ZOË’S DUBLIN DIARY: WHAT TO DO THIS WEEK: DECEMBER 16, 2015 →

Wednesday, 16 December – Solas Awards Exhibition, Free, 11:00 – 18:00, Gallery of Photography

In this exhibition, comprised of nine artists selected by an international jury, the Gallery of Photography in Meeting House Square will display the winners of this new award for contemporary photography, a collaboration between Source magazine and the gallery. Announced on 1 December, the winners include, among others, Emer Gillespie, Eamonn Doyle, Yvette Monahan and Ciarán Óg Arnold (whose book, I went to the worst of bars hoping to get killed, but all I could do was to get drunk again, won this year’s MACK First Book Award). Details here and here.

Thursday, 17 December – Little Gem Records Birthday, €10, 20:00, Grand Social

Little Gem are celebrating their first birthday with performances from Twinkranes, Patrick Kelleher and his Cold Dead Hands, Cal Folger Day, ¡NO and Fierce Mild, with more to be announced. The independent record label and shop have had a busy year, in between releases from White Sage, God Hates Disco, Night Trap and Fierce Mild, to name a few. The venture is a collaboration between Andy Walsh and the rest of the folks behind I Heart The Monster Hero and Record Store Gay, in the wake of the closure of the much-loved Elastic Witch label. DJs from Thin Air and Little Gem will be playing until late. Tickets here, Facebook event here.

Friday, 18 December – Discotekken Christmas Party: Home Alone & John Morales, €5/€10 or €8/€10/€15, 20:00/23:00, Sugar Club

It’s not the most original Christmas movie, but the appeal of this classic slapstick brat flick is indisputable. Pre-Party Monster, Macaulay Culkin gets free run of his family’s small suburban mansion over Christmas, when they manage to forget him and go without him on holiday to France. After the inevitable stretch of jumping on every bed, going through every drawer and eating every disgusting article of junk food within reach, he is catapulted into maturity when he must protect his home from two inept robbers using absurd obstacle-course-type traps. Disco legend John Morales will be following up with slick edits of 1970s classics. Facebook events here and here.

Saturday, 19 December – Popical Island All-Dayer 5, €10, 15:00, Whelan’s

The Popical Island crew are hosting their fifth incredibly good value Whelan’s all-dayer, and pretty much all family members and pals will be present, with Ginnels, No Monster Club, Lie Ins, The Number Ones, Owensie, Squarehead and a bunch more. It runs until 23:00, and your pass allows you to come and go as you fancy. Facebook event here.

Sunday, 20 December – Seamus Nolan: F**CK IMMA│What We Call Love, 19:00, IMMA, The Chapel

Seamus Nolan’s commission, invited by IMMA as part of its What We Call Love exhibition, is presented in three parts, in collaboration with Doom Opera, Stewart Home and Sean Fitzgerald. The work is a destabilising and provocative take on what love means in our society and how it is expressed through language and community spaces. As the first part of his work, Nolan documented the space occupied by a community of squatters in Dublin. In the second half, this Sunday evening, Nolan is inviting the public to an intimate performance in IMMA’s chapel from the Doom Opera collective, followed by a performance from Stewart Home on occultist theories of love. To participate in Sunday’s performance, email programme.exh@imma.ie with the subject line ‘Seamus Nolan audience’ by Thursday, 17:00. Facebook event here. More details here.

Monday, 22 December – The Red Shoes, €10, 20:30, Irish Film Institute

Moira Shearer stars in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s vivid 1948 production, based on the Hans Christian Andersen story in which the wearer of the red shoes is forced to dance eternally. Vicky Page is a young dancer launched into the spotlight as prima ballerina by the exacting Boris Lermontov, the company’s director, elegantly played by Anton Walbrook. As Page falls in love with Julian Crastor, the company’s conductor, the anguish of her erotic obsession is increasingly mirrored in the violent and surreal dance sequences. Details here.

Tuesday, 23 December – Sun Collective, €11.50/€14, 20:00, Smock Alley Theatre

The Sun Collective are an eclectic group of artists and musicians with an orchestrally inflected take on popular acoustic. They’ll be performing compositions from their forthcoming debut, Pandect, accompanied by Mick O’Brien on uilleann pipes and Aoife Ni Bhriain on fiddle, with spoken word from Adrian Crowley, winner of the award for Choice Music Album of the Year. Homebeat are hosting the eight-piece ensemble, in between gearing up for their grand finale to 2016, the Another Love Story New Year’s Eve party. Tickets here, Facebook event here.