Discover Temple Bar weekly events guide, 9–15 November 2026. Meeting House Square Food & Farmers Market, Temple Bar.

Temple Bar has a reputation for its pubs. Fair enough. But if you only follow the pint trail, you’ll miss some of the most interesting things happening in the neighborhood.

Updated Monday, 9 November 2026.

This week, there’s a free exhibition from an internationally recognized filmmaker, a Japanese jazz trumpeter playing the Button Factory, a sharp new theatre production, a Science Week show about human behavior, and a Saturday market worth supporting. Here is your practical guide for Monday 9 to Sunday 15 November 2026.

Temple Bar events this week at a glance

Times are taken from the organizers’ listings and may describe the event window rather than performance start. Check the linked venue before travelling.

The exhibition worth slowing down for: Morgan Quaintance at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios

Temple Bar Gallery + Studios exterior, where Morgan Quaintance’s I’ll Always Remember… is on view through 22 November 2026. Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Dublin 2.

If you take just one quieter cultural detour this week, make it I’ll Always Remember…, a free exhibition by artist and filmmaker Morgan Quaintance, on view until 22 November.

Quaintance works across moving images, photography, writing, and installation. His work has appeared internationally, including at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and European film festivals. In 2025, he and Onyeka Igwe jointly received the Film London Jarman Award, a major recognition for experimental moving-image artists.

But you don’t need to know a thing about contemporary film to engage with this show. Its subject is surprisingly immediate: how the places we grow up, the images we absorb, and the social divisions around us shape who we think we are.

Why the artist’s childhood matters

The exhibition grows from Quaintance’s new experimental film, Bourdieu. The title refers to French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, whose idea of reflexivity asks us to examine how our own position and experience influence what we notice and how we interpret the world.

Quaintance has explained that childhood visits to Chicago, including a year spent living with his grandmother there in 1989, became a way to explore those questions. Rather than making a straightforward autobiography, he uses personal memory as a starting point for examining class, race, identity, and the symbols that surround us. His conversation with curator Alice Butler is unusually revealing about this process.

The work brings together images and references from the Robert Taylor Homes housing development in Chicago, historical advertising, street fashions, Bourdieu’s research, and Quaintance’s own life. A varsity-style cardigan and altered logos become more than nostalgic objects. They invite visitors to notice how symbols can communicate belonging, status, aspiration, or exclusion.

Look at the gallery itself, not just the artwork

One of the exhibition’s most interesting decisions is architectural. Quaintance installed steel barriers adjoining two central pillars in the gallery, dividing its interior. In his interview with Butler, he describes the idea as emerging from a visit to the space.

That makes the room itself part of the experience. The barrier can be read as a physical reminder of the separation and boundaries explored in the imagery. This is our interpretation of the installation, not a claim that the artist assigned it one fixed meaning.

Sound matters too. Quaintance discusses the role of music and silence in shaping how the room is experienced. Take your time. You don’t need to decode every symbol to notice what happens when a familiar image suddenly feels strange.

The exhibition was co-curated with Alice Butler, Creative Director of aemi, Ireland’s artists’ moving-image organization.

Visitor information: Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, 5–9 Temple Bar, Dublin 2. Open Tuesday–Saturday, 11am–6pm; Sunday, noon–4pm. Admission is free. The gallery confirms wheelchair-accessible internal spaces and an accessible toilet; see its accessibility information. The exhibition ends Sunday 22 November.

Wednesday: Takuya Kuroda brings jazz far beyond the rulebook

On Wednesday 11 November, Japanese trumpeter and composer Takuya Kuroda plays Button Factory, on Curved Street.

Born in Kobe and based in New York, Kuroda has built a sound that moves between jazz, soul, funk, hip-hop and Afrobeat. He studied at The New School in New York and has collaborated with singer José James, whose 2014 production of Kuroda’s Rising Son helped introduce him to Blue Note audiences. Kuroda’s official biography traces the winding musical path behind that distinctive sound.

This Dublin date celebrates Everyday, an album rooted in groove, repetition and rich trumpet melodies. If jazz usually feels a little too formal for you, this might be the show that changes your mind.

Where: Button Factory, Curved Street, Temple Bar. When: Wednesday 11 November; venue event window 7pm–10:30pm. See official event and ticket information. Ticket inventory and prices can change.

Tuesday to Saturday: ROADKILL at Smock Alley

ROADKILL comes to the Boys’ School at Smock Alley Theatre for five evenings, 10–14 November, starting at 7pm.

Written and performed by Niamh O’Farrell-Tyler, it comes from queer theatre collective DYKEish, whose first production made an impression at the Edinburgh Fringe. The official listing describes a 50-minute performance with no interval. Tickets are €19–€21, and admission is 18+. The venue lists strong language, partial nudity, sexual references, and other potentially sensitive themes. Read the full content information and book directly.

It’s another reminder that Temple Bar’s cultural life doesn’t stop when the tourists head for the pub.

Tuesday: Why Am I Like This? at Curveball

We’ve all made decisions that look ridiculous in hindsight. But why do we keep doing it?

On Tuesday 10 November, psychologist Nate Rae takes an entertaining look at irrational behavior in Why Am I Like This?, part of the C’mere Til I Tell Ye Science Week program. With writing developed alongside neuroscience expert Ginny Smith, it explores topics from money and dating to game theory and our evolutionary baggage.

Where: Curveball, inside Button Factory, Curved Street. When: The venue lists 7pm–9:30pm. Check details and tickets.

Saturday: show some love to the Meeting House Square traders

The Temple Bar Food & Farmers Market returns to Meeting House Square on Saturday 14 November, from 9:30am to 3:30pm.

Expect independent traders offering food, produce and treats. The organizer describes a market that has been part of the neighborhood since the early 2000s. In a quarter where so much attention goes to nightlife, the Saturday market deserves a place in your plans too.

Go for breakfast, stay for a browse, and put some money directly into local businesses.

Frequently asked questions

What free things can I do in Temple Bar this week?

Morgan Quaintance’s exhibition at Temple Bar Gallery + Studios is free to visit. The Food & Farmers Market at Meeting House Square is also free to browse, although purchases cost extra.

When is the Meeting House Square market?

The Food & Farmers Market is held on Saturdays. For this guide, that’s 14 November 2026, 9:30am–3:30pm.

Is Temple Bar only for nightlife?

Absolutely not. The area has established galleries, a historic theatre, performance spaces, and markets, alongside its pubs and restaurants. This week’s selection is a good place to start.

Make a day of it

Pick one event, arrive early, explore a street you don’t usually walk down, and stop at an independent café, shop or pub along the way. If you’ve enjoyed this guide, share it with someone who thinks Temple Bar is only for tourists.

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