Welcome to the 21st edition of TULCA Festival of Visual Arts, entitled honey, milk and salt in a seashell before sunrise.
Contributors to honey, milk and salt in a seashell before sunrise include: Áine O’Hara, Aisling-Ór Ní Aodha, Anna Roberts-Gevalt, Bog Cottage, Bridget O'Gorman, Edward Lawrenson & Pia Borg, Holly Márie Parnell, Jamila Prowse, Jenny Brady, Leila Hekmat, Nat Raha, P. Staff, Paul Roy, Philipp Gufler, Rouzbeh Shadpey, Sarah Browne and Sean Burns.
Over the last year, the TULCA team has worked with a wonderfully thoughtful and rigorous group of artists and writers that have made sensual, tender and compelling work. The artworks in this festival explore experiences of disability, home and the intimacy of access, and have been brought together in the context of the evolving ideas around health and medicine in the West of Ireland.
Throughout the festival there are an array of talks, workshops, tours, screening and performances to consider how landscapes and communities are shaped by these legacies, and how they influence how we see ourselves and where we call home. We have published a companion publication with essays on drawings of J.J. Beegan, the Spiddal born disability activist Martin Naughton, unionising patients, the abolitionist disability politics of the Black Panther Party, the personal archives of those committed to St. Brendan’s, Grangegorman and poetry reflecting on abolition, disability justice and home.
Writers include: Alan Counihan, Carol R. Kallend, Joanna Marsden, Nat Raha, Roisin Agnew, Sami Schalk and Tone F Pone + Inky Lee.
honey, milk and salt in a seashell before sunrise is dedicated to Ballinasloe born artist, J.J. Beegan. Beegan drew on tissue paper using burnt matchsticks while living at Netherne Mental Hospital in Surrey, England. Beegan often named himself, his profession and where he’s from, alongside images of flowers and birds, writing: “J.J. BEEGAN SCULPTERER DUNLO HILL BALLINASLOE.” Acknowledging his recalling of home, Beegan’s work will be celebrated at an event in Ballinasloe Library.
Accessibility is a core tenet of this year's festival. We are honoured to be working in collaboration with Arts & Disability Ireland to create access provision for the festival, including captioning of selected video works and training for our education team to deliver audio described tours during the festival. In addition to this support, many films have audio described versions, with transcripts provided for soundpieces. There will be masked social events and our booklets feature access statements to support you on your visit. Take your time here, there are plenty of seats and places to rest.
View the TULCA 2023 programme of talks, tours, screenings and performances here
Supported by Arts Council of Ireland, Galway City Council, Galway County Council and Arts & Disability Ireland.
TULCA Festival of Visual Arts
honey, milk and salt in a seashell before sunrise
Curated by Iarlaith Ní Fheorais
3 - 19 November 2023
Galway, Ireland
In light of the serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza a percentage of gallery sales proceeds will be donated in solidarity to Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)
Video credits: Video excerpts from 'Echo's Bones' (2022) Sarah Browne and 'Weed Killer' (2017), 'Forgetting Is the Sun' (2023) Rouzbeh Shadpey. Courtesy of the artists.
Edit: Jonathan Sammon.