FREE First Fridays programme launched at The Dock

The Dock is launching a FREE First Fridays programme with an after-hours event curated by Natalia Beylis on Friday, February 02.

The exhibition opening will feature AMACH – To The Field, readings by farmers Orla Barry, Gerry Bohan and Keith Brennan, a screening of the award-winning documentary Notes from Sheepland, followed by late-night jazz with Cathal Roche. Tickets are not required for the exhibition opening that will take place at 8pm.

Amach – To The Field tells the story of twenty-one townlands across Leitrim through culture, heritage, folklore, nature, history, farming, people and community.

The exhibition at The Dock includes a selection of participants' portraits by photographer Brian Farrell. Amach – To The Field is curated by Edwina Guckian in collaboration with artist Natalia Beylis and organic farmer John Matthews.

Notes from Sheepland (directed by Cara Holmes; duration 70 mins) bursts with candid observations of lipstick-wearing, always-swearing, no-nonsense artist and shepherd, Orla Barry. Through her fields, her digital diaries, and the pedigree sheep she cares for, we discover how the art is in the doing. She is a visual artist and shepherd. She lives and works on the south coast of rural Wexford, where she runs a successful pedigree Lleyn flock alongside her art practice.

Gerry Bohan is a poet and suckler farmer. He tends to his cattle on the same land his family have farmed for generations at Aughadrumcairn, County Leitrim. In a collaboration with visual artist Anna Macleod, and supported by the Arts Council, his work has culminated into a series of short stories which along with four other stories were published in his book called The Clainings Tree and Other Stories. 

One of those stories won Gerry the MJ Mc Manus Literary Award. Gerry was one of the coordinators of The Leitrim Hawthorn Project supported by the Heritage Council in 2023. Stories told by Gerry as part of Amach To The Field have aired on national radio shows.

Keith Brennan is a writer and smallholder farmer. He lives and works on Hawthorn Hill Farm in North Roscommon, where he raises a mix of sustainable rare breed sheep, pigs and bees.

Cara Holmes' award-winning documentary film Notes From Sheepland weaves a masterful portrait of lipstick-wearing, always-swearing, no-nonsense artist and shepherd Orla Barry. Book tickets for the readings and Notes from Sheepland can be found at https://thedock.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873655448.

Jazz House Fu will play Carrick's newest late-night cafe venue, Cake Me Away, from 10pm to midnight.

Blending the 1960s sound worlds of saxophonists John Coltrane and Josie McDermott, Jazz House Fu is a source for the curious ear, divining a half-remembered, half-imagined music of a Leitrim Jazz House interrupted.

The musicians in Cathal Roche's new trio have worked together in The Dirty Jazz Club for over two decades.

Cake Me Away is located next to the Post Office at N41 W992, a 1-minute walk from The Dock. Book your free ticket for Jazz House Fu and nibbles at https://thedock.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873656129.

First Fridays is a series of events curated by Natalia Beylis and special guests on the first Friday of every month and is part of the Arts Council's Late-Night Events pilot programme.