What Does He Need? (2018+)

What Does He Need? is a long-term collaborative project led by myself (artist, writer and educator Fiona Whelan), theatre company Brokentalkers and Rialto Youth Project in association with a Dublin city network of individuals and organisations in the areas of arts and culture, youth work, community development and education. Established in 2018, What Does He Need? explores how men and boys are shaped by and influence the world they live in. Operating at the intersection of collaborative arts practice, performance, qualitative research and youth work, What Does He Need? aims to create significant public dialogue about the current state of masculinity.

The project employs multiple modes of engagement and production including creative workshops, public art works, philosophical conversations, performance and a long-term programme called Boys in the Making, which brings together groups to co-create a boy and explore his needs and experiences as he interacts with the world around him. Since 2020, a number of public manifestations have emerged from the project, presented in multiple public sites, community spaces and art venues including The LAB and Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. This project has its own website. See whatdoesheneed.com Some media on the project can be found here: https://www.whatdoesheneed.com/media/