Once Upon A Sound - Hosted by Dónal Dineen

Dónal will be hosting a special edition of his Once Upon A Sound series where he'll be exploring music as a source of inspiration.
About this Event

Dónal Dineen is an Irish DJ, radio presenter and film maker. A pioneering force for a generation of music fans, Donal is renowned for his deep passion for music as well as a curator of unique multi-disciplinary events. Current projects include the music podcast Make Me An Island podcast and a documentary film Dance to Remember, (2025), which explores Dónal's relationship with his father through the prism of music and memory, reflecting on a passion that shaped both of their lives

Dónal will be hosting a special live edition of his Once Upon A Sound video series at AATE where he'll be exploring music as a source of inspiration for creative minds working in other media.

Taking our cue from the Desert Island Discs programme first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1942, guests will be invited to choose a selection of audio recordings that they would take with them if they were to be cast away on a desert island as a jump-off point for a discussion about the role sound plays in their practice.

Dónals Guests include : Artist Joy Gerrard, Robbie Blake (Tonnta music) and Jenni Moran (@hiluncheonette).

and others to be announced. Follow @ArchAtTheEdge for updates.

Joy Gerrard: Biography

Joy Gerrard was born in Co. Tipperary and lives in Belfast. She graduated with a BA from National College of Art and Design, Dublin and an MA and MPhil from the Royal College of Art, London. Gerrard is known for work that investigates different systems of relations between crowds, architecture and the built environment. Using Japanese ink on paper and canvas, Gerrard makes detailed ink works and large paintings which re-create political protests from around the world. Recent subjects include Climate change, Palestine Resistance, ICE marches and Women’s equality. Gerrard’s crowds are often viewed from above in urban environments, indicating media surveillance. In her work, the figure of the crowd represents an expression of collective agency. She treats built environments and public spaces as equal participants within the images: providing context, physical constraint, but also symbolic power. Moments of protest are thus figured against enduring historical architectures, the built environment providing a representational analogue for the legal, constitutional and customary space of protest, resistance and democratic expression.

Recent solo exhibitions include Precarious Freedom: Crowds, Flags, Barriers which toured from the Highlanes Gallery, (2021/2) to Galway International Arts Festival and the Butler Gallery. Put it to the People at the Golden Thread Gallery, Belfast (2020), supermarket in Stockholm with Ormston House (2019), shot crowd at the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin (2017) and Protest Crowd, Peer UK, London (2015).

Selected group exhibitions include; British Art Show 10, a touring exhibition to 5 UK cities in 2026/28. Happy and Glorious, Coronation Commissions. The National Archives, Kew, London (2025) A Matter of Time at the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork (2024), Image as Protest, a two person show with Paula Rego, Cristea Roberts Gallery, London, (2023), Collage. A Political Act at the Ulster Museum, Belfast, (2022), Protest and Remembrance, Cristea Roberts Gallery, London, (2019), Making History, Vienna, (2019) and In a Dream You Saw A Way To Survive and You Were Full of Joy; Hayward Gallery Touring show, (2016).

She has installed multiple public installations since 2004 including major works in the London School of Economics, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Tideway (London) and Facebook (London and Dublin) In 2020 Gerrard was elected a Member of the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin. She is represented by Cristea Roberts Gallery, London.

Robbie Blake is a vocalist and composer-performer based in the Gaeltacht of An Spidéal, Co. Galway. A philosophy and music graduate, Robbie’s work explores the expressive possibilities of the human voice in collaborative, interdisciplinary and community-driven contexts. Informed by research across artforms Robbie’s work is fuelled by practices of care, listening and collaboration. Robbie is the Artistic Director of Tonnta, a vocal ensemble dedicated to new music.

Recent collaborations include SALT by Vanessa Earl, Monuments with choreographer John Scott, Don’t Anticipate the Ending digital exhibition for the Museum of Literature Ireland with Brian Friel scholar Dr Zosia Kuczyńska and choreographer Jessie Keenan, and short film Leide Beag / a small clue commissioned by Galway 2020 and University of Galway.

Ongoing collaborations include Town Choir with Canadian artists Theatre Replacement and Ireland: A Dataset with composer Jennifer Walshe.

Recent and upcoming performances include Spem in alium with British vocal ensemble I Fagiolini, The Warm Up by Jane Deasy for Cork Midsummer Festival and The Call by Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst at the Serpentine Gallery, London.

Jennie Moran is a visual artist whose work explores hospitality as a creative and connective philosophy. Blending sculpture and food, she founded Luncheonette, an art/hospitality project at National College of Art and Design in 2013. She lectures widely, mentors in organisational hospitality and curates discursive events. She is chair of the Oxford Food Symposium and the Dublin Gastronomy Symposium. Jennie is the author of 'How to Soften Corners' and was named Best Emerging Voice at the Irish Food Writing Awards.