The Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) hosts its fourth year of the Earth Rising festival, happening this week from 12th to 14th September on the grounds of IMMA at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham.
Most events are free with some require booking, and the festival aims to highlight the intersection of climate, culture, and collective action.
Along with art, film screenings, talks and workshops, the music portion of Earth Rising was curated by Hen’s Teeth,and features live performances from Negro Impacto, Mohammed Syfkhan, Ispíní na hÉireann, EFÉ, Hewan Mulugeta and Donal Dineen.
Negro Impacto
Sat 13, 1pm
EFÉ
Sat 13, 5.30pm
Sailhymn: Seeds for Songs with Brilliant Ballybunion
Sun 14, 11.30am – 12pm
Mohammad Syfkhan
Sun 14, 1pm
Ispíní na hÉireann
Sun 14, 5.30pm
IMMA has also announced that it has officially signed up to Culture Declares Emergency, becoming the first major cultural institution in Ireland to do so. This global movement calls on the cultural sector to respond to the climate and ecological crisis with urgency, imagination, and solidarity.
This year’s festival is inspired by Staying with the Trouble, IMMA’s current acclaimed group exhibition based on Donna Haraway’s influential text. The exhibition and the wider festival explore how we might live differently in a time of planetary breakdown, not by turning away from complexity, but by staying with it, together.
Programme Highlights
- TALKS: A compelling series exploring climate justice, sustainable fashion, civic imagination, and ecological care. Contributors include author Jon Alexander; climate justice advocate Seán McCabe (Bohemians FC); climate expert Fionnuala Moran; ecologist and surfer Easkey Britton; author Florence Williams; artist John Gerrard; and Professor John Barry (Queen’s University Belfast).
- MUSIC: Curated by Hen’s Teeth, the music programme showcases a wide range of Irish artists including Negro Impacto, Mohammed Syfkhan, Ispíní na hÉireann, EFÉ, Hewan Mulugeta, and Donal Dineen.
- WORKSHOPS: Take part in the joyful and subversive Skate + Forage tour through Dublin’s edible greenways; swap and mend your wardrobe at Change Clothes Dublin; and create wearable art with Shock of Grey’s jewellery workshops.
- FILM: Enjoy daily outdoor screenings on Living Canvas at IMMA, Europe’s largest digital outdoor art screen presented at IMMA by IPUT Real Estate. Screenings include the Irish premier of Black Butterflies; the cult visual masterpiece Koyaanisqatsi and the award-winning animated film Flow, presented in partnership with the Dublin International Film Festival.
- ART: Enjoy in-depth, themed tours of IMMA’s major exhibitions, including Staying with the Trouble, IMMA Collection: Art as Agency, and the much-loved Kith + Kin: The Quilts of Gee’s Bend.
For the first time in Ireland, The Court for Intergenerational Climate Crimes (CICC) will be presented in Ireland. Step inside a powerful art-activist tribunal putting the British East India Company on trial for environmental destruction. Created by Radha D’Souza and Jonas Staal, this striking installation in IMMA’s Great Hall runs daily, with a live artist talk on Saturday 13 September. - OPEN CALL PROJECTS: Four ambitious, community-rooted commissions will premiere at Earth Rising:
- What If We Were Brilliant? – Lisa Fingleton & Brilliant Ballybunion
- Dinnseanchas – Hometree & artists William Bock, Síomha Brock, Zoë Rush, Heather Griffin, Patrick Mulvihill, Peadar-Tom Mercier, Róisín de Buitléar, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Grace Wells, Jennifer Ahern, Aindrias de Staic, João Tudella, Myriam Riand and David Teevan
- Bearing Witness | Holding Space – Interface Inagh – Jane Cassidy, Laney Mannion, Marie Louise Heffernan, and Alannah Robins
- Skate + Forage – Samuel Arnold Keane, Elida Maiques & Pablo Marín García.
Annie Fletcher, IMMA Director, said.
“Earth Rising is a space where difficult realities and radical hope can coexist. In 2025, we’re not only deepening our commitment to these conversations through our festival programming but we’re also taking a clear stand by joining Culture Declares Emergency. IMMA is proud to be the first major Irish institution to do so. This reflects our belief that culture must be central to how we understand, navigate, and respond to the climate and ecological crisis.”
All events are free of charge, with some requiring advance booking. Full programme details and booking links are now available at imma.ie.
About Culture Declares
Culture Declares is a growing movement of individuals and organisations worldwide involved in arts and culture who are declaring a climate and ecological emergency. Its mission is to support and mobilise a global movement of declarers in the cultural sector to take action and inspire others. https://www.culturedeclares.org/
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
