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Music, theatre, public art, the visual arts, festivals and everything else you want to find out about in our diverse cultural world.

RTÉ:Ireland


    • May 31, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • every other week NEW EPISODES
    • 11m AVG DURATION
    • 1,194 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from RTÉ - Culture File on Classic Drive

    Culture File | No Irish Need Apply

    Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2025 29:19


    Artist, Marianne Keating on her archival voyage into the lives of Irish migrants to the UK; Tadgh O'Sullivan's further encounters with artworks that never were; and harpist, Alannah Thornburgh plays the tunes of the fairy folk.

    uk artist irish culture file
    Culture File | Moshing, m'lord

    Play Episode Listen Later May 7, 2025 28:50


    Rachel Ní Bhraonáin reginites her award-winning dance-theatre take on the mosh and the moshers at Dublin Dance Festival; conductor Gabriel Crouch dives the fathomless depths of Jóhann Jóhannsson's enigmatic music-out-of-time choral work, Drone Mass; and Paddy Woodworth's latest book for the Naturalist's Bookshelf.

    The Culture File Debate: Quiet/Loud

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 23, 2025 47:06


    Recorded live at New Music Dublin 2025 at the NCH in Dublin, the panel explores how creative practices engage with the quiet space of loud sound, as well as the roles of quiet/loud in the contemporary attention economy, with Paula Meehan, Siobhán Cleary, John Godfrey, and Christine Tobin.

    Culture File: Marnie Weber, Tadhg O'Sullivan, The Museum of Disgusting Food

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2025 28:41


    Ghost bands and circus values, with LA artist, Marnie Weber; Tadgh O'Sullivan on art that never was; and an in-the-end surprisingly pleasant visit to Berlin's Disgusting Food Museum.

    Culture File: Rhythm of the Seasons, Stone Carving In The Bronx, Changes in the Land

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2025 28:33


    Percussionist, James Larter reboots of the Four Season; the allure of ancient craft in New York; and Paddy Woodworth suggests a new old volume about New England as essential reading for today.

    The Blood of a Poet | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 26, 2025 8:51


    Veteran US cellist and improvisor, Erik Friedlander collaborates with live film score specialist, Matthew Nolan to create new music for Jean Cocteau's 1932 first venture into film.

    blood poet jean cocteau matthew nolan erik friedlander culture file
    Berginald Rash | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2025 25:47


    At this year's New Music Dublin, American Irish clarinetist, Berginald Rash presents Bombast! his program of chamber music from contemporary Black and Latiné composers. He talks to Culture File about a fraunt moment for music and art in the United States, and beyond.

    united states black latin rash bombast american irish culture file
    Culture File: Politics of the Imagination, The Gee's Bend Quilters, Bombast!

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2025 29:13


    Classical music and hiphop meet with a bang in Belfast composer, Anselm McDonnell's latest project; the textile stories of Gee's Bend, Alabama at a new show at IMMA; and a program of premiers of chamber music from Black and Latiné composers at next month's New Music Dublin.

    Ethan Iverson | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2025 11:26


    Pianist and composer, Ethan Iverson, formerly of The Bad Plus, on working solo, standards v hits, and the music of Igor Stravinsky. He plays The Cooler, Dublin on Friday March 14th, and Triskel, Cork on Saturday 15th.

    Thurston Moore Special (Podcast Only XXXL mix) | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2025 62:10


    An extended version of our conversation with Sonic Youth co-founder and explorer at the furthermost limits of the sonic spectrum, Thurston Moore, on noise, improvisation, fascism and his new guitar suite based on cloud formations, which debuts at this year's New Music Dublin festival of contemporary music.

    Guthanna ar an gCnoc, Foteini Tryferopoulou, Nan Goldin

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 22, 2025 29:01


    Composer, Eoghan Desmond on his nature-infused new work for Chamber Choir Ireland, Guthanna ar an gCnoc; Orit Gat on the slide shows, activism... and playlists of Nan Goldin; and satnav and cacti crash the soundworlds of Foteini Tryferopoulou.

    Guthanna ar an gCnoc, Foteini Tryferopoulou, Nan Goldin.

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 22, 2025 29:01


    Composer, Eoghan Desmond on his nature-infused new work for Chamber Choir Ireland, Guthanna ar an gCnoc; Orit Gat on the slide shows, activism... and playlists of Nan Goldin; and satnav and cacti crash the soundworlds of Foteini Tryferopoulou.

