Culture Night 2024: T+D recommends
For this week's Friday View we're going all in with the culture, culture, culture for Culture Night
Is Culture Dying? asks a recent headline in The New Yorker. Well, not for one night in September in Ireland when culture is escapable. And that night is tonight. Culture Night.
As per usual, there’s culture than you should reasonably pack into one night. (Surely, there’s a debate to be had for having a culture night on a monthly or quarterly basis). As always, Culture Night is a mixed bag of novelty, curiosity, joy, entertainment and some box ticking, but nonetheless it’s a noble effort.
We’ve trawled through the offering and the team at T+D have picked a few of our favourites. Whatever you get to, enjoy and hopefully its fun, enlightening and entertaining.
Goodcellas at Civic House: The name alone is worth seeking out Goodcellas who will be performing in Civic House on Pope’s Quay. JJ wrote about Civic House earlier this year, a three-storey house on the quay which dates back to the early 18th Century; it was built sometime between the 1700s to the 1730s just as the Georgian era was kicking in, and with it the reign of the many king Georges. Today it’s home to a raft of community organisations many of which are responsible for staging some of the city's best festivals.
Goodcellas describe themselves as a friendly ensemble of members of the cello section of Cork Fleischmann Symphony Orchestra. They’ll be playing music from their wide repertoire from 7pm to 7:40pm.
Time, place: 7pm - 7:40pm, Civic House, Pope’s Quay
Potato pies: Spuds are the star of the show at Greengage Business Centre near The Lough. Organised by ABC EduLibrary and the Polish Culture Centre, there’ll be Polish recipes for the humble potato and guests are invited to prepare and sample placki ziemniaczane (Polish potato pancakes) amongst other delights. They’ll also be making artistic creations from the humble spud. No booking, just drop right in.
Time, place: 4pm- 8pm, Greengate Business Centre, Gould Street
Music to your ears: As everyone in planet Cork knows by now, the Crawford Art Gallery will shut its doors on Sunday for a two-year refurb and expansion. But, it’s the music that will be the star of the show on Culture Night at the gallery, especially the trad duo of Macdara Ó Faoláin and Victoria Adiiye. They’re part of a lovely music line-up that will also feature John Ahern (classical & Celtic guitar), Pizzazz (String Duo) and the the Neil Murphy Jazz trio, all of which will be performing at different times and venues throughout the gallery throughout the course of the evening.
Time, place: 5pm - 9:30, outdoors and in various locations throughout the Crawford Art Gallery.
To thousands of people who sat the Leaving Cert in Ireland, Soundings will either spark joy or misery. First published in 1969, it’s the Bible of poetry for second-level students and contains towers of poetry Keats, Shakespeare, Dickinson, Heaney, Chaucer, Milton and more. At Myo Cafe poet Cormac Lally will be reading from Soundings, but guests are invited to pick the poems and share memories of the couplets and stanzas many of which have remained in the minds of many.
Time, place: 7pm -11pm Myo Cafe, Pope’s Quay
Circus acts: T+D is big fans of the Circus Factory and we’d like to think it’s mutual. This year the fun factory invites you in to show you what they’re all about. Performers range from circus beginners to professional artists, and they’ll be showing works-in-progress, new acts and their favourite moves. Expect aerial artists, agile acrobats, hula-hoopers, loud music and there may be flashing lights. This event is laid - back, casual. You can come and go as you please. The event is free but ticketed. Booking here.
Big sounds: If The Kabin Crew are the sound of the Nothside, then the Barrack Street Band might have a reasonable claim to being the sound of the Southside. The “Barracka”, one of the oldest marching bands in the world, will be performing just off the street in Elizabeth Fort for what promises to be a beautiful warm evening. You can also walk the walls while there and take in views of the many construction sites in the city.
Time, place: On stage 7.00-8.00pm, Elizabeth Fort.
