Announcement: Contributors to TULCA 2022

Announcement: Contributors to TULCA 2022

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts is pleased to announce the contributors to its 2022 festival programme, titled The World Was All Before Them curated by Clare Gormley.

Contributors to The World Was All Before Them are artists, filmmakers, writers and poets:

Anouk Kruithof, Becca Albee, Berte & Harmey, Caroline Jane Harris, Chloe Cooper, Christopher Steenson, Elise Rasmussen, Emily Speed, Esmeralda Conde Ruiz, Judith Dean, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Michael Hanna, Nicoline van Harskamp, Quentin Lacombe, Tabitha Soren, Tadhg Ó Cuirrín and The Lifeboat.

Constructed in a moment of global change, upheaval and uncertainty, this year's festival addresses the notion of futurity and asks what the political potentials might be in imagining new futures and envisioning new ways of being in this world.

Taking its title from the final lines of John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, which recounts Adam and Eve’s journey out of Eden and into a new, unknown world, the festival seeks to take stock of our current moment and imagine what lies ahead, as we too find ourselves on a precipice: of ecological destruction, humanitarian crisis, mass migration, global pandemics, wars and technological over-saturation. Surely, there has never been such an urgent time to challenge the structures of our current existence, and to seek out visions of future worlds worth living in. 

Disrupting traditional western, capitalistic, theistic tendencies to imagine the future as either utopian or dystopian, the festival will instead conjure a vision of the future as inextricably tied to the world we live in now: its inequities, as well as its possibilities. As such, it is less invested in depicting the world we might create, than in questioning how it is we might make our existing world a more liveable place. 

The intention is to map a more expansive, non-binary, open-ended and fluid conception of what might lie ahead, through an engagement with a form of futurity rooted in a politics of livability, not escapism or mastery. 

By-passing and critiquing the notion that technology alone might save us, this edition of TULCA seeks out practices which engage, among other things; civics, alliances, poetics, politics, bodies, dance, movement, language, decoloniality, sociality, connectivity, collectively and the quotidian acts of everyday existence as among the tools of future world-making.

TULCA 2022: The World Was All Before Them will run from 4 - 20 November 2022 across multiple venues in Galway city. 

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts
The World Was All Before Them
Curated by Clare Gormley
4 - 20 November 2022
Galway, Ireland

www.tulca.ie

TULCA 2022 Volunteer Programme - Applications Open

TULCA 2022 Volunteer Programme - applications open

Do you want to be part of the West of Ireland’s most exciting Visual Arts Festival?

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts is now accepting applications for its 2022 Volunteer Programme. TULCA 2022: The World Was All Before Them is curated by Clare Gormley and runs from the 4th - 20th November 2022 across gallery spaces and venues in Galway City.

If you have a love of the arts and want to be part of an energising team then TULCA Festival of Visual Arts is the place for you! Volunteer shift hours are from 12pm-3pm or 3pm-6pm everyday during the duration of the Festival. We ask volunteers to commit to at least 2 shifts during the festival. If there is a particular area of interest you would like to work in, TULCA will do our best to accommodate.

Interested in joining the TULCA Volunteer Team? Contact us here - volunteer@tulca.ie

Tasks Include: 

• Invigilation of TULCA Festival gallery spaces

• Assisting the delivery of programme events

• Supporting education tours and workshops
  

Benefits: Participating in TULCA Festival gives you hands-on experience of the time, energy, drive and ambition that goes into the production and running of a contemporary visual art festival. TULCA Festival values those that volunteer with us as most of the TULCA team started out as volunteers. We seek to provide an enriching, educational, and uplifting time for all of our volunteers.

Gallery Assistant Duties: Gallery invigilation, assist with promotional activities, ensure audience are adhering to latest HSE guidelines for social distancing, mask wearing and other regulations pertaining to COVID-19 safety measures across venues.

