Patient Labyrinth

12 December 2025 – 7 February 2026
Rua Red, South Dublin Arts Centre Plás Pharthalán Tallaght, D24 KV8N

Exhibition Launch: 6pm, Friday 12 December 2025 in Rua Red.
Please RSVP here

Publication Launch: 6-9pm, Friday 16 January 2026 in Rua Red

Film Screening and Artist Talk with Jesse Jones: 5 – 6.30pm, Thursday 22 January 2026 in Rua Red

Workshop: ‘Kitchen Piseogs’, 11am – 1:30pm Saturday 31 January 2026 in Rua Red. Full details here

See our schedule for the full lineup of events as part of Patient Labyrinth

About

Patient Labyrinth, a new artwork and exhibition from Junk Ensemble in Rua Red Galleries, is both a maze and a labyrinth - exploring the delicate boundary between two worlds: the one in which we lose our way, and the one we try to find our way out of.

The exhibition weaves together myth, folk magic, and ritual to explore how we navigate uncertainty, entrapment, and transformation. As our constructed and natural world unravels to near collapse, we rely on storytelling as a tool for connection, a tool for protection. The labyrinth is a mirror, a code, a key, a tensabarrier, a narrative and a fabrication, a reflection of ourselves and our worlds.

Drawing from the Greek myth of Ariadne’s thread and Mincéirí / Traveller folklore, the exhibition unfolds as a labyrinth within a labyrinth where the five elements mark the thresholds - each an echo, a path, a memory, a reminder.

‘The patient labyrinth of lines traces the lineaments of his own face’

– Jorge Luis Borges

Performances

The exhibition is marked by durational performances with dance artist Róisín Harten on Fri 12 Dec & Fri 16 Jan who will thread, wind, and rewind her way throughout the spaces on a loop.

Film Screening and Artist Talk with Jesse Jones

In collaboration with videographer Luca Truffarelli we have created a short film which documents the process of making Patient Labyrinth and the collaboration & conversations with Julia O'Leary O'Reilly and Oein DeBhairduin. After the screening we will discuss the film and exhibition with artist and collaborator Jesse Jones.

5 – 6.30pm, Thursday 22 January 2026 in Rua Red

Workshop

Kitchen Piseogs, a hands-on workshop exploring the folk magic, craft and meaning in everyday objects from the kitchen and outdoor spaces, including native herbs and ancient plants. Facilitated by Oein DeBhairduin and Julia O’Leary O’Reilly.

Running parallel to Junk Ensemble’s exhibition Patient Labyrinth in Rua Red, the workshop will be led by Irish Traveller writer, activist, and educator Oein DeBhairduin and writer and poet Julia O’Leary O’Reilly, who has interests in divination and healing. Using simple objects from the kitchen and garden, participants will be led through stories, traditions, protections, ancient blessings, curse breakings, and piseogs (spells) passed down through families, and the rituals that Oein and Julia perform in their own homes and gardens. For the last part of the workshop, Julia will lead a feminine letting-go ceremony.

Suggested items to bring: salt, thread or twine, native herbs, sugar, fallen tree leaves, bowl, soil, a mirror. There will be extra materials provided on the day for participants.

Spaces are limited, booking required. Workshop cost €5.

The workshop is suitable for those aged 16+

11am – 1:30pm Saturday 31 January 2026 in Rua Red