Entertainment
TULCA Festival takes on climate change
TULCA Festival of Visual Arts which runs in venues around Galway City from November 14 to 29 will feature works by over 40 Irish and international artists.
Dublin based writer, art historian and independent curator Mary Cremin is the curator of this year’s event, and has chosen the theme of Seachange to look at our changing environment.
“The future of the global environment may very well be the most pressing political priority of our time,” says Mary. “This exhibition seeks to illuminate issues of climate change and our place in the changing landscape while, at the same time, examining the language associated with climatologists’ future projections – language often evocative of science fiction rather than science fact. Through a combination of the real and the imaginary, the exhibiting artists create a collective call for a seachange, literally, in our current climate policies.”
The starting point of Seachange is the legendary island of Hy-Brasil, an island, noted on maps as early as 1325, which the Genoese cartographer Dalorto placed off the west coast of Ireland.
Mythologised in oral and written history, Hy-Brasil was said to be inhabited by a highly advanced society that could only be glimpsed through the fog every seven years. It was only omitted from sailing charts in 1865 when its location could not be verified.
There are different theories about this island and whether it exists or not – for instance, a raised bank off the West coast is thought to mark the site of the island which sank like the legendary Atlantis. The ways in which the myths associated with Hy-brasil reflect our changing environment are explored in this exhibition.
TULCA 2015 is about creating conversation. According to Mary Cremin, art creates a platform for conversations and will encourage imaginative responses to the climate debate.
A series of talks and discussions entitled Hy-brasil Dialogues will explore different aspects of the island’s story with speakers from Ireland and abroad, including Dr Lillis Ó Laoire of NUIG.
Artists taking part in TULCA 2015 include Anne Maree Barry, Rhona Byrne, Mark Clare, Carol Anne Connolly, Colin Crotty, Culturstruction, Christo, Jason Deans, Michelle Deignan, Caroline Doolin, Angela Fulcher, Tue Greenfort, Martin Healy, Louise Hervé and Chloé Maillet, Allan Hughes, Brian King, Barbara Knezevic, Clare Langan, Nevan Lahart, Richard Long, Ruth Lyons, Maggie Madden, Maria McKinney, Dennis McNulty and Ros Kavanagh, Ailbhe Ní Bhriain, Seamus Nolan, Seoidín O’Sullivan, Owen Quinlan, Oswaldo Ruiz, The Canary Project, Anaïs Tondeur and Michael John Whelan.
TULCA exhibitions will take place in gallery and non-gallery spaces throughout Galway City. There will also be workshops and children’s events. The main gallery will be located in the former Connacht Tribune Printing Works in Market Street, while work will also be shown in Nuns Island Arts Centre, Galway Arts Centre on Dominick Street, 126 Gallery on Flood Street as well as at UHG and NUIG.
Full details on the programme and events at tulcafestival.com
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.
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