Read all about it: As anyone who has been through St Luke’s Cross in recent weeks will have seen Mercier Press is back. Their new home is beautiful green fronted townhouse on Bllyhooley Road and for Culture Night they’ll be featuring a pop-up book shop bookshop of both recent and older titles, as well as readings from our current and contemporary authors alongside a reading from The Tailor and Ansty by Eric Cross, which was banned on its initial publication in 1942.
Time, place: 4pm -6pm, Ballyhooly Road
Cobh calling: Cruthú Cois Farraige is a celebration of electronic music by the Electronic Music Council, happening out in Cobh. It begins in the city, with a Boat Party sailing through the harbour from Custom House Quay at 6pm, led by Berlin-influenced DJs Swny and Hooligan.
In Cobh, a live art display by Spaces exhibits at the Sirius Arts Centre between 7pm and 9pm, while live equipment, vinyl and dance workshops hosted by Chaz Moloney, Doiléir and Collective Cork also take place. At the same time, next door in The Quays, there will be DJ sets by Big Up The Beours and Bodies Do The Talkin, comprising of CJ Soltan, Cillian McCarthy, Danilo Milk, and Macaveli, between 7pm and 10pm. It all ends with a grand finale in a revival of one of Cork’s most intimate club spaces, the Commodore Hotel, with sets by Mejmi, Doiléir, Chaz Moloney and live painting by Riona Denys.
Time, place: 6pm, Custom House Quay, Cork; 7pm, Sirius Arts Centre, Westbourne Place, Cobh, 7pm, The Quays Bar and Restaurant, Westbourne Place, Cobh; 10pm, Commodore Hotel, Westbourne Place, Cobh.
Love your records: 33RPM Record Shop on MacCurtain Street will be hosting Upcycling Record Workshops, where they will focus on the preservation and upcycling of records. Participants will be taught proper cleaning and preservation techniques, and will also be shown how to upcycle damaged or unwanted records into unique art pieces or functional objects. Each workshop lasts half an hour, and they run between 4pm and 7pm.
Time, place: 4pm-7pm, 33RPM, 2A MacCurtain Street, Cork.
A look behind the curtain: As with every year, culture night usually includes Open Studios and once-off exhibitions. This year, at Cork Community Art Link, based in The Lido in Blackpool, you can see behind the scenes of the preparations for this year’s Dragon of Shandon Parade, as well as a screening of last year’s parade.
At Outlaw Studios, in the former Ford Factory in the Docks, there will be a group exhibition by members, with some of their studios open to the public. On Wandesford Quay, Cork Printmakers will be exhibiting ‘Reshape’, featuring work by Anastasia Melnikova, Antony Reznik, Ceyda Oskay, Diaa Lagan, Leanne McDonagh, and Thais Muniz, that was developed during the In The Margins residency program.
In the same building, Backwater Artists will be giving a tour of their studios, and will host an opening reception for new exhibition Transitus, while Baile na mBocht by Andrea Newman continues. There will be an Open Studio and exhibition of work from Joseph Heffernan’s artist-in-residence at Sample-Studios at Triskel, and Laneway Gallery host an artist talk and tour of their current exhibition, Songs from a Lost Paradise, a collaborative exhibition by Pakistani-born artist Amna Walayat and Irish artist Tina Whelan.
Time, place: 5:30pm-8pm, Cork Community Art Link, The Lido, Watercourse Road, Blackpool; 5pm-9pm, Outlaw Studios, Marina Commercial Park, Centre Park Road, Cork; 5pm-7:30pm, Wandesford Quay, Cork; 6:30pm-9:30pm, Triskel Arts Centre, Tobin Street, Cork; 5pm-9pm, Laneway Gallery, Shandon Street, Cork.
Late night sounds: Cork Opera House will host an Immersive Experimental Sound Experience, put together by Kevin Terry. Beginning at 11pm, the event takes place across multiple rooms which offer different sonic journeys. Some rooms feature walls dating back to 1855, and so the sound interacts with the architectural nuances of each room, telling the story of each room. Tickets are running low, book them here.
Time, place: 11pm, Cork Opera House (Half Moon Street Entrance), Cork.
For the full range of events on in Cork city check out the guide here, and in the county check here. And have a good night!