Connections: The Port, the City, Arts and Education

The Pumphouse at Dublin Port housed the steam engine which powered the gates of Graving Dock 1 and is a key part of the Heritage Zone at the centre of Dublin Port. It now functions as a site of study, research, production and public experience of Port/City themes, involving and powering a range of creative arts practices and disciplines. The Pumphouse is a distinct and unique context for connecting creative practitioners and the public to new understandings of Dublin Port. 

The Pumphouse Programme is designed to connect communities of place with communities of interest and engage with the past, present and the future of Dublin Port. A partnership process focuses on the relationship of Port and City, issues of civic memory and urban development. These are addressed creatively and imaginatively, in learning workshops and public events and projects. The Pumphouse Programme is intended to make visible the connections between the work, life and history of Port and City. This is a new public-facing role for the Pumphouse and has been developed over several years by Port Heritage and Communications.

Dublin Port Company launched The Pumphouse Programme with exhibition at the Pumphouse Plaza. We created a series of panels to illustrate both past and upcoming events, along with a calendar of events, invitations, and signage. At the launch, ANU productions performed a short piece from “Back home to a wonderful time”, about the last English troop ship which left Dublin Port in December 1922.