Announcement: TULCA 2019 Programme
TULCA Festival of Visual Arts
TACTICAL MAGIC curated by Kerry Guinan
1-17 November 2019
TULCA Festival of Visual Arts is pleased to announce the programme for this year’s iteration of the festival, TACTICAL MAGIC curated by Kerry Guinan, 1-17 November 2019.
Now in its 17th year, TULCA Festival of Visual Arts is a multi-venue, artist-centred festival of contemporary art in Galway City and County. The festival works with Ireland-based curators to present innovative exhibitions that provoke and energise audiences into the world of the Visual Arts.
TACTICAL MAGIC explores the theme of magic as it manifests in art, politics, and the sciences. Magic is herein understood as a practical, or tactical, device that allows us to control our reality. The Curator has taken inspiration from West of Ireland folklore to propose magic as a valuable intuitive practice, worthy of preservation in a securalising society.
To this end TULCA is delighted to share this year’s exciting programme of exhibitions and events, comprising 15 contemporary artists, 4 specifically commissioned projects, and 12 associated events across 14 venues in Galway. These include a socially-engaged commission by artist and folklore collector Michael Fortune in collaboration with the Skehana and District and Heritage Group, a large-format public art commission by Dublin collective SUBSET, and a new partnership and exhibition with Galway City Museum. Events range from an all-ages Weather-Reading workshop with Nikita Coulter in Nun’s Island Theatre to a black-metal-noise performance by the Bogs of Aughiska in the Roisin Dubh.
TULCA’s main festival gallery will be centrally located in the former An Post sorting facility off William Street, recently refurbished into an exhibition space by Galway International Arts Festival. Other venues include NUIG Gallery, Columban Hall, 126 Artist-run Gallery, Palas Cinema, The Hall of the Red Earl, Galway Arts Centre, Galway City Museum, Tuam Library / County Council Building, and Engage Art Studios Gallery.
"TACTICAL MAGIC sees art as a magical tool that allows us to access and create realities beyond our own. I am thrilled to announce a diverse programme of exhibitions and events which supports this theme and to welcome these excellent artists to Galway ” Curator Kerry Guinan.
TULCA Festival of Visual Arts is kindly supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Galway City Council and Galway County Council.
Artists
Anri Sala (Albania)
Barry Mulholland (Northern Ireland)
Christian Fogarolli (Italy / Czech Republic)
Day Magee (Ireland)
Diana Copperwhite (Ireland / USA)
From The Bogs of Aughiska (Ireland)
Helen Mac Mahon (Ireland)
Jesse Jones (Ireland)
Katherine Sankey (Ireland)
Linda Pense (Germany)
Mark Cullen (Ireland)
Martina O’Brien (Ireland)
Michael Fortune (Ireland)
Michelle Doyle (Ireland)
Natalia Beylis (Ireland)
Paul Duane (Ireland)
Rajinder Singh (Ireland)
SUBSET (Ireland)
Una Quigley (Ireland)
Events
Launch of Michael Fortune’s The Plants, Flowers and Trees of Our People
Tuam Library - Thursday 31 October - 12.00
Official Launch of TULCA Festival with performances by Day Magee and Mark Cullen
TULCA Festival Gallery - Friday 1 November - 19.00
Samhain Afterparty Celebration with GASH Collective
Electric - Friday 1 November - 21.00
Curator’s Tour - NATURE (all ages)
Meet at 126 Artist-run Gallery - Sunday 3 November - 10.30
An Introduction to Weather-Reading with Nikita Coulter
Nuns Island - Sunday 3 November - 12.00
Art / Magic / Marxism Seminar with Andy Merrifield (UK), Sinead Mercier (IE), Clodagh Emoe (IE), and the Center for Tactical Magic (USA)
O'Donoghue Centre - Thursday 7 November - 14.00
Curator’s Tour - LIFE & DEATH
Meet at Engage Art Studios - Saturday 9 November - 12.00
Keening Garden Door, performance by Day Magee
TULCA Festival Gallery - Saturday 9 November - 13.00
What time is death? film screening followed by Q&A with Director Paul Duane
Pálás Cinema - Saturday 9 November - 18.00
Curator’s Tour - REALITY
Meet at TULCA Festival Gallery - Wednesday 13 November - 18.00
Reading Group with Jesse Jones: ‘Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation’ by Silvia Federici
Black Gate Cultural Centre - Tuesday 12 November - 18.00
An Evening of Mythological Music with Natalia Beylis and From the Bogs of Aughiska
Róisín Dubh - Thursday 14 November - 20.00
Keening Garden Door, performance by Day Magee
TULCA Festival Gallery - Sunday 17 November - 17.00
TULCA Festival Closing Event
TULCA Festival Gallery - Sunday 17 November - 18.00
TULCA Festival of Visual Arts
TACTICAL MAGIC curated by Kerry Guinan
1-17 November 2019
www.tulca.ie