The Writers' Table in IAF House

It is hard to believe that the nine days of Open House Dublin came to an end on Sunday last. The energy across the city and county this year was incredible. It was heartening and humbling to see so many people turn up and turn out for the tours, talks, workshops and exhibitions. It is clear that after twenty years Open House Dublin is as popular as ever. The demand for tickets for all events shows our collective appetite to go behind the scenes of buildings as diverse as our General Post Office to private houses in Portmarnock is set to continue into the future. We are already looking forward to Open House Dublin 2026!

So while the Autumn season is well and truly underway, it is far from over. On 17 November, the IAF will kick-off Irish Design Week’s series of talks with Jayden Ali and Resolve Collective in conversation. And in Belfast on 20 November, IAF will partner with Outburst Queer Arts to host Ben Campkin in a discussion on queer space and cities.

Back in Dublin, our residency at IAF House continues with exhibitions, films and installations from now until 30 November. These are free and open to all, so come down between 12-5pm, Wednesday to Sunday for a look around. If you missed his performance at Open House Junior this year, artist Asbestos has left his spirit-friend SCALA behind in IAF House for all to come visit and read his messages.

From November, The Writers’ Table will continue in IAF House with a series of films, conversations and workshops about architecture, writing and books. The series takes its name from American writer James Baldwin’s unfinished work The Welcome Table. Late in his life, Baldwin lived in France and stopped travelling, and many people came to visit him while he lived there. His table became a place around which people from all walks of life gathered to tell stories and discuss culture, making a place of hospitality and healing. The table is important to IAF. During Open House Dublin we ran our series of lunchtime conversations, Open Table. Across five days, people gathered to eat together and exchange ideas about cities and living in them, on a range of topics relevant to our lives today. The conversations were honest, open and empowering, confirming the value of conversation as a means to turn towards a shared understanding of each other and how we live together now and in the future. In this spirit too, you are all very welcome to pull up a chair and share stories with the writers, architects and others gathering at The Writers’ Table this November in IAF House.

Words: Emmett Scanlon, Director, IAF. Photo: Open Table - Diversity, Open House Dublin 2025. Photo by Myles Shelly.