Image: National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
The National Gallery of Ireland will host a week-long programme examining citizenship, identity, migration, language and representation from 14 to 20 September 2026. ‘Art, Migration and the Politics of Belonging’ is being organised by the Gallery’s Education Department in partnership with Maynooth University and HIDDEN, the History of Identity Documentation in European Nations project, and will include an artist-led installation, an archive display, a film screening, musical performances and a youth workshop.
The programme’s flagship event is a public symposium on 18 September, running from 9.15am to 5.30pm in the Gallery’s Lecture Theatre, Shaw Room and other spaces. It will convene artists, writers, academics, activists, journalists and cultural practitioners from Ireland and abroad to discuss how art can address migration, citizenship, identity and belonging, alongside questions of human rights, representation and social justice.
Irish artist Brian Maguire will deliver the opening keynote. The Gallery describes Maguire’s socially engaged practice as having explored conflict, displacement, human dignity and justice for more than four decades. The symposium will conclude with a keynote conversation between journalist and author Sally Hayden and foreign correspondent and author Lara Marlowe. Dr Ebun Joseph, an academic, anti-racism educator and advocate for equality and inclusion, will serve as special rapporteur.
Other named contributors include writers Suad Aldarra and Evgeny Shtorn; art psychotherapist Andrea Plunkett; artist and community development worker Mary Thebe; visual artist and journalist Ala Buisir; Peace Chukwurah of Black and Irish; visual artist and curator Ben Malcolmson; and director and photographer Tolu Ogunware. The programme will also include panel discussions and interdisciplinary conversations with further national and international speakers.
A central visual component is ‘Arbitrary Nations’, a site-specific installation led by contemporary artist Asbestos. The work will be accompanied by a free youth workshop exploring identity, borders and belonging. The programme also includes a screening of Frank Berry’s 2022 drama ‘Aisha’, which examines migration, asylum and belonging, as well as performances by the world music collective Citadel.
On 19 September, from noon to 4pm, the Gallery’s Reading Rooms will present a free, drop-in library and archive display. Curated by Head of Library and Archives Andrea Lydon and Archivist Leah Benson, it will draw on rare books, archival documents, artists’ papers, exhibition histories and ephemera to explore migration, identity, citizenship and cultural exchange across time. The display positions the Gallery’s research holdings as a resource connecting art history with broader social, political and cultural narratives.
Symposium admission is €20, with discounts available to students, artists, unemployed attendees and Friends of the Gallery. The event will provide Irish Sign Language interpretation and live closed captioning; the Lecture Theatre is accessible by lift from the Merrion Square entrance. The week’s programme concludes on 20 September, while the symposium’s evening programme connects with the Gallery’s wider Culture Night celebrations.
