Visual Arts: TULCA Festival of Visual Arts, entitled honey, milk and salt in a seashell before sunrise.

Welcome to the 21st edition of TULCA Festival of Visual Arts, entitled honey, milk and salt in a seashell before sunrise curated by Iarlaith Ní Fheorais.

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. They 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.

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 Tulca 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 until 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.

View the TULCA 2023 programme of talks, tours, screenings and performance Here.