The Digital Hub repurposes former James’s Street bank for new art exhibition
- Digital Hub-based art community Block T refreshes with new brand FLUX in first exhibition
- Former Bank of Ireland building on James’s Street now available for multipurpose use
- Exhibition of member artworks launches Friday, May 12th and will run to Friday, May 19th
Dublin 8 creative community FLUX (formerly Block T) will launch a new art exhibition this coming Friday, May 12th at The Digital Hub’s repurposed venue on James’s Street . Formerly used by Bank of Ireland, The Bank is now available for exhibition use with a program of events and bookings confirmed for the remainder of the year. The exhibition marks a new era for Block T as they rebrand to FLUX and will run from Friday May 12th to Friday May 19th.
Taking place at The Bank location at The Digital Hub campus, the exhibition will feature artworks by 35 FLUX studio members, showcasing a diverse range of creative work including fine art painting and photography to theatre production and video production, glass art and sustainable fashion.
A range of creative businesses will also be on display, such as Izzy Wheels. Founded by sisters Ailbhe and Izzy Keane, Izzy Wheels designs a wide range of removable wheelchair covers. Inspired by Izzy, who was born with Spina Bifida and uses a wheelchair, Ailbhe’s passion for design has led to Izzy Wheels featuring in widely recognised publications, such as Vogue, Elle and Forbes, with the duo receiving awards such as the EU Prize for Women Innovators and a place on the prestigious Forbes 30 under 30 list.
FLUX is a brand-new cultural initiative from Chris Cullen, former Director of Block T Studios. FLUX continues Block T’s mission of providing much needed affordable workspace to Dublin’s creative community and is currently home to over 40 artists and makers from their base in The Digital Hub in Dublin 8. FLUX also looks to find creative solutions for vacant and under-utilised buildings in the city, advocating for ‘Meanwhile Use’ for short-term cultural events.
The Bank, aptly named as its history as a former Bank of Ireland branch which served the community for many years, has undergone a transformation to a vibrant, bright and versatile location in the busy Dublin 8 neighbourhood. The reopening of The Bank adds a further location for use at The Digital Hub’s Thomas Street campus, as 2022 saw an increase in demand for multipurpose venues with spaces occupied for over 330 days last year.
Later in the month, FLUX is set to hold a Sustainability in Fashion Event and Exhibition. Running from Sunday, May 28th to Saturday, June 3rd, this exhibition will feature FLUX member Sharon Sweeney, a sustainable fashion designer alongside a wide range of fashion creators and designers, all focused on raising awareness of sustainable clothing and the effects of fast fashion on the environment.
FLUX is a creative cluster of community artists in Dublin 8, focused on producing high quality cultural programmes for the public while connecting individual artistic networks with one another. In addition to their exhibition this weekend, FLUX runs a collection of creative classes and courses for individuals looking to develop and refine their artistic skills.
Fiach Mac Conghail, CEO of The Digital Hub, said:
“It is encouraging to see a strong development of events and exhibitions celebrating arts and culture in the local community. The Digital Hub is proud to have FLUX as a member resident and we are grateful for the opportunity to support the development of both innovative and creative companies in the Dublin 8 community. Repurposing the old Bank of Ireland building is a prime example of how we can tackle dereliction in the area, while supporting creative industries who are in need of space.”
Chris Cullen, Managing Director at FLUX said:
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to showcase the variety of creative works that our talented members have produced. The idea for FLUX emerged out of conversations happening across the city around vacancy and what we could do from a cultural perspective. The concept is a nod to the adaptability and resilience of the city’s cultural community, the various changes and crises we’ve navigated and where we go from here. If we can open up these vacant spaces and reimagine them as places of creative interaction, then we can create a platform that allows that grassroots magic to happen.”
