Entertainment
Exhibition puts a focus on the magic world of childhood
Fairy tales, myths and childhood imagination have inspired Catching Dreams, a new exhibition by Kathy Ross, which will open next Tuesday, February 10 in Áras na Mac Léinn, at NUIG. The show is part of this year’s Muscailt Arts Festival, hosted by the University, which will run until March.
“Catching Dreams seeks to explore those heroes and heroines, villains and beasts that have allowed people to believe anything was possible – once you had a little bit of imagination,” says Kathy.
The artist, originally from Doughiska on the east side of Galway City, has a degree in Art from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, and a post-graduate qualification in Arts Administration from NUIG. As a child she loved fairytales, but she credits her children, Milly aged six, and Luke who is a year and a half, as being the inspiration for her current fascination with myths and lore.
“With two small children running about the house, every day is filled with new wonders and experiences. Fairytales seem that bit more believable when you see the world through the eyes of a six-year-old.”
It’s not just her own children who are inspiring her. Last year Kathy was one of only eight artists to be awarded the Artist in School scheme run by the County Council. This allows for selected artists to work in a primary school with students for up to 40 hours.
“I’ve been working in Scoil Bhríde, Lackagh, on a historical project where the kids have been making models of Claregalway Castle and Friary. I’m also doing a project based on literacy with Junior and Senior Infants where the kids have been making puppets and illustrating Irish mythology,” she explains.
Kathy would love if adults could recapture some of that childhood imagination.
“As a child I remember curling up and poring over the pages of my favourite children’s books. They were so beautifully illustrated, filled with vivid colours and fantastical creatures, each one transporting me to a different more wonderful world. As adults I think we loose a certain edge to our imagination. Colours become duller, edges become sharper, and reality wins over.
“Even the artwork we choose for home is grey and ordinary,” Kathy continues. “For me colour and imagination are crucial. I want to capture your imagination, I want you to question the mundane. Open your mind up to the realm of possibility and childhood wonder and grasp onto your dreams.”
Kathy’s work is in public and private collections in Ireland and the UK, and she has taken part in many group shows in Dublin and Galway, including Tulca, since graduating from college.
– Children’s author Patricia Forde will officially open Catching Dreams next Tuesday evening at 6pm in Áras na Mac Léinn, when the Athenry Guitar Orchestra will also be playing. The exhibition will run until March 6.
Folk duo Niall Teague and Pádraic Joyce are launching their new album What Will We Be, a blend of folk, Americana and acoustic music, this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in An Taibhdhearc.
The success of their well-received 2020 release Taobh le Taobh, as well as recent successes at the Pan Celtic and Oireachtas Song Contests, spurred the duo on to record this new album which represents many years of collaboration and musical development.
It features Niall and Pádraic on vocals, harmonies, and acoustic guitars, Maidhc Ó hÉanaigh on double bass and Neil Fitzgibbon on fiddle. The catchy title track, What Will We Be, features contributions from percussionist Jim Higgins (The Stunning, Christy Moore, Paul Brady) and haunting, driving melodies on vocals, guitar, and fiddle.
Themes of love and hope are woven through Come Away with Me which features interplay between piano and fiddle as well as rich vocal harmonies.
People, places, and broken dreams are celebrated and lamented on Martin and Tom, Guitar Gold, Memories of You and Achill Island. The influence of David Henry Thoreau’s novel Walden features on the tracks Simple and Wise and Walden, with the beauty of nature, escape and simple pleasures at their core.
The album moves from minimalistic folk ballads such as Galway Ghost to swirling, string-laden arrangements on the song Neptune, both of which are influenced by maritime tales from Galway. Much of the work on this album was supported by the Arts Council, including work with musical arranger Eoin Corcoran and the string ensemble Treo.
The album will be launched this Friday, May 19, at 8pm in an Taibhdhearc. Tickets €22, plus booking fee at Eventbrite.ie.
Dunmore is the place to be this weekend for lovers of traditional music, as the Galway County Fleadh will take place there from this Friday, May 19, to Sunday, May 23.
It is 10 years since Dunmore last hosted a fleadh and the local Comhaltas branch, which has re-formed since Covid, is looking forward to facilitating this gathering of music, song, dance and craic.
The official Opening Concert will take place in Dunmore Town Hall this Friday at 8pm with the acclaimed Mulcahy family from Limerick. Mick, Louise and Michelle are well known throughout the country, thanks to their live performances, television appearances and numerous CDs. They were the winners of the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Grúpa Ceoil Award for 2023. Tickets for their concert can be purchased on the door and a great night of music is promised.
Two days of competitions will kick off this Saturday at the town’s Community School, with more than 1,500 competitors taking part. Participants will be hoping to qualify for the Connacht Fleadh 2023, which will be held in Ballina, County Mayo, from June 23 to July 2.
Competitions for those aged Under 10, Under 12 and Under 15 will be held in a large variety of instruments on Saturday, as well as in singing and Comhrá Gaeilge. Sunday’s competitions will be for the Under 18 and Over 18 ages groups, as well as in dancing.
On both days a large entry is expected for Grúpaí Cheoil and Céilí Band competitions across all age groups.
Seventeen Comhaltas branches from across Galway will have participants in this weekend’s competitions, which will result in a large number of visitors to the Dunmore area.
Members of the public are welcome to attend the competitions, which offer a great opportunity to hear and see the talent on display. There will be sessions in local pubs over the weekend as well and everybody is welcome to attend these.
For more information on the County Fleadh, go to www.galwaycomhaltas.ie.
Music for Galway’s concert with renowned Swiss pianist Cédric Pescia which had been due to take place on April 27 but which had to be deferred, will now take place next Tuesday, May 23, at 8pm, in the Emily Anderson Concert Hall at the University of Galway.
This concert of German classics with Bach at its core, will brings the Bach element of Music for Galway’s 41st season to an end.
This world-class pianist who won the famous Gina Bachauer International Artists Piano Competition, has a repertoire that spans many eras from baroque to contemporary and he is widely known for his elaborate programmes. Cédric Pescia describes music as ‘language and movement at the same time’.
Audiences will have a chance to experience his soft, clear touch as he performs a programme for solo piano that will include classics such as Schumann’s popular Waldszenen (Forest Scenes), a suite of nine short pieces, and the penultimate of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, No. 31. These pieces will be interspersed with French Suites by Bach.
■ Ticket for Cédric Pescia’s concert are available at www.musicforgalway.ie, or by phone 091 705962 and on the door on the night. They cost €20/€18. The price for fulltime students of all ages is €6 while MfG Friends can avail of the friends’ rate of €16.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
