Hoaretraits: a podcast showcasing Irish artists across Germany

Zeitgeist Irland 24 commissioned a special podcast series by Neil Hoare, to highlight the diverse Irish cultural talent across Germany.

The resulting 15-episode podcast, Hoaretraits, presents contemporary Irish artists who showcased their work throughout the Zeitgeist Irland 2024 programme.

Conceived of by Hoare as ‘audio portraits’, the podcasts explore themes of creativity, imagination and craft in conversation with a diverse range of Irish artists living in both Ireland and Germany.

A.S. Fanning, a Dublin-born singer-songwriter has been based in Berlin for several years. His music blends folk-rock with gothic and psychedelic elements.

His 2023 album Mushroom Cloud explores themes of isolation and uncertainty during the pandemic, layered with rich orchestration. Fanning’s poetic style draws on Irish literary traditions, offering a melancholic, reflective quality to his songs.

Dublin born author Naoise Dolan has published two novels, the Sunday Times bestseller 'Exciting Times' and her latest, 'The Happy Couple'.

Now residing in Berlin, Dolan’s work is known for its wit, humour, and thoughtful exploration of class and queerness. Alongside her fiction, Dolan also writes essays and reviews for publications like The Guardian and Vogue. Dolan has been shortlisted and longlisted for several awards, including the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Dylan Thomas Prize.

A German translation of The Happy Couple (,Das glückliche Paar’) was released this year.

Robert Mirolo is an Irish illustrator and musician based in Berlin. His work is characterized by bold, abstract shapes and symbolic imagery, appearing in concert posters, album covers, and various publications.

Mirolo’s visual style combines playful abstraction with deeper explorations of identity and culture. In addition to his illustration work, he is a member of the experimental psych-rock band SSMMÜTT, which mixes improvisation and high-energy performances.

Mirolo is also a member of the bands Onion Boys and Lemongrab. Onion Boys brought their unique brand of theatrical punk and rock ‘n’ roll on tour through Germany in Spring 2024 as part of Zeitgeist Irland 24.

Nina Hynes is an Irish musician and artist living in Berlin since 2007. Hynes is known for merging ethereal electronic sounds with heartfelt, introspective themes, and has always been at the forefront of artistic experimentation.

She has released several albums, and toured extensively in the US and Europe, including as support for acts such as Cat Power, Roxy Music and Joan as Policewoman, while also appearing on music TV shows in Ireland such as RTÉ’s Other Voices and No Disco.

In addition she has composed soundtracks to a number of independent films. Her latest project, I Am the Machine, is a folk opera sci-fi collaboration with dancer-choreographer Orla McCarthy, which debuted as part of Zeitgeist Irland 24.

Francis Heery is a composer and sound artist from Co. Galway. Drawing inspiration from science-fiction, and occultism, his work often combines modular synths, acoustic instruments, and Software for immersive, site-specific performances.

He holds a Ph.D. in Composition and an M.Phil. in Music and Media Technologies, with his music featured at festivals and conferences in Europe and the U.S.

As the artistic director of Topographies, a mini-festival held at Berlin’s PAS venue presented by Contemporary Music Centre Ireland and supported by the Zeitgeist Irland 24 initiative, Heery brought together Irish composers and performers for concerts, live discussions, and networking events.

In addition to his compositions, Heery produces experimental electronica as The Cube of Unknowing, exploring new sonic landscapes through improvisation and sound design.

Sheena McGrandles is a Northern Irish dancer and choreographer based in Berlin. McGrandles is known for her innovative, multi-narrative works that blend movement with humour and hyper-realism.

With a background from the Laban Centre in London and HZT/UdK Berlin, she explores radical temporality, using detailed, slowed-down movement to create immersive, thought-provoking landscapes. Her work, often collaborative and politically engaged, examines themes like family, societal roles, and bodily autonomy.

As part of Zeitgeist Irland 24, Sheena brought her work ‘DAWN: A Musical on Reproduction’ to the stage in Theater im Depot (Dortmund) and premiered a new work ‘MINT: A Folk Opera’ in HAU (Berlin).

Dee Mulrooney, an Irish artist, performer, illustrator, teacher, activist, and mother is best known for her alter ego, Growler—an 82-year-old shamanic vulva from inner-city Dublin - she transforms women’s pain through raw, evocative storytelling, singing, and poetry.

Growler, known for her humour and sharp wit, reflects Dee’s commitment to addressing complex social issues with emotional resonance. Dee performed ‘Where ye From?’ and ‘Tales from the Holywell’ as part of the Zeitgeist Irland 24 programme.

Growler also took part in Zeitgeist Irland 24 earlier in the year as one of the artists in the Irish Theatre Berlin festival, which ran May to June and at Findrinny Festival of New Irish Songs & Sounds in PAS cultural space in September.

Lyónn Wolf, a Berlin and Dublin-based artist whose work reimagines space, identity, and community through immersive installations, performances, and DIY publishing.

Using thrifted and recycled materials, Wolf critiques societal norms around family, queerness, and working-class life from an anti-capitalist perspective. Domestic Optimism III – A Lesbian Squat Isn’t Just for Porno’s, the latest in their Domestic Optimism series, reinterprets architecture and social housing with a queer, working-class gaze.

