Sirius Arts Centre

29/08/2025

SIRIUS Director Miguel Amado is engaging in dialogue with artist Artem Trofimenko as part of the Studios of Sanctuary scheme, organised by Sample-Studios, with additional support from SIRIUS. Miguel is providing advice on artistic and professional development to Artem, and together they have been reflecting on and planning a collaboration that includes residencies at SIRIUS over various periods this year and in 2026. We are happy to have the opportunity to assist Artem in his artistic endeavours.

Image description: Two persons, SIRIUS Director Miguel Amado and artist Artem Trofimenko, are sitting at a table having coffee.

29/08/2025

Culture Night Late at SIRIUS

SIRIUS presents a festival-style evening of visual art, film, poetry, dance, performance art and sound. It features new and existing/reconfigured works by artists Tobi Balogun, Shirani Bolle, Florin Nolan, Maïa Nunes, Fionnuala O’Connell and SPACES.

The presentation explores themes and experiences of belonging, trauma, healing and celebration. It is informed by the architecture, nature and history of the SIRIUS location in Cobh, County Cork, and uses water and language as elements that resonate materially and symbolically with people and land.

SIRIUS
Friday, 19 September
9pm-1am
Free; no booking required, unless otherwise stated

Culture Night Late at SIRIUS is produced by SIRIUS and curated by Miguel Amado, Director.

Culture Night Late at SIRIUS is funded by the Arts Council through the Culture Night Late scheme. Florin Nolan’s production is additionally supported by Cork County Council through a Bursary. SPACES’s production is additionally supported by Sample-Studios as part of Studios of Sanctuary, a scheme funded by Rethink Ireland Resilient Cork Fund and the Community Foundation of Ireland.

Accessibility Note
Our building has accessibility limitations. There are three steps to the front door and a temporary wheelchair ramp is available upon request. Our toilets are accessed via stairs. Public toilets are beside the Titanic Experience, by The Promenade.

Image description: A white poster depicting the SIRIUS logo of an ‘S’ and the words ‘Culture Night Late at SIRIUS’ along with the names of various artists.
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28/08/2025

28/08/2025

Event: Curator’s Tour – Samir Mahmood: Symplegmatic Portals

SIRIUS Director Miguel Amado and artist Samir Mahmood deliver a tour of the exhibition Symplegmatic Portals. They reflect on the topics and aesthetics of Mahmood’s practice and the expansive themes of the works on view.

SIRIUS
Saturday, 13 September
2-3pm
Free; no booking required

Samir Mahmood is a Pakistani artist based in Dublin. His practice encompasses painting, textiles, objects and video, with a particular focus on themes of identity, representation, bodily awareness and spiritual transformation. Symplegmatic Portals features an eclectic mix of works and is his largest presentation to date.

Symplegmatic Portals is produced by SIRIUS and curated by Miguel Amado, Director.

Accessibility Note
Our building has accessibility limitations. There are three steps to the front door, but a temporary wheelchair ramp is available upon request. Our toilets are accessed via stairs and are not open to visitors. Public toilets are beside the Titanic Experience, by The Promenade.

Image description: Two persons, artist Samir Mahmood and SIRIUS Director Miguel Amado, are standing in front of a painting.









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28/08/2025

Exhibition – Samir Mahmood: Symplegmatic Portals

FEATURED WORK

Temptation, 2025

Pointed arches unfold in a concertina pattern. The structure is ornamented on one side – suggesting secrecy or intimacy – with imagery of the artist’s body and a swath of fabric. The design echoes religious paraphernalia. Images of the artist’s leg are arranged in a kaleidoscopic mandala shape. The feet are wearing ankle bells, known as ghungroo, a percussive instrument in classical Indian dance. The artist further highlights the act of performing and of being watched via the object at the base of the structure. Given the ankle bell’s association with femininity and fertility, the object is potent with myriad psychological and physiological states.

Samir Mahmood is a Pakistani artist based in Dublin. His practice encompasses painting, textiles, objects and video, with a particular focus on themes of identity, representation, bodily awareness and spiritual transformation. The exhibition Symplegmatic Portals features a substantial group of newly created works alongside an extensive selection of works made between 2017 and 2024.

Symplegmatic Portals is produced by SIRIUS and curated by Miguel Amado, Director.

📸: John Beasley

Image description: An installation view depicting pointed arches unfolding in a concertina pattern accompanied by objects and fabric.




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27/08/2025

An Ciúnas / The Silence by Marianne Keating is currently on view at Wexford Arts Centre. This multichannel film installation was originally presented at The Showroom, London, in 2023 and is now touring Ireland in a project initiated and organised by SIRIUS with funding provided by the Arts Council through the Touring of Work Scheme. Past presentations include The Model, Sligo, and Rua Red, Dublin.