Ailbhe Keane, co-found of Izzy Wheels commented on the exhibition, stating:
“Izzy Wheels began as my college project in 2017 and we’ve since grown the idea into a global brand. As a member of FLUX, we benefit greatly from being surrounded by other designers and creatives. It’s such a welcoming space and we feel so lucky to have our studio right in the heart of Dublin. It’s such a pleasure to be part of such a brilliant community of hard-working creatives.”
For more information on FLUX visit: www.blockt.ie/
For more information on spaces at The Digital Hub visit: www.thedigitalhub.com/explore/workspaces/
ENDS
For more information:
Andrew Smith | Murray | asmith@murraygroup.ie | 083 076 5717
Rachel Power | Murray | rpower@murraygroup.ie | 087 939 9605
About The Digital Hub
Based in the historic Liberties area of Dublin city centre, The Digital Hub is an enterprise cluster for growing technology companies. Forty-nine established businesses operate in The Digital Hub. Together these businesses employ just over 500 people.
The Digital Hub is the largest cluster of digital media, technology and internet businesses in Ireland, providing a space for indigenous enterprises such as Akara Robotics, Bizimply, Good Travel Software and Neuromod to scale and grow. Major global companies like Lonely Planet are also based in The Digital Hub, along with industry organisations like the Dublin International Film Festival and PhotoIreland.
Since the project’s inception, over 400 companies have progressed through the enterprise cluster at The Digital Hub, generating thousands of skilled jobs. Some well-established alumni include Amazon, Athena Media, Black Shamrock, Boomerang Pharmaceutical Communications, Distilled Media Group (Daft.ie), eMaint, Etsy, Havok, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Riverdeep), Lincor, MTT, Slack, Software AG, Silicon Republic, Square1, Stripe, TIBCO, VSware and Wachsman.
The Digital Hub is a supportive partner of the local community, by running several learning initiatives for people of all ages. Community learning programmes are run with local partners. For example, the Future Creators Cadets is delivered by H2 Learning and supported by National College of Art and Design (NCAD) and The Liber8 Music Project is run with BIMM Institute Dublin. The Digital Hub also works with community groups and organisations such as the Robert Emmet Community Development Project and Pocket Forests amongst others. The Digital Hub is one of three lead partners on the Smart D8 initiative which aims to improve and sustain the health and wellbeing of Dublin 8 citizens through innovation and collaboration.
The Digital Hub Development Agency is the Irish state agency that manages The Digital Hub. The Agency was established by the Irish Government under the Department of Communications, Climate Change and Environment.
In March 2021, the Government decided to dissolve the Digital Hub Development Agency and close The Digital Hub. The Agency will now embark upon an orderly winddown process which will see the transfer of lands to the Land Development Agency. All operations at The Digital Hub, including various community initiatives and partnerships, will continue as normal up until the closure date.
The Digital Hub is in a position to offer leases for new and existing companies up until 2025 following an agreement with the Department of Communications, Climate Change and Environment.
Further information is available at: www.thedigitalhub.com or on Twitter: @TheDigitalHub.
About Flux
FLUX is the new name for BLOCK T studios, continuing its main mission to provide affordable and professionally managed workspace to Dublin’s creative community. FLUX is currently home to over 40 artists and makers from their base in The Digital Hub campus in Dublin 8.
As well as providing creative workspace, FLUX also champions several arts and mental health initiatives in the local community, partnering with St James’ Hospital, and the charities Headway and As I Am to increase arts participation in the city and advocate for creativity as a tool for better mental health.
FLUX is also home to the Skillsets creative education programme. Skillsets offers a range of workshops & short courses from experts in Dublin’s creative community, allowing the public to learn directly from people who live & breathe their creative passion. In the past year alone we’ve put on over 50 courses in subjects as diverse as screen writing, animation, life drawing, figure painting, pallet furniture building & more.
One of our main objectives is to find creative solutions for vacant and under-utilised buildings in the city, advocating for ‘Meanwhile Use’ for short-term cultural events. Through aa combination of advocacy and ‘persuasion through experience’ at pop-up cultural events, we hope to unlock more spaces for exciting grassroots cultural use.’