As the days get shorter and the assignments get longer, finding ways to spend time outside is increasingly difficult. Additionally, stepping outside your front door in Dublin is hard without spending an arm and a leg. If you’re looking for an outing that you don’t have to spend much money to enjoy, try jumping on the 39A and walking the six minutes to Meeting House Square, which houses an open-air market each Saturday.
The square of stalls selling vegetables, soups, cheeses, breads, and other vittles is embedded within an unusual yet effective architectural defence against Dublin’s weather. The large metal posts standing sentry around the square can expand to create a giant umbrella covering the square while leaving it open to the air. Additionally, the two buildings facing each other house a projector and a screen, respectively; when combined with the shelter, these aspects create a space for socialisation and media exhibition that can adapt to all seasons.
There’s even more to discover at Meeting House Square, especially for photography fans. On opposite sides of the square stand the National Photography Museum and the National Photography Archive, both free to the public. The National Photography Museum houses rotating exhibits. One recent notable collection focused upon the juxtaposition of the everyday with the atypical in the context of the Troubles. Another exhibit captured some feelings of everyday life in Dublin, sparing no room for sentimentality by capturing authentic details of our city, such as the moss on parked cars, security boxes affixed to the outsides of houses, and incongruent concrete patchwork on street corners.
The National Photography Archive is more focused on sharing historical treasures rather than housing artistic expression, with the photograph collection courtesy of the National Library. Its walls hold images ranging from nineteenth-century rural Ireland, famous Irish artists, students from decades ago standing side by side, and Ireland’s Pride march in 2001.
Between a wander through the stalls to find some fresh food to fuel your day, a stop to see what the National Photography Museum has in store, and a trip back in time with the National Photographic Archive, Meeting House Square offers an architectural challenge to the idea that Dublin’s weather makes outdoor excursions difficult. If you want to engage with the arts and spend time outside without going too far, take a gander and have a cup of soup for me.
Edie Weinstein – A&L Editor
