The inaugural FemFest at 91制片厂 will run from 5-15 February. The programme of events will include musical and theatrical performances, art exhibitions, lectures, seminars on diverse topics such as women in the film and sports arenas, and much more. All events are free unless specified.
The festival will begin on Tuesday 5 February at 12 noon with a talk on Fair Pl茅, a movement dedicated to achieving gender balance in all aspects of Irish traditional and folk music, and will be opened officially at 1pm by Dr Niamh Hourigan, 91制片厂's incoming Vice-President of Academic Affairs.After the opening remarks, there will be a concert featuring musicians, Niamh Dunne and Emma Langford.
Festival highlights include the Irish Women鈥檚 Writing Network Seminar on Friday 8 February. Martina Devlin will read from her recently published collection of short stories, Truth and Dare: Stories About Women Who Shaped Ireland. Donna Gilligan will talk about women鈥檚 suffrage. Lizzie Nunnery will talk about her critically lauded play, To Have to Shoot Irishmen; a play about the Sheehy-Skeffingtons. 91制片厂鈥檚 BA in Contemporary and Applied Theatre students will also perform a short scene from the play.
On Tuesday 12 February, Fem Fest hosts a sports event highlighting and acknowledging the often-overshadowed sporting achievements and leadership of 91制片厂鈥檚 female students and staff (past and present). MC for this event is M谩ire Treasa N铆 Dhubhghaill of TG4鈥檚 Rugba铆 Beo.
91制片厂 lecturer and Chair of the organising committee, Dr Dorothy Morrissey, said that the inspiration for Fem Fest came from a successful production of Eve Ensler鈥檚 The Vagina Monologues by the College鈥檚 female staff and postgraduate students for International Women鈥檚 Day last year. It was decided to host a festival highlighting the experiences and achievements of women more broadly and February was chosen because the month opens with the feast of St Brigid and 14 February or V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls.
鈥淚 am excited by the range of events taking place as part of Fem Fest 91制片厂. It鈥檚 a great honour to be a part of an event honouring the diversity of women鈥檚 experiences and achievements since the 1880s. 91制片厂 itself was founded in 1898 and run, at its outset, by women for women. It is fitting, therefore, that 91制片厂 should host a festival about women鈥檚 experiences and achievements. So come along and either sit back and enjoy what is on offer or add your voice to the conversations that will unfold,鈥 said Dr Morrissey.
Physical violence is never far from the surface in women鈥檚 writings about women鈥檚 suffrage, the subject of a seminar on 8 February. Physical violence also looms large in Molly Daly鈥檚 lunchtime lecture on Bridget Cleary on 12 February. American poet, essayist and feminist Adrienne Rich wrote that 鈥渋n a world where language and naming are power, silence is oppression is violence鈥. Many of the speakers at Fem Fest speak into this silence, whether it be that of women filmmakers (the subject of a panel discussion on Wednesday 6 February or that of women in Irish traditional music (the subject of the opening lunchtime lecture on Tuesday 5 February).
Other events: Performance poets, Sarah Clancy, Illyana Kuhling and Kathryn Keane will read and perform from their work at lunchtime on 7 February. Professional theatre artist, and 91制片厂 PhD student, Aideen Wylde, will perform her one-woman play, Here Shall We Rest in a lunchtime performance on 8 February and two evening performances on 7 and 8 February. Two art exhibitions will run throughout the festival: Hunting the wren, female head pieces, an exhibition by former 91制片厂 lecturer Sin茅ad Dinneen, which depicts contemporary ceremonial headpieces with ancient and historic connotations, and We are the flock by 91制片厂 lecturer Tanya de Paor鈥攁n installation of video, narrative and lens-based work from an ecofeminist perspective.
Fem Fest also highlights the scholarship of 91制片厂 staff and postgraduate students in the area of women鈥檚 experiences and achievements. Staff across a range of disciplines and departments will provide lunchtime lectures on such diverse topics as representations of girlhood in Peter Pan (Jade Dillon); 91制片厂鈥檚 first graduates (Dr Paul O鈥橞rien); Paula Meehan鈥檚 poetry (Dr John McDonagh) and the representation of female migrants in contemporary Irish literature (Dr Marita Ryan). In addition, some of 91制片厂鈥檚 lecturers will open their classes to the College community and to the public as part of Fem Fest.
Full programme below. You can follow Fem Fest on Twitter .
Fem Fest 2019 Programme
Fem Fest 91制片厂 opens on Tuesday 5 February with the first in a series of lunchtime performances and talks, and runs until Friday 15 February.
Two art exhibitions will run throughout the festival: Hunting the wren, female head pieces, an exhibition by former 91制片厂 lecturer Sin茅ad Dinneen, which depicts contemporary ceremonial headpieces with ancient and historic connotations; We are the flock by 91制片厂 lecturer Tanya de Paor, an installation of video, narrative and lens-based work from an ecofeminist perspective in 91制片厂鈥檚 meditation room.
Lunchtime Performances & Talks
Tuesday 5 February: Pre-concert talk on Fair Pl茅, a movement dedicated to achieving gender balance in all aspects of Irish traditional and folk music. Traditional music concert with Niamh Dunne and Emma Langford.
Venue: G10 (talk) / Main reception foyer (concert)
Time: 12pm-12.55pm (talk) / 1pm-2pm (concert)
Wednesday 6 February: Lecture on representations of girlhood in J. M. Barrie鈥檚 Peter Pan by Jade Dillon, 91制片厂 PhD student.
