Project Arts Centre will come alive with dance performances, workshops and screenings from Favour Odusola, Jessie Thompson, Junk Ensemble and Shaun Dunne, and a live DJ set from Club Comfort.

Culchie Boy, I Love You artist, Kian Benson Bailes, will host a clay workshop and film screening of the Tropical Malady, a classic of queer Thai cinema about a romance between a soldier and a country boy.

With free nibbles and refreshments on the go, Project Arts Centre’s Open Day 2023 promises to give you the warmest of welcomes and a real taste of how much the big blue building has to offer.