Sirius Arts Centre

25/10/2025

TODAY - SIRIUS and Cobh YMCA Parents & Kids Together are facilitating a workshop that explores craft-making for children. Participants make various pieces using different techniques. The session stimulates creativity and self-expression.

This activity suits all ability levels and is aimed at ages 3+, but younger siblings are also welcome. Children must be accompanied by a guardian/carer and wear suitable clothes.

Saturday, 25 October
11-12:30pm
€3 per child (non-refundable); one ticket required per child attending
Booking via Eventbrite is required (link in bio).

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.

Image description: A poster with the words ‘Art Adventure Day’ in colourful text.


ymca

24/10/2025

Elinor O’Donovan is a new studio member at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios in Dublin. SIRIUS has been working with Elinor on various ideas and productions through mentorship provided by Director Miguel Amado. This process is leading to the presentation of a solo show, Elinor’s largest to date, in early 2026. We are delighted to see Elinor progress her career through this opportunity at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios.

📷: Barry McCarthy

Image description: A close-up of a person, the artist Elinor O’Donovan, standing next to a pane of glass with a design of a sun that reads ‘Radio Solstice’.

23/10/2025

John Spillane at SIRIUS

John Spillane is a musician based in County Cork. His music is rooted in people, place and story, and appeals to listeners across many genres and generations. His performances shimmer with the magic realism that permeates his songs, as he effortlessly flits between poetry tinged with melancholy to roguish, irreverent irony. He can charm, mesmerise and entertain in equal measure. At SIRIUS, John presents firm favourites from his vast repertoire, along with humorous anecdotes, creating an evening of unmissable entertainment.

Friday, 21 November
8pm (doors: 7.45pm)
€23.00 (non-refundable)
Booking via Eventbrite is recommended: https://buff.ly/r967DLS
Tickets may also be purchased at the SIRIUS reception prior to the performance, subject to availability.

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 also accessed via stairs. Public toilets are beside the Titanic Experience, by The Promenade.

Image description: A person, the musician John Spillane, is leaning against a bench in a park and holding a guitar case.

John Spillane
Megan Ní Dhrisceóil
Cork County Council
The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon

23/10/2025

Alice Rekab’s exhibition Clann Miotlantach / Mythlantics is opening at Highlanes Gallery on Saturday, 15 November, at 2pm, following its presentation at SIRIUS and Galway Arts Centre. The launch includes a performance by Alice, followed by a conversation between Alice and SIRIUS Director Miguel Amado.

Alice is an Irish Sierra Leonean artist based in Dublin. They explore expressions of both personal and broader historical and cultural narratives informed by their lived experience as a mixed-race person. They practice across sculpture, expanded painting, digital collage, film, and performance.

Clann Miotlantach / Mythlantics includes an expansive group of works that examine themes of identity, familial and artistic relationships, diaspora, and sense of place and belonging. The presentation at Highlanes Gallery features a renewed selection of works, some new or never exhibited in Ireland, in a fresh, site-responsive display.

Clann Miotlantach / Mythlantics is organised by SIRIUS in collaboration with Highlanes Gallery. It is curated by SIRIUS Director Miguel Amado and presented as part of a tour produced by Rayne Booth. The exhibition is realised in part with funding from the Arts Council through a Project Award and the tour is delivered with funding from the Arts Council through the Touring of Work Scheme.

📷: Tom Flanagan

Image description: A person, the artist Alice Rekab, is sitting on a gallery floor, below one of their works.

Highlanes Drogheda
Limerick City Gallery Of Art
Galway Arts Centre
Cork County Council
The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon

22/10/2025

22/10/2025

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, 1 November
6-9pm
€35 per person (non-refundable)
Limited capacity; booking via Eventbrite is required: https://buff.ly/A4QLWmn

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, but a temporary wheelchair ramp is available upon request. Our toilets are accessed via stairs.

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

22/10/2025

Exhibition –Barbara Knežević: Gvozdene Kapije (The Iron Gates)

Barbara Knežević is an artist based in Dublin with Australian, Polish and Serbian heritage. She has an enduring interest in the historical, semiotic and political functions of objects. This exhibition features a film and a series of related sculptures informed by the art, environment and history of Lepenski Vir, which place the artist’s family experience of displacement against the backdrop of larger narratives of the Balkans.

SIRIUS Director, Miguel Amado, comments: “The starting point of the film are the sculptures of Lepenski Vir, which were found along a stretch of the border between Serbia (then Yugoslavia) and Romania during the construction of the Iron Gates, a dam on the Danube River, in the 1960s. Aesthetically, the sculptures are unique; they are carved in sandstone and express a hybrid of human and a certain fish that is common in the region. The fish (Moruna) is one of the five characters in the film. The others are one of the sculptures (Water Fairy), the mountain (Treskavac), the river (Danube) and the dam (Đerdap), who each materialise through voiceover.”

