19 — 20 September 2025, Friday: 2–8pm; Saturday: 11am–4pm
Join artist Samir Mahmood for a drop-in workshop taking inspiration from his commissioned flags Guardians of the City.
Work with the Samir Mahmood to create a flag taking inspiration from his public artwork Guardians of the City, a series of flags designed by the artist, commissioned for Wellington Quay for the week of Culture Night. Guardians of the City takes inspiration from the use of colour, symbols and motifs in the artist’s work and Indo-Persian painting. Create your own flags, positioning them as portals for imagination and storytelling to depict how we connect with the rich fusion of cultures and communities across the city or to create a spiritual or mindful moment.
The workshop takes place in Studio 1. Drop in anytime Friday 19 September 2–8pm; or Saturday 20 September 11am–4pm.
Samir Mahmood is an artist based in Dublin, born in Pakistan. His art practice explores migration, spirituality and queer identity drawing from Indo-Persian miniature painting, rich in detail and storytelling. Using painting, textiles, photography and film, his artistic research reflects on his lived experience as a queer person raised in an Islamic environment. His work speaks to a personal transformative potential, representing a spiritual awakening, as well as a subversion of normative lifestyle. Mahmood embraces hybridity, and blends gender indeterminacy and fluidity with his own cultural experiences. Recent solo exhibitions include Symplegmatic Portals, SIRIUS Arts Centre, 2025. Recent group exhibitions include Staying with the Trouble, IMMA, 2025.
Temple Bar Gallery + Studios is an artists’ studio complex and contemporary art gallery supporting the development of artists and the creation of art. The Gallery presents five exhibitions of newly commissioned work by Irish and international artists. This is supported by a programme of talks, tours, screenings and workshops. In addition to exhibitions, Dublin Art Book Fair and Summer School are also hosted annually in the Gallery.
Flags: Guardians of the City can be seen flying over the Liffey on Wellington Quay this September.
15 — 21 September 2025
Guardians over the city is a part of the Flags series annually commissioned by Temple Bar Gallery + Studios for Wellington Quay on the occasion of Culture Night.
15 September 2025, 2pm
Take time to explore the work of Ella Bertilsson, Kathy Tynan and Emily Waszak in the group exhibition Faigh Amach, through the act of drawing in the Gallery.
17 September 2025, 11:30am
Enjoy an afternoon of art in the city. We will introduce you to exhibitions and arts organisations in Temple Bar which you can later explore at your own pace.
