Joanna Kidney: The Future Has an Ancient Heart at Mermaid Arts Centre

Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray screens artist Joanna Kidney’s new short film The Future Has an Ancient Heart on Sunday 27 September 2026, followed by a moderated conversation. The film invites viewers to attune to their own animal body and senses and to their relationship with the land, made with cinematographer Oisín Mc Farland Smith, film artist Alan Lambert and sound artist Anthony Kelly. The project was funded by the Arts Council with support from Wicklow County Arts Office.

What to expect

The screening runs from 2pm to 4.30pm and includes foraged refreshments provided by Moss Collective. After the film, poet Grace Wells moderates a conversation with guest contributors including author Mary Reynolds, diviner Colin Campbell and forager Samuel Arnold Keane, exploring the ecological themes raised in the film. It is a sit-down cinema screening in the Mermaid’s main auditorium rather than a standing event, so expect standard cinema seating for the film itself before the discussion.

Good to know

• Date and time: Sunday 27 September 2026, 2pm to 4.30pm
• Venue: Mermaid Arts Centre, Main Street, Bray
• Price: €12
• Includes: film screening, foraged refreshments, moderated conversation
• Accessibility: wheelchair-accessible seating available, book by phone on 01 272 4030
• Booking: mermaidartscentre.ie or box office, 01 272 4030
• Related: the same film also screens at Courthouse Arts Centre in Tinahely on 24 October 2026, with an added talisman-making workshop

Getting there

Mermaid Arts Centre is on Main Street in Bray, a short walk from Bray Daly DART station and close to Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann stops in the town centre.

While you’re in Bray

Bray’s seafront and town-centre cafés are a short walk from the Mermaid, making this an easy one to build a Sunday afternoon around. There is more to see in Bray and across Co. Wicklow.