honey, milk and salt in a seashell before sunrise
Curated by Iarlaith Ní Fheorais
3 - 19 November 2023
Galway, Ireland

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 artist, J.J. Beegan. Beegan was an artist and sculptor who made drawings repeatedly naming himself, his profession and Ballinasloe, as a long stay patient at Netherne Mental Health Hospital in East Surrey, England, where he made drawings recalling home. Beegan drew on tissue paper using burnt matchsticks while living at Netherne Mental Hospital. 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. 

TULCA 2023: honey, milk and salt in a seashell before sunrise will run from 3-19 November 2023 across multiple venues in Galway city and county.

Supported by Arts Council of Ireland, Galway City Council, Galway County Council and Arts & Disability Ireland.

Contributors

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
Sean Burns

Writers

Alan Counihan
Carol R. Kallend
Joanna Marsden
Nat Raha
Roisin Agnew
Sami Schalk
Tone F Pone + Inky Lee 

TULCA 2023 Programme

OCTOBER
Curator’s Talk | Iarlaith Ní Fheorais | ATU | Mon 23 Oct | 11am - 1pm
Curator’s Talk | Iarlaith Ní Fheorais | Pálás | Fri 27 Oct | 4-5pm
Publication Launch | Pálás | Fri 27 Oct | 5-6pm

NOVEMBER
Masked Launch | TULCA Gallery | Fri 3 Nov | 1pm - 3pm
Official Launch | TULCA Gallery | Fri 3 Nov | 6pm
TULCA Afterparty with invited DJ’s | Galway City Distillery | Fri 3 Nov | 9pm - 11.30pm
Artist Talk | Philipp Gufler | TULCA Gallery | Sat 4 Nov | 12.30pm
Film Premiere: Leila Hekmat | Pálás | Sat 4 Nov | 2.30pm
Artist Talk | Rouzbeh Shadpey | Pálás | Mon 6 Nov | 11am
The Birthday Party by Áine O’Hara | Studio 1, O’Donoghue Centre | Thurs 9 Nov | 6.30pm
Ridgewood Sick Center Radio Broadcast | Anna Roberts-Gevalt | Flirt FM | Friday 10 Nov | 6pm
Curator’s Gallery Tour | TULCA Gallery | Sat 11 Nov | 1pm
Epistolary (on carceral islands) Performance | Nat Raha | Nuns Island Theatre | Sun 12 Nov | 2pm
Artist Talk | Sarah Browne | TULCA Gallery | Mon 13 Nov | 11am
Abandoned Goods Film Screening with talk by Professor Clair Wills | Church Gallery, Ballinasloe Library | Fri 17 Nov | 2.30pm
Helium Arts Galway Youth Showcase | PorterShed 1 | Sat 18 Nov | 2.30pm - 4.30pm
Artist Talk | Bridget O’Gorman | Pálás | Sat 20 Nov | 11am

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