This Berlin edition includes a sound work that re-envisions Dublin’s Ballymun Towers as symbols of working-class heritage and as utopian spaces for queer life, reflecting Wolf’s radical urban vision, and was exhibited as part of Zeitgeist Irland 24.

Mary Kelly is a Berlin-based Irish actor, playwright, and theatre-maker whose work explores themes of identity, family, and the human condition, deeply rooted in her Irish heritage.

Her plays have been produced internationally and published by Nick Hern Books (London) and Stinging Fly Press (Dublin). She has performed extensively in Ireland, Germany, and beyond, with recent credits including ‘Happy Days’ at English Theatre Berlin, directed by Samuel Beckett’s associate Walter D. Asmus as part of Zeitgeist Irland 24, and a production at The Gate Theatre Dublin.

Currently directing In ‘My Cult Era’, premiering at Schwartze Villa Steglitz on November 24th, Mary began a three-month residency as Artist in Residence at the Paul Drude Scientific Research Institute last December.

Born in Dublin, musician Damien Dempsey has become one of Ireland’s most beloved musical voices, renowned for blending folk, rock, and traditional Irish elements. His lyrics, rich with storytelling, explore themes of inequality, addiction, and mental health.

His songs have become anthems of resilience, reflecting both the struggles and the indomitable spirit of Ireland’s working class, with his latest album, Hold Your Joy (2024) a testament to mindfulness and gratitude.

Whether through his music or his social advocacy, Dempsey proclaims his attempts to inspire, uplift, and unite. Damien Dempsey performed in Berlin in November at the event ‘Songs from the Holywell’ alongside Growler and Wallis Bird, a part of Zeitgeist Irland 24.

DJ Kev Sheridan is a musician, producer, performer and currently resides in Berlin. Sheridan is classically trained on piano and a proficient drummer, and has played in a variety of bands over the years which helps to explain his diverse musical palette.

In 2024, As part of the Zeitgeist Irland 24 initiative, Kev curated ‘Sound of Vision’ at The Ballery Gallery in Berlin, a collaborative exhibition that brought his interest in music and visual art into a shared space, exploring the connections between the two artforms.

Jennifer O Donnell of plattenbaustudio, founded in Berlin in 2018 along with partner Jonathan Janssens as an architecture and drawing studio blending design, research, and observation.

Focused on the relationship between people and space, the studio designs for real-world use, guided by a commitment to context and user-centered architecture. Their work spans architectural projects, contemporary drawing, and research, using drawings as tools to explore and communicate complex built environments. plattenbau studio values collaboration, partnering with clients, designers, and universities through workshops, teaching, and research.

Rooted in curiosity, their projects emphasize place-specific, playful, and responsive designs that balance practicality with creativity. In the framework of Zeitgeist Irland 24, the studio collaborated with designer ROJI to create the exhibition ‘Table Service’ in Cologne in August, as a parallel to the studio’s concurrent ‘Urban Mirror’ commission by Cork City Council. Cork and Cologne are twinned cites and the exhibition in Germany was facilitated by Städtepartnerschaft Köln-Cork.

Joey Gavin is an Irish musician and songwriter whose work blends folk sensibilities with experimental sounds. Known for his poetic lyricism and lived in compositions, Gavin’s music often strikes a balance between introspection and storytelling.

His songwriting delves into themes of identity, memory, and the complexities of human connection. At the end of the conversation Gavin plays Catching up with the pack, a song from Porcupine, a collaborative EP with fellow Irish talent, Mark Loughrey.

Joey Gavin organised ‘Findrinny, Festival of New Irish Songs and Sounds’ at PAS in Berlin in September 2024 as part of Zeitgeist Irland 24, featuring acts Junior Brother, Growler, Sonny Casey, Dylan Kerr, Mark Loghrey, and the Kilfenora Road Show, and with DJ sets from Donal Dineen.

Mariechen Danz is an Irish-German multidisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses sculpture, installation, drawing, and performance. Born in Dublin, she studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, earned her Meisterschülerin at the Universität der Künste in Berlin in 2005, and completed an MFA at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California, in 2008.

Danz’s work interrogates knowledge systems, language, and the human body as both a vessel and a limitation in the search for understanding. Her art has been showcased internationally, including at the 57th Venice Biennale, Centre Pompidou, and the New Museum in New York.

Danz has also been recognized with awards such as the Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Scholarship in 2014 and a Villa Romana Fellowship in 2013. Additional to a recent solo exhibition ‘Stubborn Shadows / Scáthanna Seasta’ at Project Arts Centre in Dublin, last year Danz participated in the Zeitgeist Irland 24 initiative with her exhibition ‘edge out’ in Berlinische Galerie, which runs until March 2025, further underscoring her commitment to exploring intersections of identity, heritage, and cultural exchange.

Wallis Bird, an Irish singer-songwriter renowned for her bold, genre-blurring music and magnetic live performances, hails from Wexford and now based in Germany.

Bird has built a thriving international career. Her distinctive guitar style, shaped by a childhood accident, and her knack for heartfelt songwriting have captivated audiences worldwide.

Over her career, Bird has released several acclaimed albums, including Home (2016), Woman (2019), and her latest, Hands (2022), which explores themes of resilience, identity, and connection. Beyond her solo work, Bird is an avid collaborator, recently contributing to Visions of Venus, a cross-genre creative project that celebrates diversity and artistic expression.