    Culture File Presents: The Comfort Zone

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 14, 2025 28:56


    Mulholland Drive: Anna Kornbluh ("Immediacy") joins Luke Clancy to wave Colm Tóibín off on a journey out of his comfort zone, and into David Lynch's mysterious, melancholic drift into Hollywood's dream machine/mincer.

    The Culture File Weekly 080225: The Square Tomato and The Third Kingdom

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2025 29:10


    Artist-farmer Lisa Fingleton's new exhibition takes its title from a sci-fi fruit: The Square Tomato; "corn smut" at The Third Kingdom mushroom-based restaurant in New York; and Paddy Woodworth finds a place for Olivia Laing on The Naturalist's Bookshelf.

    The Culture File Debate: Breath

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2025 28:39


    The Culture File Debate on breath, from the need for breathable air to states of mind and body rooted in breath. Featuring IMMA's Mary Cremin; artist and climate change activist, Nina McGowan; Ireland's next Venice Biennale representative, Isabel Nolan; and Ian Robertson, co-director Global Brain Health Institute, TCD. (First broadcast 170924)

    The Culture File Weekly: Cicada Safari

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2025 28:45


    A "double emergence" of two broods of periodical cicadas near Springfield, Illinois for the first time in more than 200 years inspired a band of sound recordists, musicians, poets, composers and entomologists to gather beneath the trees to listen, record and improvise with a trillion-piece orchestra of singing critters. (First broadcast 29/06/24)

    The Culture File Weekly: All the Rembrandts

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2025 27:10


    In this special All-Rembrandt-All-The-Time edition, we're in Amsterdam to join in the Netherland's celebrations of the 350th Anniversary of Rembrandt Van Rijn. The Rijksmuseum puts on display every one of its Rembrandt holdings; a treasure through which curator and Rembrandt biographer Jonathan Bikker leads Culture File. (First broadcast 15/03/19)

    The Culture File Debate x Beta Festival

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2025 28:42


    Recorded live at Beta Festival '24 in Dublin's Liberties, The Culture File Debate brings together artists Basil Al-Rawi and Conan McIvor, researcher Dr Autumn Brown and historian Ciaran Wallace to explore how we preserve and reimagine our cultural archives in a world of digital tools.

    The Culture File Weekly: Dublin's Hallelujah

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2024 28:48


    Walking a few momentous blocks of Dublin on the scent of a constellation of chancers, charities, literal bigwigs, choristers and 18th century It Girls that somehow resulted in the Irish capital being the venue for the premiere of Handel's Messiah.

    The Fingal Mummers | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2024 8:00


    The Irish Institute of Music and Song in Balbriggan's "Pathway to the Well" offer children in North County Dublin experiences of Irish music and tradition, such as The Fingal Mummers, who recently brought their mischievous musical theatrics to the children of Balbriggan Educate Together.

    The Cloud of Unknowing | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2024 7:21


    Fairy tales, they're not just for kids you know, suggests Tadhg O'Sullivan in his latest Cloud of Unknowing.

    Wìngéd Muses: The Swift | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2024 6:39


    A taste of our forthcoming Culture File Debate: Wìngéd Muses, for which we asked some of our favourite writers—Orit Gat, Sara Baume, The Naturalist, Paddy Woodworth and John Banville—to speak to us about a bird they cherish. Here, John Banville puts in a good word for the Swift. Full program Dec 28th, 6.30pm, RTÉ lyric fm.

    Culture File "Likes": Renata Pekowska

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2024 5:25


    Artist and perception wrangler, Renata Pekowska, on a few of her favourite things, which include a book about religious relics and the smell of tomato vines.

    artist likes culture file
    The Culture File Debate: Seeing Natures

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2024 29:09


    How do artists capture the limitless beauty and complexity of the natural world? Paddy Woodworth chairs a panel of image-makers, featuring Jane Carkill, Melissa Culhane, Killian Mullarney and Yanny Petters, recorded live at the National Botanic Gardens as part of Dublin Book Festival 24.

