Words at Wilton Park

New six-week programme at Living Canvas showcases the best of Arts and Literature

IPUT Real Estate, Ireland’s leading property company and supporter of the arts, today launched Words at Wilton Park on its Living Canvas digital screen sited on the banks of the Grand Canal, Dublin 2.

Words at Wilton Park celebrates the rich heritage of Dublin as a UNESCO City of Literature, showcasing the work of writers, artists, poets and filmmakers. It marks Wilton Park’s place at the heart of Dublin, famous for its writers and literary associations. Coinciding with the International Literature Festival, Dublin 2022, the programme is scheduled to run until June 30th.

Words can paint images in the mind, while a picture can be worth a thousand words. Here, they come brilliantly together. Living Canvas, Europe’s largest outdoor digital art screen, and only the second of its type in the world, presents a free public programme showcasing the work of writers, artists, poets and filmmakers.

Starting today, Words at Wilton Park includes:

• Eight stunning films commissioned by the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation and produced by Poetry Ireland. Matthew Thompson’s beautiful films feature Dagogo Hart, Nithy Kasa, Ciara Ní É, Dawn Watson, Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi, Padraig Regan, and Stephen Sexton bringing life to new and beloved poems. Combining language, performance, music, and moving image, the films build an immersive experience that invites viewers to reconnect with an ancient art form in a wholly contemporary way.
• Extracts from The Poetry Project. Created to mark Ireland’s EU Presidency in 2013, the project features artists including Nigel Rolfe, Grace Weir, Nick Miller and Katherine Beug responding to poems by poets including Brendan Kennelly, Derek Mahon, Paula Meehan and Eavan Boland. On its original run, the Poetry Project was viewed and enjoyed in more than 100 countries around the world.
• Alan Gilsenan’s haunting film, Ulysses | Film. Commissioned by the Museum of Literature Ireland, MoLI, the film marks the Centenary of Ulysses in 2022.
• Canal Water, a new short film by Anthony Woods inspired by a piece of prose, commissioned by IPUT Real Estate, from acclaimed writer Colm Tóibín.
• Luke McManus’s film Circular Line. Commissioned by Waterways Ireland, the film celebrates the life of the Canal that defines the Wilton Park area and its legacy of literary associations.
• Something in the Water commissioned by IPUT Real Estate Dublin is a series of films curated by Algorithm and Louisa Carroll for Living Canvas and explores the literary connections between writers and this unique part of Dublin.
• Weekend Mornings are Family Story Telling Time, where we’re delighted to show Irish animator, Lorraine Lordan’s award-winning enchanting short film, a Cat Called Jam.

According to Niall Gaffney, Chief Executive, IPUT Real Estate:

We are very proud to say that Living Canvas at Wilton Park is a European First. The screen perfectly focuses attention on this part of our city which is rich with cultural credentials. We hope to attract thousands of visitors over the coming summer months to enjoy what is a novel and compelling visual art experience.

Programmed with support from the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Museum of Literature Ireland, and the Arts Office of Dublin City Council, and realised by Algorithm, Living Canvas is part of IPUT Real Estate’s commitment to creating a layered city where space for the arts and culture is valued alongside places to work and to live.