monday 17th april Monster Mash Workshop with illustrator Sarah Whelan 11:00am | €10 Come along and get involved with this spectacularly scary workshop. This is the perfect workshop to let your creativity go wild! Illustrator Sarah Whelan will host this workshop and will be encouraging everyone to get creative and create their own marvelous monster or curious creature. This is a great chance to make some crazy collages of all types of monsters. This workshop is suitable for ages 6+, duration 90 mins.
Title: A Monster Calls 1pm | €4 A visually spectacular drama based on the hugely popular book by Patrick Ness follows 12-year-old Conor dealing with his mother’s illness, a less-thansympathetic grandmother and bullying classmates. Conor finds a most unlikely ally when a Monster appears at his bedroom window. Ancient, wild, and relentless, the Monster guides Conor on a journey of courage, faith, and truth.
visual arts Without the words: An exhibition of works by members of Illustrators Ireland sat 4th march - sat 22nd april | mckenna gallery and children’s gallery Without the Words is an exhibition inspired by a line from Emily Dickinson’s well loved poem Hope is the Thing with Feathers as well as Laureate na nÓg PJ Lynch’s “The Big Picture”. While Dickinson reminds her readers to always have hope, Lynch promotes visual storytelling and the power of imagination. Imagination and hope make a powerful combination. In most circumstances an illustrator will respond to a brief which is communicated either through written or spoken word. As supporters of visual literacy Illustrators Ireland propose to tell our visual stories, putting the pictures first- without the words. Here we tell our stories; visually stimulating the imagination to respond by creating an individual narrative, not a prescribed story. With over 50 members’ work on exhibition, we invite you to find your own narratives within the original works, create your own stories from the pieces. It is your turn to respond to our brief; we invite everyone to sing the tune without the words.
Drop in for a free guided tour of Without the Words Illustrators Ireland exhibition and for some fun illustration activities for all ages.
Animagination Festival A weekend inspired by Illustration, Animation, and Books! Animagination is back! Now in its third year, we’ve got an even more action packed schedule for you to enjoy from screenings to workshops, there is something for all the family.
Animagination friday 14th april Crazy Character Creator with Fintan Taite 10am – 11.30am | €10 This illustrating workshop is led by Fintan Taite and is suitable for ages 7-10 years. Participants will create unique characters and scenes with Fintan, where he will guide you through the process and help you to draw out your ideas. 90 mins
Triple Bill: The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo’s Child & Room On The Broom 11.30am | €4
The Gruffalo The Gruffalo tells the magical tale of a mouse who takes a walk through the woods in search of a nut. Encountering three predators who all wish to eat him the plucky mouse has to use his wits to survive. He announces that he is meeting a monster with terrible features, a ‘Gruffalo’, and the three predators are each panicked into running away. But then we meet the Gruffalo … The Gruffalo’s Child The Gruffalo lives with his daughter in a cave surrounded by woods. The Grufallo’s child yearns to explore beyond their familiar clearing, but her father warns her not to go into the deep, dark woods because if she does, the Big Bad Mouse will be after her. But one wild and windy night the Gruffalo’s child ignores her father’s warnings and bravely tiptoes out into the snow in search of the fabled Mouse… Room On The Broom Room on the Broom is about a kind witch who invites some unexpected animals to join her on her broom, much to the frustration of her cat. The cat learns the importance of friends & family, and the witch rewards her new friends with a magnificent broom for everyone!
Create your own mini comic book with Fintan Taite 12:30pm | €10 In this fun workshop learn how to write, draw and make your own comics with award-winning cartoonist and illustrator Fintan Taite. Beginning with story and character design, Fintan takes you through all the fun steps involved in producing your very own mini comic! 90 mins, Ages 10+
The BFG 2pm | €4 Steven Spielberg directs this adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel starring Mark Rylance as the Big Friendly Giant. The film follows Sophie (Ruby Barnhill) as she is whisked away from her orphanage by the BFG and taken to Giant Country where she is immediately at risk of being eaten by the other, larger giants, including Fleshlumpeater (Jemaine Clement) and Bloodbottler (Bill Hader). Together, Sophie and the BFG go on an adventure to Dream Country where they capture dreams for the BFG to give to all of the human world’s sleeping children. After coming up with a cunning plan, the pair head back to London to see if the Queen (Penelope Wilton) can help them tackle the problem of the bullying, child-eating giants.
Animagination saturday 15th april Toddler Workshop with Beth O Halloran 10:30am | €7 (Parent & Child) These workshops are designed for young children working together with their grown-up. Visual artist Beth O’Halloran will guide these fun and creative sessions. Together you will explore colour, shapes and storytelling in a fun, relaxed atmosphere. Come and join in a morning of fun with your little one. The theme for April is shower and puddle paintings! Using April weather as our inspiration we will use very simple printing and painting techniques to explore some splashy fun. This workshop will suit the under 3’s.
SHORTS FOR WEE ONES 11:30am | €4 These magical tales will delight children age 3+ and are a colourful introduction to the cinema experience as well as moving image literacy. These little gems are from around the world, including Germany, France, Switzerland, Hungary and the USA. All these short films are in English or are dialogue free, except one where French is spoken but the storytelling is superbly visual. All the films will be accessible for everyone.
Book Cover Illustration Workshop with Olywyn Walsh 12:30pm | €10 Design and illustrate a cover for your favourite story or book Workshop with Illustrator Olwyn Whelan. Olwyn will show some examples of her work and explain the process involved in illustrating her picture books. The children will then design and illustrate their own design from a favourite story or book. Suitable for ages 6+, duration 90mins.
Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them 2pm | €4 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an all-new adventure returning us to the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling. The movie opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident…were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.