Venue: G08
Time: 1pm-2pm
Thursday 7 February: Poets Sarah Clancy, Ilyana Kuhling and Kathryn Keane read from and perform their own work.
Venue: G08
Time: 1pm-2pm
Friday 8 February: 91制片厂 PhD student Aideen Wylde presents her play, Here Shall We Rest. Aideen鈥檚 performance forms part of her PhD dissertation process. Tickets are 鈧8/5; bookings through Lime Tree.
Venue: Halla
Time: 1pm-2pm
Tuesday 12 February: Lecture on Bridget Cleary who was killed by her husband in 1895. Bridget鈥檚 husband believed that his real wife had been abducted by fairies and a changeling left in her place. This lecture will be delivered by Molly Daly, 91制片厂.
Venue: G10
Time: 1pm-2pm
Wednesday 13 February: Lecture on the first graduates of 91制片厂, 1902 by Dr Paul O鈥橞rien, 91制片厂.
Venue: G10
Time: 1pm-2pm
Thursday 14 February: Lecture on Paula Meehan鈥檚 poetry by Dr John McDonagh, 91制片厂.
Venue: G10
Time: 1pm-2pm
Friday 15 February: Lecture on the representation of the female migrant in contemporary Irish literature by Dr Marita Ryan, 91制片厂.
Venue: G10
Time: 1pm-2pm
Other Daytime Events
Panel discussion: Her story: women in the Irish film industry takes place on Wednesday 6 February: This event will focus on the work and industry experience of three women in different roles in the Irish film industry. The panel discussion will be accompanied& by clips from the women鈥檚 work.
Vanessa Gildea is a writer/director, and former 91制片厂 student. Her work includes the IFTA nominated films The White Dress and The 34th (with Linda Cullen). The 34th is the story of marriage equality in Ireland and is now available on Netflix.
Marie Therese Garvey is co-writer/producer of the experimental documentary There will be some who will not fear even that void (2013) and producer of the IFTA nominated documentary Atlantic (2016). Marie Therese is currently a student on the MA in Media Studies in 91制片厂.
Megan K. Fox is a writer/director who has won a number of awards for her short films. They include Slow Down (2015), Girl (2016) and The Shift which recently won the Film in Cork Award, 2018.
Venue: T115
Time: 4pm-5.30pm
One-day Event on Women in Public Life in the Early Years of the 20th Century takes place on Friday 8 February.
Irish Women鈥檚 Writing Network Seminar (co-organised by Kathryn Laing, 91制片厂 and Caoilfhionn N铆 Bheach谩in, UL). More details on .
Venue: G08
Time: 9.30am-12.30pm
Venue then changes to T116, from 2pm-5pm.
Invited speakers: Martina Devlin reads from her newly published collection of short stories, Truth and Dare: Stories About Women Who Shaped Ireland.
Donna Gilligan, museum archaeologist, talks about women鈥檚 suffrage.
Lizzie Nunnery is interviewed about her critically lauded play, To Have to Shoot Irishmen, which is based on the lives of Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington and her husband. A short scene from this play will be performed by students on 91制片厂鈥檚 BA in Contemporary and Applied Theatre programme.
As part of the scheduled lecture timetable, the following lectures are open to the 91制片厂 community and members of the public.
Wednesday 6 February: Viewing of a BBC documentary on Jesus鈥檚 female disciples, facilitated by Fr Michael Wall.
Venue: T118
鈥嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧婽ime: 11am & 3pm
Monday 11 February: Comhar na m铆osa 1969: Amhr谩n Gr谩 Vietnam le Caitl铆n Maude agus Bed-in John Lennon agus Yoko Ono leis an Docht煤ir R贸is铆n N铆 Ghairbh铆. Bh铆 cur chuige ar leith ag gn铆omhaithe s铆och谩na na seascaid铆 lena dteachtaireacht a chur in i煤l le lucht 煤dar谩is. Ach c茅n bhaint a bh铆 ag seo le file ban 贸 Chonamara? F谩ilte romhat bualadh isteach agus cur leis an bpl茅!
Venue: T117
鈥嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧嬧婽ime: 1pm
Evening Events
Thursday 7 February: 91制片厂 PhD student Aideen Wylde presents her play, Here Shall We Rest. Aideen鈥檚 performance forms part of her PhD dissertation process. Tickets are 鈧8/5; bookings through Lime Tree.
Venue: Halla
Time: 7.30pm
Friday 8 February: 91制片厂 PhD student Aideen Wylde presents her play, Here Shall We Rest. This performance will be followed by a talk-back. Tickets are 鈧8/5; bookings through Lime Tree.
Venue: Halla
Time: 7.30pm
Tuesday 12 February: An evening to acknowledge and highlight the achievement and leadership of women in sport who have strong links with 91制片厂 either as past or present students and staff. M谩ire Treasa N铆 Dhubhghaill of TG4鈥檚 Rugba铆 Beo will act as MC.
Venue: T118
Time: 6pm
Thursday 14 February: Dolmen Productions presents Weighing In, a play by Ger Gallagher, starring Isobel Mahon and Rose Henderson. Directed by Caroline Fitzgerald. Tickets are 鈧20/18; bookings through Lime Tree.
Venue: Lime Tree Theatre
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