An Ciúnas / The Silence traces multiple trajectories of migration from Ireland to both Jamaica and Britain from the period preceding the Great Famine of 1845–52 to the present day. It identifies catalytic moments in the history of the British Empire through the lenses of Ireland and Jamaica to illuminate how events from the past inform current politics and society. The work establishes a radical account of Ireland’s and Jamaica’s fights for self-determination, the social conditions of Ireland in the nineteenth century and today, the evolution of the Jamaican political system, and the power structures at play in both countries before and after independence.

SIRIUS Director, Miguel Amado, and SIRIUS Programme Producer, Sarah Long, comment: “Keating uses text throughout the work’s chapters to prompt critical thought. One provocation repeats throughout: Keating’s textual interludes also ask viewers to consider how certain countries’ borders become permeable depending on more influential countries’ economic needs. Sequences following Irish independence depicting mass emigration to England by Irish workers highlight this imbalance. Borders, Keating asserts, exist to serve the dominant power structure.”

📸: Marianne Keating, An Ciúnas / The Silence, 2023. Installation view, Rua Red, Dublin, 2024. Photograph: Ros Kavanagh

Image description: An installation view depicting three screens displaying archival imagery and text.

27/08/2025

Exhibition – Samir Mahmood: Symplegmatic Portals

Samir Mahmood is a Pakistani artist based in Dublin. His work draws from and challenges the imagery and techniques of traditional miniature painting from the Indian subcontinent, which are historically associated with power and heteronormativity. The exhibition Symplegmatic Portals features what the artist calls ‘q***rscapes’ – transcendental spaces of liberation where bodies, on their own or in dialogue with nature, are interacting, mutating, coalescing. It is the largest presentation of the artist’s work to date.

SIRIUS Programme Producer, Sarah Long, comments: “This exhibition brings together large-scale scrolls that engage with the garden as a motif of paradise across religions. These works are transcendental spaces of liberation where bodies, on their own or in dialogue with nature, are interacting, mutating, coalescing. They point to the artist’s embrace of hybridity, especially gender indeterminacy and fluidity, as well as his own blended cultural experiences.”

This exhibition is produced by SIRIUS and curated by Miguel Amado, Director.

📸: John Beasley

Image description: An installation view depicting two paintings in the form of scrolls suspended in a gallery.




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23/08/2025

Sarah Hickey, SAL and Rebecca Ruane at SIRIUS

Sarah Hickey is a Cork-based musician. She is renowned for her ethereal yet earthy sound that blends folk with pop influences. Over the past year, she has been crafting new songs in the recording studio and released her debut album, Fastener, at the end of 2024.

SAL is a Cork-based musician, originally from Kildare. In recent years, she has collaborated with various artists in Cork and has created music that is rooted in folk while also exploring other genres, including pop. She is currently recording her second album.

Rebecca Ruane is a Cork-based musician, originally from Galway. She is recognised for her diverse style, which encompasses jazz, blues and folk.

At SIRIUS, Sarah, SAL and Rebecca are joined by Kealan Kenny, a Cork-based musician and producer who has worked with all of them. Each musician is performing individually, as well as collectively, in a unique singer-songwriter circle.

Saturday, 30 August
8pm (doors: 7.45pm)
Tickets: €15.00 (non-refundable)
Advance booking via Eventbrite is recommended (link in bio).
For assistance, ask a member of staff at the SIRIUS reception. Tickets may also be purchased at the SIRIUS reception before the performance, depending on capacity.

Accessibility Note
Our building has accessibility limitations. There are three steps to the front door, but a temporary wheelchair ramp is available upon request. Our toilets are accessed via stairs and are not open to visitors. Public toilets are beside the Titanic Experience, by The Promenade.

Image description: A black and white image of people, the artists SAL, Sarah Hickey and Rebecca Ruane, seated on a stage performing together with a guitarist.

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23/08/2025

Marianne Keating’s exhibition An Ciúnas / The Silence is on view at Wexford Arts Centre. This multichannel film installation was originally presented at The Showroom, London, in 2023 and has been touring Ireland in a project initiated and organised by SIRIUS with funding provided by the Arts Council through the Touring of Work Scheme. Past presentations include Limerick City Gallery of Art, Rua Red in Dublin and The Model in Sligo.

An Ciúnas / The Silence traces multiple trajectories of migration from Ireland to both Jamaica and Britain from the period preceding the Great Famine of 1845–52 to the present day. It identifies catalytic moments in the history of the British Empire through the lenses of Ireland and Jamaica to illuminate how events from the past inform current politics and society. The work establishes a radical account of Ireland’s and Jamaica’s fights for self-determination, the social conditions of Ireland in the nineteenth century and today, the evolution of the Jamaican political system, and the power structures at play in both countries before and after independence.

