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Event to explore cultural space making in Dublin

An event to examine the continual loss of creative opportunities in Ireland will be held in Dublin next week.

Square Roots is a gathering to explore the process of cultural space making and placemaking.

It is presented by Give Us The Night and supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

The organisers believe that the steady loss of creative spaces and venues has a knock-on effect on creative opportunities.

They believe that the new built environment must champion creativity not only for the good of local practitioners, but for the international reputation of cities such as Dublin as hotbeds of cultural activity that promote artistic excellence.

Installing infrastructure that will develop and sustain career paths within Ireland is vital to stemming the brain drain within our creative community, they say.

Key figures

Square Roots will assemble a host of key figures in this arena, alongside stakeholders across the cultural, arts and construction sectors, on Wednesday, 27 November.

The event will run from 9.15 to 16:30 at The Complex, 21-25 Arran St East, Smithfield, Dublin 7, D07 YY97.

Panel 1: "Cultural spacemakers" (chaired by Andrea Horan) [Morning]

• Shain Shapiro – author and cultural policy thinker (Sound Diplomacy),
• Dimitri Hegemann – venue owner and cultural activist (Tresor Berlin), and
• Phil Dawson – placemaking consultant (This Must Be The Place).

Panel 2: Creative partnerships (chaired by Michael McDermott) [Afternoon]

Speakers:

• Eileen Coghlan, independent hospitality consultant,
• Bull Horris – DJ/promoter (Tender),
• Claire Gavan – marketing manager (Tara Buildings), and
• Agatha Stoinska – photographer and studio director (D-Light Studios).