Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival 2020

Connecting Citizens to the Arts, Human Rights, Climate Justice and Gender Equality - Re-imagining the festival online

Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival 2020 - Voices of Hope, Courage and Resilience

Friday 16 – Sunday 25 October 2020

10 Days of Arts and Human Rights Online

Smashing Times and Front Line Defenders in partnership with Amnesty International, Fighting Words, ICCL, NWCI, Concern Worldwide, & Trócaire will implement the 2020 Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival to showcase and highlight 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 festival will run for ten days from Friday 16 October to Sunday 25 October 2020.

This year’s festival is moving online where we are creating a dedicated virtual space to share, celebrate, remember, explore, provoke and promote the arts for human rights. Join us as we bring together artists, activists, citizens, families, communities and all those interested in using the arts to celebrate and promote human rights and equality for all. The theme of this year’s festival is Voices of Hope, Courage and Resilience celebrating human rights and linking 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 festival is presented by Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and Front Line Defenders in partnership with Amnesty International Ireland, Fighting Words, Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) and Trocaire. Creative partners include John Scott Dance, Poetry Ireland, dlr Mill Theatre, Dundrum, TheatreMaker.ie, Company SJ and Trinity College Dublin.

The artistic curator for the festival is Mary Moynihan, Artistic Director, Smashing Times and the human rights curator is Tara Madden, Front Line Defenders. Over ten days the festival brings audiences a mix of artworks that include the very best performances, vibrant dance acts, live music, visual art exhibitions and family fun combined with stimulating discussion and debate. 

An assortment of workshops in performance, music, and song-writing are available for all ages as a part of this unique and vibrant festival of culture, arts and equality. The festival is a collaborative partnership showcasing world-class programming and presenting new and diverse artists and acts, with something for everyone to enjoy.  Join us for a celebration of the arts and human rights – a festival not to be missed. The festival will bear witness and remember the past, explore the present and celebrate the future linked to equality and rights for all, highlighting the role artists can play in a new society.

Events taking place in week one include:

Artists Against Fascism: An Innovative multi-disciplinary cabaret-style performance and discussion inspired by the stories of artists standing up to Fascism during and after the Spanish Civil War and WWII. Hosted by Smashing Times as a Facebook Live event, with the launch of, The Art of Courage – Stories of Artists and Activists against Fascism, a new book in digital format.

Emotional Landscapes: Visual Arts Exhibition with poetry, music, film and panel discussion inspired by artistic responses to well-being and the changing times we are living in.

EU 1979: A People’s Parliament – Democracy Human Rights and Women’s Political Participation: Virtual digital art exhibition featuring visual images, poetry, stories and a digital map with posters, articles and research inspired by the names and stories of 67 powerful women MEP’s elected to the 1979 first European parliamentary elections. Exhibition followed by panel discussion with guest speakers reflecting on democracy, human rights and Women’s Political Participation.

Fáilte Amnesty Autumn – Courage, Resilience and Hope: An interview hosted by Colm O’Gorman of Amnesty International Ireland, with Miko Czerwinski, an LGBTI activist at the frontline working with Amnesty in Poland.

Events taking place in week two include:

Irish Women UN Special Rapporteurs: An exclusive interview with the three Irish Women advancing rights on the world stage as United Nations Special Rapporteurs; Mary Lawlor, Professor Siobhán Mullally, and Fionnuala D. Ní Aoláin, presented by Front Line Defenders.

Know Your Right to Protest: Online training on the right to protest, hosted by The Irish Council For Civil Liberties, Ireland’s leading independent human rights NGO.

Arts and Human Rights Festivals Across Borders: Smashing Times and DAH Theatre, Serbia will hold a joint event happening simultaneously as part of the two Festivals in Ireland and in Serbia.