EventAttending

How It's Made 2026: water, art and research in Swords and Balbriggan

HTC is attending How It's Made 2026, a festival of art and water research in Swords and Balbriggan, opening with a sneak preview at Swords Castle on 5 November.

Collage of photos from past How It's Made events: visitors at an interactive screen, workshops, artists and researchers talking, around the How It's Made logo
How It's Made event collage. Image: SCÉAL Collective

How It's Made returns for its fourth year from 5 to 14 November 2026, in Swords and Balbriggan. Founded by the SCÉAL Collective and curator Valeria Ceregini, it brings artists, researchers, scientists and communities together, where the arts and research collide. This year's theme is The Shared Living System of Water, part of Science Week 2026 and its theme, Water: From Molecule to Ocean.

Artists took part in a symposium at Trinity College Dublin over the summer, with ongoing sessions alongside hydrologists, environmental researchers and scientists, looking at how water connects ecosystems, infrastructure, landscapes and communities. What they made in response is shown as exhibitions, talks, workshops and performances.

Swords goes first. The sneak preview on Thursday 5 November runs from 16:30 to 21:00. It opens with a welcome reception in the atrium of Fingal County Council at County Hall, with a presentation and discussion on the future of water at 16:30. A tour of the exhibition in Swords Castle follows at 17:30, with music at 19:00. The exhibition is then open at Swords Castle from 10:00 to 17:00, Friday 6 to Sunday 8 November, with more in Carnegie Library. School tours on 5 and 6 November need booking. Balbriggan opens at The Lark on Saturday 7 November.

Why we're going: HTC is a software and research firm in Swords, and Swords Live is our own town, built around its real places. Swords Castle and County Hall are two of them. A festival that brings research and art out into the middle of town is one we want to see in person.

Who's on

  • Valeria Ceregini, curator and co-founder of How It's Made. Curator and art historian whose research focuses on ecology, post-humanism and trans-cultural narratives; founder of MISCIA.
  • Dr Muhammad Ali, Trinity College Dublin. Participating researcher.
  • Ciprian Briciu-Burghina, Research Fellow, DCU Water Institute. Participating researcher.
  • Dr Karolina Anielska, Trinity College Dublin. Participating researcher.
  • Eamonn Donlyn, Trinity College Dublin. Participating researcher.
  • Dr Francesco Pennacchio, Webster Geneva, Switzerland. Participating researcher and artist.

Names as published by the organiser. Source: SCÉAL Collective programme page

Swords Castle seen through a stone archway, with flags flying above the gate tower
Swords Castle, home of the Swords exhibition. Image: SCÉAL Collective

Sources

  1. SCÉAL Collective: How It's Made 2026, used for: dates, theme, Science Week, curator, symposium, Swords preview times and places, Swords exhibition times, school tours, Balbriggan opening, organisers, funding, curator bio, researchers, images. Checked 9 Oct 2026.
  2. CONNECT Centre: How It's Made expands to Swords, used for: founders, Carnegie Library and County Hall atrium, Balbriggan opening on 7 November. Checked 9 Oct 2026.
  3. HTC: MapClick, used for: MapClick wording. Checked 9 Oct 2026.
  4. HTC home, used for: MapClick keeps one sourced record for each real place. Checked 9 Oct 2026.

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