KATHLEEN LONSDALE

An Exhibition By Maeve Clancy

Friday 24th March - Saturday 1st July

Children’s Gallery

Admission Free

Visual Arts

Artist Maeve Clancy presents the working life of Newbridge-born scientist Kathleen Lonsdale (1903-1971) through an immersive cut paper installation. The paper is combined with drawings, lighting and animation designed to take the visitor out of their world and into the extraordinary mind of Kathleen Lonsdale.

The installation will allow audiences to follow this pioneer’s discoveries and scientific process, while looking at Lonsdale’s education, working life and achievements in science. Kathleen Lonsdale was an eminent scientist who helped to develop the science of crystallography, with many important discoveries along the way. One of those discoveries, and probably what is considered her best known find, was conclusive proof that the Benzene ring had a flat planar structure.

In addition to the exhibition, Maeve Clancy has created a graphic novel charting the remarkable life and achievements of Kathleen Lonsdale. This is available free from Riverbank Arts Centre, or through Kildare County Council Library Service.

About the artist

Maeve Clancy is an artist who works in cut paper, drawing and story. She creates immersive exhibitions, writes and draws comic books and designs sets for theatre and TV.

Commissioned by Riverbank Arts Centre and Kildare County Council Library Service.

FINDING FORM: SELECTED WORKS FROM KILDARE’S MUNICIPAL ART COLLECTION

Friday 21st April - Saturday 27th May

McKenna Gallery

Admission Free

Visual Arts

Come along and explore artwork from Kildare County Council’s Municipal Art Collection (MAC) established in the 1970’s. The collection normally displayed in public buildings across the county, has been revisited, and a selection of work has been especially curated for this exhibition.

A municipal collection is a body that is in the process of becoming and so, is not easily defined. The works chosen from the collection echo this feeling of flux, of taking form, the momentary becoming monumental through time and context and medium. Included among the selection are artworks by Niamh O’Malley, Isabel Nolan, Gillian Lawler, Shane Hynan, Emma Stroude, John Minihan, Seán Cotter, Rebecca Peart, John Behan, James Nolan, Derek A Fitzsimons and Dominic Turner.

This exhibition has been curated by Paula Barrett, the newest member of our Kildare Arts Service team. “This has been a great opportunity to get to know the works in the Kildare MAC, to take time to reflect on the purchasing policy and what it means to care for and interpret a municipal collection.”

Official opening – Friday 21st April, 6.30pm

Panel Discussion chaired by Cristín Leach - Thursday, 11th May, 7pm

Finding Form Workshop - Thursday, 25th May, 7pm (for adults) ages 7-9

Workshop

Design Manga Characters

WITH AMY LOUISE O’ CALLAGHAN

Saturday 29 th April, 10am

Tickets €10

Seen in Pokémon, Studio Ghibli films and much more, Japanese manga and anime are well-known for their particular style, including big, expressive eyes, creative hairstyles and playful character design. In this introductory workshop, participants will be shown how to draw “anime” style, including heads and faces, different expressions and colouring tips. In the end, they will be able to draw themselves as an anime character.

Duration: 60 minutes, suitable for 7-9 years

Workshop

Manga Comic Book Workshop

WITH AMY LOUISE O' CALLAGHAN

Saturday 29 th April, 11:30am

Tickets €12 ages 10-12

Workshop

Comics and manga are a fun and creative way to tell a story, exercising your skills in both drawing and writing. In this workshop, participants will be introduced to the world of comics, including character design, idea generation and storytelling, as well as how to use panels, sound effects and other useful tips for telling your story, with the aim to create a simple 1-2-page comic.

Duration: 90 mins, suitable for 10-12 years.

Amy Louise O’Callaghan is an illustrator from Cork and currently based in Dublin. She is best known for her interpretations of Irish culture and mythology, heavily inspired by her love of anime, magic and fantasy. Her most recently finished project is a 22-card Major Arcana Tarot set, based around Irish myths and legends, as well the comic Feathers, a retelling of The Children of Lir.

Family Cinema

Belle

Saturday 29 th April, 2pm

Tickets €4

Suzu is a 17-year-old high school student living in a rural village with her father. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. One day, she enters “U,” a virtual world of 5 billion members on the internet. There, she is not Suzu anymore but Belle, a worldfamous singer. She soon meets with a mysterious creature. Together, they embark on a journey of adventures, challenges and love, in their quest of becoming who they truly are.

Youth Theatre

KILDARE YOUTH THEATRE PRESENTS

HAMLET BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Wednesday 3 rd – Friday 5 th May, 7pm

Tickets €10/€6

Featuring a cast of young people from Kildare schools who are studying the play. They are joined by young volunteers from abroad, making it a truly multicultural production.

Kildare Youth Theatre is a project of Crooked House Theatre Company. Each May they stage a play by Shakespeare, usually the text that is prescribed for current 5th years for their Leaving Certificate.

This production emphasises the zealous nature of Hamlet’s quest to be the ‘scourge and minister’ of the age. He is a fundamentalist, bent on setting the world ‘right’ and damning Claudius’ soul to Hell. In this sense, Hamlet really is mentally ill, and not in the way that he pretends to be.

