February 12
ROADKILL Launch
Coinciding with IMMA’s ongoing exhibition Primal Architecture, ROADKILL will see an evening of live performance, installation, video and music take over the gallery as an extension of the show. It will also mark the launch of the exhibition publication which includes unique illustrations, installation images and several newly commissioned essays.
On the night, explorations of themes such as framing, duality, structure, sexuality and appropriation will be realised through collage, remix and disruption by a set of multi-disciplinary artists. Highlights include an alternative guided tour of the exhibition by Ciarán O’Keefe’s alter ego Smilin’ Kanker and a temporary, interactive installation by Elaine Leader, whilst DJ Przem SHREM Zajac changes tracks for the evening. -SM
ROADKILL will launch at 6pm. Primal Architecture runs until March 1. Both at Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Military Road, Dublin 8.
February 14-28
Dublin’s Chinese New Year
Celebrate the Year of the Sheep at the Dublin Chinese New Year festival which returns for the eighth time to showcase Chinese culture and heritage with a line up of fun, inclusive and Oriental inspired events this month. For those looking to explore their inner Ken Hom, there is a tour of the Asian market on Drury St (February 20, 5.30pm — to book contact eval@asiamarket.ie) where one can learn where to find and how to use the basic ingredients in authentic Chinese cuisine. Several Chinese restaurants across the city are offering “Lunar Feasts” for the duration of the festival, set-price menus at great value. Wicklow Street’s Ka Shing has a special lunch menu (12-3.30pm) and an Early Bird (before 6.30pm). Koh on Jervis St has a one-off signature dish, a Connemara Hill Lamb Massaman Curry, which comes with a complimentary beer if you mention the Year of the Sheep when ordering.-KG
February 20-22
Plastik Festival @ The IFI
Running from February 20 to 22 at the IFI Plastik Festival is Ireland’s “first festival devoted entirely to artistics working with the moving image”. The three-day programme of film screenings, artist discussions and panels, and installations explores the relationship of the moving image to language, history and narrative and serves to showcase a plethora of innovative artistics on the subject, including James Richards, Ben Russell, Pauline Boudry and others. Having already premiered in Cork and Galways earlier in the month, Plastik Festival is set to provoke and entice the film goer, art enthusiast, and theorist alike. Our pick is The African Twin Towers playing on February 22 at 6pm which explores conflicting methods of narrating 9/11. -LB
Tickets: €9 (€8 Concessions)
www.ifi.ie/ifiandplastikfestival
February 27
Discotekken Aaliyah Party
As part of an incredible upcoming line-up of themed nights — there’s the Jungle Book Party and the Space Jam Party too — Discotekken continue to satisfy niche enough audiences with this tribute to the late queen of 90s R&B, Aaliyah. Rather than showing the unauthorised biopic of her life, there will instead be a screening of Romeo Must Die (a modern, gangster/kung-fu take on the Shakespeare, starring the singer alongside Jet Li). With snack boxes from the Open Door Supper Club, sweet tunes from the RnB Club and some exquisitely titled We Need A [Resolution] Cocktails, this looks set to be an excellent night. You may not have been around to appreciate Aaliyah the first time, but sure age ain’t nothin’ but a number: this is your chance to soak up those Timbaland vibes. -TJ
Tickets €6/8/10/12, http://discotekkenaaliyahparty.eventbrite.ie/
Group rates on request.
February 18- March 7
Collaborations Festival
In desperate need of a winter hit of Edinburgh Fringe-style cutting edge theatre and arts? Of course you are! Collaborations Festival at the Smock Alley Theatre aims to provide just that. This “festival of ideas” presents a selection of Ireland’s most exciting performance groups with material ranging from Harder, Faster, More, a play examining porn and its consumption, to self-styled “anti-poet” Stephen McDermott’s musing on the value of words in 21st century. Punter’s tip? Dinosaurs — reflections on the complex history of Dublin’s gay scene — and As Seen on the Radio, a light-hearted comedy revolving around two eccentric hosts of an isolated rural radio station.-JM
€10 concession, Smock Alley Theatre.
March 3
Ishiguro Book Release
March 3 welcomes in the long-awaited release of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant, the first novel published by the literary superstar in ten years. Ishiguro has said the delay between novels was never intended, but that his wife examined the first draft of his work in progress and let him know it wouldn’t do. He then started over from scratch, and positive reviews seem to indicate it was a solid decision. Like his last novel, the Booker Prize-nominated Never Let Me Go, The Buried Giant is dystopian fiction, described by Ishiguro as focusing on “lost memories, love, revenge and war”. Praised by Publishers’ Weekly as “easy to read but difficult to forget”, the novel is expected to prove a warmly received addition to Ishiguro’s beloved backlist.-EM
March 6
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Premiere
The latest debut show from Netflix seems to be the polar opposite of House of Cards. Created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt tells the story of a woman liberated from a doomsday cult after living in an underground bunker for 15 years. Portrayed by Ellie Kemper (Erin from the US Office), Kimmy arrives in New York to have a fresh start. Anchored by her sunny — and unbreakable — disposition, she tries to navigate her new life, which includes finding a friend in her roommate, becoming employed as a babysitter, and learning about the modern world she has been shut away from. Promising a lightness of touch and delightful temperament, her adventures should prove to be a charming addition to Netflix’s catalogue.-EB
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt will premiere on Netflix.
March 11
Games Fleadh, LIT Thurles
Games these days are big, cinematic, sexy affairs with explosions and lights and all sorts. You’d almost forget the thousands of less sexy man-hours that go into making them. The late-night edits, the myriad 1s and 0s, the gladiatorial games fought in the luminous blue-and-orange world that exists behind our computer screens. (I know very little about programming.) Games Fleadh, Ireland’s largest computer and console games programming festival for students, is a celebration of all the people who make that magic, literal magic, happen. The main event is a game design competition themed around “Endless Runner” as well as RoboCode, a Java scripting game in which coders try to build the best battletank. Aside from these events, there are numerous talks from video game design professionals as well as video game tournaments for the less coding-literate. (Woo!) -EM