    Seeing The Emergency | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2024 6:24


    As a taster for this week's Culture File Debate: Seeing Natures, Paddy Woodworth asks his panel of nature image-makers - Jane Carkill, Melissa Culhane, Killian Mullarney and Yanny Petters - about the effects of the climate emergency on their work and their lives.

    emergency culture file
    Cartoon Networking | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 11, 2024 8:07


    Conversations, impressions and quick sketches from this year's Galway Cartoon Festival, in cartoonist Caoimhe Lavelle's festival notebook.

    Magic and Hyper-Reality | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 10, 2024 7:51


    VR visionary, Curtis Hickman, on how even good old-fashioned legerdemain can teach a creator about working with the "hyper-reality" of VR storytelling.

    The Naturalist's Bookshelf "The Signature of All Things" | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2024 7:26


    Paddy Woodworth's latest selection for his ideal shelf of nature books is The Signature Of All Things by 'Eat, Pray, Love' author, Elizabeth Gilbert.

    Culture File "Likes": Till Holzapfel

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2024 5:05


    Neuroscientist and cyberdelic evangelist, Till Holzapfel, on some of his favourite things, including Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Magic Mountain and the smell behind his dogs ears.

    The Culture File Weekly 071224: Pain, Fog, halleluiah

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2024 29:01


    Conductor and researcher, Peter Whelan on what we're still learning about Handel in Dublin; Orit Gat attempts to see Monet in London through the fog, and artist, Rada Iva Sibila on working with pain.

    Sound, mind, body | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 5, 2024 7:56


    Among the ingredients for Rada Iva Sibila sound installations are the Zagreb artist's spoken words, captured as she experiences the pain of arthritis. Image credit: Serhii Shapoval @photo_by_shapoval

    mind body zagreb sound mind body culture culture file
    Orit Gat's Voice Notes | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2024 7:13


    Is it possible to see once-breathtaking images from Monet or Van Gogh at all now? Orit Gat gives it a go at two current London shows from the Modernist mainstays.

    What Did Handel's Messiah Sound Like? | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2024 8:02


    What did George Frideric Handel hear at the Messiah's first performance in Dublin in 1743? Irish Baroque Orchestra's Peter Whelan turns his attention to the composer's little giant.

    A Return To Fishamble Street | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2024 8:38


    Rewalking a memorable path through "Handel's Dublin" in the company of the late historian, Jonathan Bardon. (4/4)

    dublin handel culture file fishamble street
    Culture File "Likes":

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2024 6:58


    Composer, John McLachlan shares some of his favourite things, which include all six volumes of Karl Ove Knausgård's My Struggle, and that perennial scent choice, the smell turf.

    The Culture File Weekly 301124:

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2024 28:49


    On the trail of the probably German writer behind The Treasure of the Sierra Madre with Tadhg O'Sulllivan, the art of playing the violin while reciting verse with soloist, Larissa O'Grady; an unorthodox way of finding a bed for the night in a new Irish short film, Room Taken and a visit the an "art cabin" in Limerick City.

    Room Taken | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2024 7:39


    A couch-surfing homeless immigrant who doesn't know his luck encounters a blind woman who doesn't know he's there, in director TJ O'Grady-Peyton's Room Taken.

    culture file
    At The Art Cabin | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2024 7:33


    Culture File makes a studio visit to the "Art Cabin" at Brother Russell House in Limerick City.

    The Cloud of Unknowing | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 26, 2024 7:35


    Tadhg O'Sullivan's latest journey into the cloud attempts to follow the elusive author of The Treasure of The Sierra Madre, B. Traven.

    A Return To Fishamble Street | Culture File

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2024 7:04


    Rewalking a memorable path through "Handel's Dublin" in the company of the late historian, Jonathan Bardon. (3/4)

    dublin handel culture file fishamble street
    The Culture File Weekly 231124: Cold Snap Edition

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 22, 2024 28:44


    At IMMA, an audio guide provides a platform for kids' takes on contemporary art; uilleann piper, Cillian Vallely teams up with Fidelio Quarter for what you might call a contemporary classical/trad crossover... if you dared; and the brain candy of cyberdelics at Berlin's Gamer Ground festival.

    berlin cold snap culture file cillian vallely
    Culture File "Likes": Timothy Brock

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 22, 2024 6:55


    Some of the good things as rated by composer, Timothy Brock, including Vincenzo Lamagna's re-score for Akram Khan's Giselle, and a certain bowl of pasta-ragu you might find in Trattoria Serghei in Bologna.

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