Loom Studios
36-40 Dominic Street Upper, Broadstone, Dublin 7
7pm, August 22nd
Following our very successful talk on Counter-Cartographies of the City, our next public event will continue to focus on the potentials and possibilities of urban transformation in Dublin, this time focusing on independent or DIY Spaces (art spaces, social centres, community gardens etc.)
Dublin’s independent spaces: where to from here?
Patrick Bresnihan and Mick Byrne
Over the last eight years or so a number of new, independent spaces have appeared across Dublin – Seomra Spraoi, Block T, Loom Studios, Market Studios, Supafast, Dubzland, Mabos and many more. These generally consist of groups of people opening up buildings in order to do what they want. This might be as simple as wanting a space to work, or a place to hold gigs and meetings or a place to show films and eat food together. Usually these spaces cater for many different activities, activities which are otherwise difficult to engage in due to the high cost of rent in the city. In other words, these spaces are practical responses to the limitations generated by the ‘development’ of the city over the last number of years.
Despite contributing a lot in terms of social, cultural and educational activity, these spaces have not found it easy to stay open. Part of this is the burden of paying rent, but in many cases the main obstacles they face are regulatory: fire safety, health and safety, licensing, environmental guidelines. We have seen a number of spaces close down in the last year due to their inability to pay for the necessary improvements required to meet these standards – most recently, The Chocolate Factory’s Urban Farm. While Dublin City Council claims to support social and cultural activity in the city, the lack of institutional support for these independent projects appears to contradict such claims.
In this talk, Patrick Bresnihan and Mick Byrne of the Provisional University will describe the emergence these independent spaces against the backdrop of Dublin’s ‘development’, the potential significance of such projects for the city as a whole and the obstacles and limits they continue to face. After the talk there will be a discussion in which it is hoped we can collectively raise some questions and generate some concrete proposals in terms of overcoming what we consider to be common problems.
This event is fully open to the public. Feel free to BYOB.
For more info email wearetheuniversity@gmail.com
provisional university 
Great to see talk on how independent share knowledge with each other