SIRIUS Director, Miguel Amado, and SIRIUS Programme Producer, Sarah Long, comment: “Keating’s textual interludes also ask viewers to consider how certain countries’ borders become permeable depending on more influential countries’ economic needs. Sequences following Irish independence depicting mass emigration to England by Irish workers highlight this imbalance. Borders, Keating asserts, exist to serve the dominant power structure.”

📸: Marianne Keating, An Ciúnas / The Silence, 2023. Installation view, Rua Red, Dublin, 2024. Photograph: Ros Kavanagh

Image description: An installation view depicting three screens with the words ‘How free is independence?’.

22/08/2025

Culture Night Late at SIRIUS

SIRIUS presents a festival-style evening of visual art, film, poetry, dance, performance art and sound. It features new and existing/reconfigured works by artists Tobi Balogun, Shirani Bolle, Florin Nolan, Maïa Nunes, Fionnuala O’Connell and SPACES.

The presentation explores themes and experiences of belonging, trauma, healing and celebration. It is informed by the architecture, nature and history of the SIRIUS location in Cobh, County Cork, and uses water and language as elements that resonate materially and symbolically with people and land.

SIRIUS
Friday, 19 September
9pm-1am
Free; no booking required, unless otherwise stated

Culture Night Late at SIRIUS is produced by SIRIUS and curated by Miguel Amado, Director.

Culture Night Late at SIRIUS is funded by the Arts Council through the Culture Night Late scheme. Florin Nolan’s production is additionally supported by Cork County Council through a Bursary. SPACES’s production is additionally supported by Sample-Studios as part of Studios of Sanctuary, a scheme funded by Rethink Ireland Resilient Cork Fund and the Community Foundation of Ireland.

Accessibility Note
Our building has accessibility limitations. There are three steps to the front door and a temporary wheelchair ramp is available upon request. Our toilets are accessed via stairs. Public toilets are beside the Titanic Experience, by The Promenade.

Image description: A white poster depicting the SIRIUS logo of an ‘S’ and the words ‘Culture Night Late at SiRIus’.
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21/08/2025

Paint and Sip with Glorious Arts & Crafts at SIRIUS

SIRIUS, in collaboration with Gloria O’Doherty from Glorious Arts & Crafts, presents a special event for adults that explores observational painting inspired by the landscapes and architecture surrounding the SIRIUS building. Participants enjoy complimentary refreshments while engaging in creativity and reflection. Under Gloria’s guidance, attendees learn and apply various painting techniques to capture their impressions of the surroundings, including Cork Harbour and the built environment of Cobh.

Gloria is an artist who has taught the people of Cobh and beyond for over 15 years. She supports participants of all abilities and backgrounds in expressing themselves through artistic ideas and means.

Saturday, 23 August
6-8pm
Tickets: €35 per person (non-refundable)
Limited capacity; booking via Eventbrite is required (link in bio)

This is a non-alcoholic activity; all refreshments are provided. Materials are also provided. Wearing old clothing is recommended.

Accessibility Note
Our building has accessibility limitations. There are three steps to the front door and a temporary wheelchair ramp is available upon request. Our toilets are accessed via stairs. Public toilets are beside the Titanic Experience, by The Promenade.

Image description: A poster with the words ‘Paint and Sip’ in colourful text.

21/08/2025

Exhibition – Samir Mahmood: Symplegmatic Portals

FEATURED WORK

Metamorphia, 2017

These abstracted close-ups of male body parts are in unusual and dynamic entanglements. The artist’s training as a medical doctor informs his understanding of the body as a site of change and evolution. For example, moments of embrace are studied and magnified. Simultaneously, fluid shapes emerge and recede. The limbs are set against a brown wash or white background at different heights and positions, underscoring the idea of bodily processes. The shapes and forms of arms, legs and appendages are created through synthesised images. The term ‘symplegma’, present in the exhibition’s title, refers to a specific type of knotting or intertwining, as well as the composite imagery found in traditional miniature painting from the Indian subcontinent. Here, the artist positions the body as a portal to notions of transformation.

Samir Mahmood is a Pakistani artist based in Dublin. His practice encompasses painting, textiles, objects and video, with a particular focus on themes of identity, representation, bodily awareness and spiritual transformation. The exhibition Symplegmatic Portals features a substantial group of newly created works alongside an extensive selection of works made between 2017 and 2024.

Symplegmatic Portals is produced by SIRIUS and curated by Miguel Amado, Director.

📸: John Beasley

Image description: An installation view depicting eight paintings.




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