Temple Bar Gallery + Studios announces the Curator’s Programme for Dublin Art Book Fair 2025

Dublin Art Book Fair (DABF): Flock, 04–14 December 2025, examines all things pastoral: humans and beasts as herding creatures; the relational art of shepherding; the impact of flocks on habitats; and how wary scapegoats too may flock to survive predation. For DABF, Guinness will produce a vibrant themed programme of events and nominated titles which she has chosen with her invited readers.

On Sunday 21 September 2025, Guinness will host a preview event at Newtown Farm, Glencullen, where farmer Philip Maguire will lead a shepherd’s walk and introduce his flock. Maguire will give guests a history of sheep-farming in the Dublin Mountains and a herding demonstration with three working dogs, illustrating the rich archaeology of the farm. Bookings for this event are now open.

DABF will open Thursday 04 December 2025 with the Curator’s Opening Talk where Guinness will introduce her theme and selected book titles. Cowboys & Shepherds, Fieldwork & Studio is a panel discussion where Guinness invites visual artist, agriculturalist and lecturer Adam Stead to co-moderate a conversation with visual artists and farmers Orla Barry and Miriam O’Connor. Acclaimed visual artist and Ireland’s representative at the 61st Venice Art Biennale (2026) Isabel Nolan, London-based Irish essayist and journalist Darren Anderson and critically acclaimed author Cathy Sweeney will participate in a second panel discussion Of Human Flocks & Other Species, where the panellists will speak about the complexities of their relations with particular flocks, human and non-human.

In conjunction with the Curator’s Programme, DABF produces the wider programme including artist workshops, book launches, tours, and talks in celebration of the artist book, independent publishing and artist-run culture.

The DABF25 Event Programme will be published online and bookings open Tuesday 28 October 2025.

Dr Selina Guinness is Head of Teaching and Learning at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design, and Technology, where she works to promote transdisciplinary pedagogies across IADT’s provision. Her current research examines how ideas of kinship and the economics of farming intersect in contemporary Irish memoir and visual arts. Her work is informed by her own experience as a sheep farmer in the Dublin Mountains. More reflections on her flock are detailed in her memoir, The Crocodile by the Door (Penguin, 2012).

Dublin Art Book Fair is Ireland's leading art book fair and a centre for contemporary artist books, featuring limited edition books made by artists and designers. The Fair also champions creative, small and independent publishers, both Irish and international. It includes newly published and unusual publications on art, design, visual culture, and select literature and poetry. These can be browsed and purchased throughout the Fair.

Dublin Art Book Fair 2025 is generously sponsored by our longstanding partner Henry J Lyons and supported by Dublin UNESCO City of Literature.