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Forging Stories & IMLYA

Interactive Museum of Languages for Young Audiences

18th of Feb, 1 pm

@County Library, Tallaght

Storytelling workshop

For families with children aged 6 to 9

Languages:

English + Romanian

Please note:

Booking is not required. Children must be under the supervision of an accompanying adult at all times.

Mother Tongues' Interactive Museum of Languages for Young Audiences (IMLYA) at North Clondalkin Library. .Picture Conor McCabe Photography.

Put your language explorer hats on and delve into the adventure as pirates do! The journey will be led by artist and main piratess Alexandra Gogan, who’s set on building stories, conquering new languages with word games (and beyond!) and, most importantly, unleashing your seeker’s mindset.

Continue the pirate quest at the Interactive Museum of Languages for Young Audiences (IMLYA). IMLYA is an exhibition where children have the opportunity to interact with language-based sculptures inspired by linguistic artefacts, signs, pictographs, and alphabets. By engaging with the art exhibit, children will develop an understanding of other languages and cultures and unlock their creative potential. You will find IMLYA in the Library from February 11th.

Meet the artist

Alexandra Gogan

Alexandra Gogan is a Romanian writer based in Dublin with a background in theatre and the performing arts. Her experience working with young audiences ranges from humble beginnings as a Disney Princess impersonator to an actor in children’s plays, workshop facilitator and co-founder and creator of “Bibabo”- an independent theatre company that aimed to produce quality art experiences for children in kindergarten and primary school.
Recently worked with Super Paua as a writer and performer, developing a short multilingual audio story that delves into Romani and Romanian heritage, explores grief in multiple languages and celebrates the cultural diversity of Dublin’s public transportation system. Currently writing ‘’A man, a dog and a goose’’ and ‘’Mister Tonohashi and The Missing Cat’’, the first in a series called ‘’The Thomas Thorne Files’’.

IMLYA was commissioned by South Dublin Creative Ireland programme as part of Cruinniú na nÓg 2021, and it was co-funded by Languages Connect.

This event is funded by

Mother Tongues Festival

Keep in touch

Songs and stories from Congo

18th of Feb, 12 pm

@Rua Red, Tallaght (Green Room)

Music workshop

For families with children of all ages

Languages:

English and Lingala

Please note:

Booking is required. When you purchase a child ticket the accompanying adult goes free. Children must be under the supervision of an accompanying adult at all times.

niwel tsumbu

In this interactive workshop with guitarist Niwel Tsumbu, participants will learn songs and hear stories about the luscious landscape and culture of Congo. Come prepared to imagine and sing together! Children may bring their own drum to add to this musical storytelling experience.

Meet the artist

Niwel Tsumbu

Niwel Tsumbu is a virtuosic Congolese-born, Ireland-based guitarist. He has created a unique and exhilarating style drawing on influences as diverse as jazz, classical, rock, folk and rumba. At times Tsumbu’s music is a deep emotional well, drawing joy and sadness from universal human waters. At other times, it’s a high-tech vehicle flashing with excitement across nations, continents, and the cosmos. Having steadily developed his international profile over the past decade, Tsumbu has earned praise from All About Jazz for his ‘exquisite and almost seamless’ global fusion. He has recorded with artists like Nigel Kennedy and Steve Cooney and performed with Sinead O’Connor, Buena Vista Social Club and Baaba Maal. In 2021, Tsumbu’s global reach was cemented with his guitarwork on the Grammy Award-winning album They’re Calling Me Home by Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi.
The keystones of Tsumbu’s music are his sophisticated sense of rhythm, his virtuosic guitar playing and his thrilling improvisations. Whether playing rumba or jazz, plucked nylon or amplified electric, Tsumbu’s intricate guitar work always invites re-listening. Tsumbu is accordingly in high demand as an African guitar teacher for the World Music Method, and his popular Instagram reel videos garner up to hundreds of thousands of views. 

This event is funded by

Mother Tongues Festival

Keep in touch

La Machine à poèmes

The Poetry Machine

18th of Feb, 1 pm

@Rua Red, Tallaght (Project Space)

Poetry workshop

For families with children aged 7 to 10

Languages:

French

Please note:

Booking is required. When you purchase a child ticket the accompanying adult goes free. Children must be under the supervision of an accompanying adult at all times. The workshop is facilitated in French.

La Machine à poèmes

Comment ça s’écrit, une poésie? Viens faire le plein d’idées rigolotes avec Juliette Saumande, une auteure jeunesse française qui vit à Dublin. Juliette a un tas de trucs et astuces à partager avec les poètes novices et expérimentés pour écrire des poèmes sur tout (et peut-être n’importe quoi). Ensemble, on jouera avec les sons, les lettres et les mots, et on se fabriquera une boîte à outils poétiques pour devenir de vraies machines à poèmes!

What do you need to write a poem? Find serious inspiration and serious ideas in this seriously silly poetry workshop with French children’s writer Juliette Saumande. We will play with letters, sounds and words to write poems about everything and anything. This workshop is for experienced wordsmiths and newbies alike, as we will build together our poetry toolkit together, one game at a time.

Meet the artist

Juliette Saumande

Juliette Saumande is a French writer and translator of children’s books, including My Little Album of Dublin and My Little Album of Ireland (with Tarsila Krüse and The O’Brien Press). A Book Doctor, Creative Associate for Creative Schools and creative writing teacher, Juliette is at heart a professional bookworm who loves using words, stories and books to help kids (re)discover and grow their creativity.

Elaine Butler Photography - Juliette Saumande

This event is funded by

Mother Tongues Festival

Keep in touch

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