The Future is Open - 20th Anniversary Exhibition at Solstice Arts Centre

What to Expect

The Future is Open marks the 20th anniversary of Solstice Arts Centre and brings together twenty contemporary Irish artists whose work explores space, time and the cosmos. The exhibition takes its title from the closing words spoken by theoretical physicist Professor Fay Dowker in Grace Weir’s film “Time Tries All Things”. Artists showing work include Bassam Issa Al-Sabah, George Bolster, Alan Butler, Cecilia Danell, Willie Doherty, Rachel Doolin, Mark Garry, the Hammerheads collective (Marie Farrington, Sibyl Montague, Liliane Puthod and Laura Ni Fhlaibhin), Elaine Hoey, Patrick Hough, Bernadette Kiely, Sinead Ni Mhaonaigh, Niamh McCann, Eleanor McCaughey, Lucy McKenna, Isabel Nolan, Barbara Knezevic, Emily Waszak and Grace Weir. Between them the artists work across photography, film, sculptural installation and painting, with several pieces described by the gallery as “portals to other worlds”. The show reflects on humanity’s long history of looking to the sky for guidance, from ancient divination through to today’s growing reliance on AI systems as forecasting tools, set against the backdrop of the climate crisis. It is one of the largest group shows Solstice has staged since the centre opened in 2006, filling the main exhibition space for its milestone anniversary year.

Good to Know

• Runs Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm, until Saturday 29 August 2026; opened with a preview on Saturday 20 June at 2:30pm.

• Solstice Level 3 Gallery, Railway Street, Navan - free admission, no booking required for general visits.

• Group gallery tours using Visual Thinking Strategies run Tuesdays and Thursdays at 11am throughout the exhibition (free, booking required).

• Sensory Connections tours for visitors with additional needs run Wednesdays at 10am (€5, booking required).

• Azure dementia-inclusive tours take place on the last Friday of each month during the run (free, booking required).

• The exhibition is now in its final weeks - late August is the last chance to see the full show before it comes down.

Getting There

Solstice Arts Centre is on Railway Street in Navan town centre, a short walk from the town’s Bus Eireann stops, with regular services from Dublin (route 109 from Busaras) and from Drogheda, Trim and other Meath towns. Drivers can use metered on-street parking on Railway Street (€1 per hour, two-hour maximum) or the Fairgreen car park off Circular Road (up to three hours at €1.20 per hour). Navan is roughly 50km north-west of Dublin via the M3 motorway.