This month on Arts Insight Ciara chats to Ambient  Neoclassical Pianist / Composer Úna Keane. One year on from her release  of sophomore Instrumental album 'In the Deep', Una put out a live album called 'Collaborations' (**** The Irish  Times, 8.5/10 HotPress, Broadsheet.ie Irish Album of the Year). Recorded  at The Pepper Canister Church in Dublin on March 5th 2020, the  experimental pianist was joined on the night by Liam Ó'Maonlaí, Stephen  Shannon, Lōwli,  Gareth Quinn Redmond and Ronán Conroy, and a number of pieces were the  result of in-the-flow improv. The concert was recorded, mixed and  mastered by Adam KJ and Adam & Úna co-produced.

Una tells Ciara about how she began her career in music, how Covid has impacted her work, and talks us through her unique creative  processes. There are some interruptions and background noises during this episode as Una lives with her 3 year old daughter, 2 cats and 1 dog, and they all make an appearance here. Stick with it though, Una is a really interesting and engaging speaker and gives us a great insight into the kind of drive and work ethic it takes to become an artist of her caliber.

We're back! In Episode 8 Ciara talked to Lyndsey Lawlor, a musician from Tallaght in Dublin. Lyndsey is a musician & artist who released her debut E.P. "Eat The Money" to great acclaim in April 2019. Lyndsey tells us about how lockdown had affected her work and creativity, and about some amazing projecta that she's been working on.

Next up is Martin Moran, who started The South Dublin Rock School with Elton Mullally in 2004. The Rock School eventually morphed into Sub Sounds, which has grown into a hugely successful music education programme in South Dublin. Martin is a musician and also the director of Alternative Entertainments, and arts ogranisation based in Rua Red Arts Centre that has deep roots in Tallaght.

Franko B is an Italian performance artist based in London, where  he has lived since 1979. He studied fine art at Camberwell College of  Arts, Chelsea College of Art and the Byam Shaw School of Art. He is part of the a/political collective, who created a series of exhibitions for Rua Red over a two year partnership. In this episode recorded in the summer of 2019, Franko discusses his life and work with Rua Red's creative director Maoliosa Boyle and curator Sylwie Serafinowicz.

We're very excited to welcome Joe Caslin and MayKay Geraghty to the podcast. Joe is a street artist, activist and teacher who is best known for his beautifully rendered drawings which engage directly with the  social issues of modern Ireland.

MayKay is is an Irish musician, DJ and presenter known as the frontwoman of Fight Like Apes and Le Galaxie, and also as presenter of the legendary Irish Music programme Other Voices.

Recently they have been collaborating on a project called "Reset" with Rua Red and Contact Studio. They began earlier in the year with a project called "Resilient/Resilience" which was part of Creative Ireland's Cruinniú na nÓg programme. This exhibition can currently be seen in Gallery 1 in Rua Red. "Reset" is the final phase of the work, a companion piece that will be installed outside Rua Red and launched with a documentary short as part of Culture Night 2020. MayKay is also releasing her first solo single as part of this, it will premier on Friday 18th September in the film. At the time of this conversation, however, the plan was very different. Then 2020 intervened, and new restrictions meant that they had to adapt. Keep an eye out for updates from:

Reset Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resetbyjoecaslin

Rua Red's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rua_red

Joe Caslin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joecaslin

MayKay Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maykapes

https://www.instagram.com/contactstudiotallaght

Ciara talked to Ciaran Taylor, artistic director  of Carpet Theatre about his Sightless Cinema project. He studied directing at the University of Kent at  Canterbury, and performance /devising at Ecole Jacques Lecoq, Paris. In 2014 he set up Sightless Cinema facilitate the creation of audio, theatre or radio drama devised by blind and visually impaired people. Sightless Cinema is usually presented with surround sound in cinemas, but with no pictures. In 2020, during the lock-down the group continued to work using Zoom, and created the comedy series 'The Covid Tapes - Cocooners' Comedy in 5 parts. This conversation took place at the end of July, the series is now available on their YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCamTIdUEPzfeobPlzbq3INA/featured

Tegan Forde is a writer and Irish language blogger hailing from Co. Wicklow. She  writes in both English and Irish, and has been writing since childhood.  Tegan developed a love for Irish language literature during her time spent at Irish language primary and secondary schools, and runs an Irish language blog . Her inspirations include music, nature, Irish folklore and Irish history.

In this episode Ciara talks to Lora Hartin, a young actor studying theatre in Trinity College Dublin; and Michael Barker-Caven, artistic director of The Civic.

Ciara talks to Mother Tongues founder Francesca La Morgia and Carla Fazio, Director / Coordinator of Cruinniú na nÓg.

Interviews with dancers and choreographers Cathy Coughlan, Matt Szczerek and Jack Bain

Ciara talks to Cathy Coughlan, a multidisciplinary artist working across visual arts, film and dance/theatre who she first met as dancer in residence in Rua Red Arts Centre.

In part 2 Ciara and Cathy are joined by Matt Szczerek and Jack Bain to discuss among other things Dance 2 Connect, a 3 day international Urban Dance Festival encompassing dance theatre, masterclasses, dance battles and social dance. 

Ciara talks to Stephen Jones, an actor and playwright from Tallaght, about his life and work as he prepares to star alongside Rex Ryan in a new production of "Howie The Rookie" by Mark O'Rowe.

In part 2, Ciara sits down with Maoliosa Boyle, director of Rua Red Arts Centre, to discuss their two year collaboration with A/Political.