The production of Gvozdene Kapije (The Iron Gates) was funded by the Arts Council through a Project Award. The work is commissioned by Belinda Quirke, from Solstice Arts Centre, with additional commissioning support provided by the National Sculpture Factory. Its presentation at SIRIUS is curated by Rayne Booth with Director Miguel Amado, as part of a tour produced by Booth with funding provided by the Arts Council through the Touring of Work Scheme. The tour also includes Regional Cultural Centre, Solstice Arts Centre and Wexford Arts Centre.

📷: John Beasley

Image description: 1. An installation view depicting a screen displaying sculptures on top of a table.




ie

18/10/2025

It is wonderful to welcome artist Renn Miano to SIRIUS for a residency. We are having great conversations about their research interests and current works in progress. We look forward to continuing our dialogue with Renn.

Image description: Two people, artist Renn Miano and SIRIUS Director Miguel Amado, standing in the street in Cobh with the St Colman's Cathedral in the background.

18/10/2025

Barbara Knežević’s exhibition Gvozdene Kapije (The Iron Gates), currently on view at SIRIUS, is reviewed by Aphra Hill for Paper Visual Art, referring to its recent presentation at Solstice Arts Centre.

Aphra writes: “In the 1950s, Knežević’s grandparents migrated from Yugoslavia to Australia as refugees in the wake of the Second World War, and in The Iron Gates, we find the artist attending to her diasporic identity for the first time in her work since she was a student.”

To read the full text, copy and paste the link below into a browser. Thanks to Aphra and Paper Visual Art for their interest in Barbara’s exhibition.

SIRIUS is supporting a nationwide tour of the exhibition, curated by Rayne Booth and funded by The Arts Council through the Touring of Work Scheme, which also includes Solstice Arts Centre, Wexford Arts Centre and Regional Cultural Centre.

https://buff.ly/l18bpi5

Image: A screenshot depicting the header of a review on Paper Visual Art.

17/10/2025

John Spillane at SIRIUS

John Spillane is a musician based in County Cork. His music is rooted in people, place and story, and appeals to listeners across many genres and generations. His performances shimmer with the magic realism that permeates his songs, as he effortlessly flits between poetry tinged with melancholy to roguish, irreverent irony. He can charm, mesmerise and entertain in equal measure. At SIRIUS, John presents firm favourites from his vast repertoire, along with humorous anecdotes, creating an evening of unmissable entertainment.

Friday, 21 November
8pm (doors: 7.45pm)
€23.00 (non-refundable)
Booking via Eventbrite is recommended: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/john-spillane-tickets-1597628793729

Tickets may also be purchased at the SIRIUS reception prior to the performance, subject to availability.

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 also accessed via stairs. Public toilets are beside the Titanic Experience, by The Promenade.

Image description: A person, the musician John Spillane, is leaning against a bench in a park and holding a guitar case.

John Spillane
Megan Ní Dhrisceóil
Cork County Council
The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon

17/10/2025

SIRIUS is collaborating with artist Florin Nolan, who is based in Cobh and affiliated with Suisha Inclusive Arts at Horizons. SIRIUS Director Miguel Amado has been leading an informal artistic and professional advancement scheme with Florin. This initiative includes mentorship from artist Róisín O'Sullivan, residencies at SIRIUS, field trips, discussions and more. In early 2026, SIRIUS is going to present an exhibition by Florin, as a culmination of this effort. We are thrilled to support Florin and champion a Cobh-based artist.

Image description: Three people, SIRIUS Director Miguel Amado, the artist Florin Nolan and Suisha Inclusive Arts staff member Fiona Fitzgerald, are seated around a table and looking at paintings.



arts

17/10/2025

The interview between artist Barbara Knežević and SIRIUS Director Miguel Amado, regarding the exhibition Gvozdene Kapije (The Iron Gates), which featured in the July/August issue of the Visual Artists’ News Sheet, is now available online.

Barbara’s exhibition is currently on view at SIRIUS. SIRIUS is supporting a nationwide tour of the exhibition, curated by Rayne Booth and funded by The Arts Council through the Touring of Work Scheme.

To read the article, copy and paste the link below onto a browser.

https://buff.ly/QCYBWmU

Image description: A screenshot of an article on the Visual Artists Ireland website accompanied by an installation view depicting a woman holding a chain.