Directed by Peter Hussey

Workshop

SEAN - NÓS WORKSHOP

WITH INNI - K

Saturday 6th May, 11am

Tickets €10

Join Eithne Ní Chatháin (Inni-K) for this interactive, fun 1.5 hour workshop in sean-nós and traditional singing, where Eithne will teach two songs - one in Irish and one in English in her characteristic informal, welcoming and informative manner.

No previous experience required. Lyrics will be provided. Fáilte roimh gach éinne/Everyone welcome.

Note: Ní gá Gaeilge líofa a bheith agat le páirt a ghlacadh, ach suim a bheith agat sa teanga agus in amhrán a fhoghlaim/Fluency in Irish is not necessary to participate, just an interest in the language and an interest in learning a song.

INNI - K

Saturday 6 th May, 8pm

Tickets €20/€18

Music

Inni-K ’s music draws on her extensive background in folk and traditional Irish music, even as she ventures into new musical territories. Her original songwriting (The Hare & the Line and The King has Two Horse’s Ears), combines ethereal vocals with deft musicianship, evocative lyrics and a unique approach to song-writing. Inni-K’s highly celebrated third studio album Iníon, released in 2022 is a contemporary sean-nós album.

Inni-K and her highly skilled band will be performing material from her latest album Iníon as well as her original song-writing from The Hare & the Line (2019) and The King has Two Horse’s Ears (2015) for this special show.

ages 1-3

Armageddon Time

Monday 8 th May, 8pm

Cinema

Tickets €7 (early bird) / €9 (on door)

New York City, 1980. Paul is a middle-class JewishAmerican boy who dreams of being an artist, much to the disapproval of his strict parents Esther and Irving. As a new school year starts, Paul befriends Johnny - the only Black student in his class. Their friendship solidifies as they repeatedly find themselves getting into trouble at school. However, both boys learn difficult lessons about inequality and privilege when social workers come searching for Johnny.

James Gray’s (The Lost City of Z ) new film is a semiautobiographical tale that looks back on the past with a mix of sadness, nostalgia and self-reflection. It’s perfectly cast, with superb performances from Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong and Anthony Hopkins, as well as from young Banks Repeta and Jaylin Webb.

Early Years

MUSIC & SENSORY PLAY

WITH CATHERINE HARTNETT

Wednesday 10th May, 10.30am

Wednesday 21st June, 10.30am

Tickets €10 (toddler & adult)

Music and sensory play session for toddlers aged 1 to 3 years and parents/guardians, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Toddlers will be given the opportunity to learn through music, movement and play, and explore different textures and sounds. This class led by music teacher Catherine Hartnett promotes adult-child interaction as well as interactions between children. Dance, sing, listen, learn and play with musical instruments, scarves, mirrors, parachutes and more!

Catherine Hartnett is a music teacher with experience of working with children of all ages.

Duration 60 minutes

COUNTRY & IRISH BY PATRICK MCCABE

Wednesday 10 th May, 8pm

Tickets €18/€16

Peter Gowen takes the lead in Patrick McCabe’s Beckettesque one-man show.

Meet Donie Burris, who overcomes his troubles (which include his treacherous girlfriend, his overbearing Mum and the Midford Mafia) by imagining himself as “The star of his own gangster movie”.

Country and Irish is essentially the story of a man at the end of his tether who sets out to tell a story like no other; none you’ve ever heard before.

Directed by Conor Hanratty, McCabe’s triumphant theatrical display has been picking up rave reviews and great enthusiastic audience response.

Music

MUSIC NETWORK PRESENTS LIZ KNOWLES, NIWEL TSUMBU & NIALL VALLELY

Friday 12 th May, 8pm

Tickets €18/€15

Three musicians, multiple traditions and an abundance of talent would be one way to describe the specially curated powerhouse ensemble of Knowles, Tsumbu and Vallely.

Genre-bending and label-defying would be another, and this trio will immerse listeners in the striking melodies, beautiful harmonies, and deep rhythmic grooves that result from their collaborative onstage joie de vivre. Bringing together stellar hardingfele and fiddle player Liz Knowles from Kentucky, masterfully elegant Congolese guitarist-vocalist Niwel Tsumbu, and Irish concertina master and prolific composer Niall Vallely, you can hear the cross-cultural counterpoint that results from their uniquely expressive musicmaking underpinned by the common ground of their shared artistic vision.

Strongwomen Science

Saturday 13 th May, 2pm

Tickets €10/€32 (family of 4)

StrongWomen Science is a circus science show for children and families starring two women scientists turned circus performers. Aoife Raleigh is an engineer, Maria Corcoran an environmental scientist.

Ever wanted to know how you balance a chair on your chin, if you can juggle liquid, or how circus performers eat fire? StrongWomen Aoife and Maria reveal the scientific secrets behind their astounding tricks. In a fun, lively and fast-paced family circus performance, find out how jugglers, acrobats and hula hoop artists use science to create their amazing acts.