Educational Duties: Represent TULCA, meet & greet, support/assist with gallery tours, usher groups between venues, support/assist workshop facilitators, supervision support, ensure groups are adhering to latest HSE guidelines pertaining to COVID-19 safety measures

COVID-19 Safety Measures: The safety of our volunteers and audience is our top priority. We plan to keep a safe environment by strictly adhering to HSE safety guidance as they pertain to venues and indoor gatherings.

Join Our Volunteer Team!

Please contact volunteer@tulca.ie for further information.

www.tulca.ie/volunteer

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts
The World Was All Before Them
Curated by Clare Gormley
4 - 20 November 2022
Galway, Ireland

www.tulca.ie

TULCA 2022: Open Call

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts is pleased to announce details of its 2022 Open Call curated by Clare Gormley; The World Was All Before Them.

Curatorial brief:

This forthcoming edition of TULCA explores the notion of futurity and asks—in this moment of global change, upheaval and uncertainty—what the political potentials might be in imagining new futures and envisioning new ways of being in this world.

Taking its title from the final lines of John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, which recounts Adam and Eve’s journey out of Eden and into a new, unknown world, the festival seeks to take stock of our current moment and imagine what lies ahead, as we too find ourselves on a precipice: of ecological destruction, humanitarian crisis, mass migration, global pandemic, war and technological over-saturation. Surely, there has never been such an urgent time to challenge the structures of our current existence, and to seek out visions of future worlds worth living in. 

Disrupting traditional western, capitalistic, theistic tendencies to imagine the future as either utopian or dystopian, the festival will instead conjure a vision of the future as inextricably tied to the world we live in now: its inequities, as well as its possibilities. As such, it is less invested in depicting the world we might create, than in questioning how it is we might make our existing world a more liveable place. 

The intention is to map a more expansive, non-binary, open-ended and fluid conception of what might lie ahead, through an engagement with a form of futurity rooted in a politics of livability, not escapism or mastery. 

By-passing and critiquing the notion that technology alone might save us, this edition of TULCA seeks out practices which engage, among other things; civics, alliances, poetics, politics, bodies, dance, movement, language, decoloniality, sociality, connectivity, collectively and the quotidian acts of everyday existence as among the tools of future world-making.

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Open Call Process & Guidelines:

TULCA is curated through direct invitation and an Open Call process. The final selection of artworks will be based on thematic connection, artistic quality, and feasibility. Selections are made by the curator in consultation with the TULCA producer.

Application Process:

Deadline: 22 April 2022

Artists are invited to propose the presentation of existing artworks, or the production of new work. Works can be proposed for exhibition in the festival, or as one-off performances / events / workshops / screenings comprising part of the public programme. Work must not have been previously exhibited in Galway.

Please send a single PDF attachment (15MB max) that includes the following:

• A concise artist’s statement that tells us about your work and how it might connect or respond to the letter above (250 words max)

• CV (2 pages max)

• Examples of previous work:
  Up to 10 images (must include title; the material / medium; the dimensions / duration; the date of production, and also information on where the work has been shown, if applicable)

Up to 2 web links to video / sound works can be sent (YouTube or Vimeo, extracts should be no longer than 10 minutes. If works are sent in full please suggest a 10-minute excerpt to watch). Include passwords for any private videos.

• A clearly outlined proposal of work to be exhibited, including detail about its installation, technical and accessibility requirements (250 words + 3 photos max).

• Optional: If this is a proposal for new work, please also include any available visualisations, information on materials, costings, technical and venue requirements (additional 250 words max).

Applications should be submitted via email to opencall@tulca.ie

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Notes for Applicants:

TULCA is a focused visual arts festival with limited resources, so please bear this in mind in developing your proposal. TULCA typically takes place across a range of art and non-art venues, such as the An Post Gallery, Galway Arts Centre, NUIG Gallery, University Hospital, Galway City Museum, 126 Gallery and other off-site locations. If you develop a proposal for a specific location or context, we cannot guarantee its availability or feasibility. We encourage artists to take a flexible approach in this regard to allow for a variety of options developed through discussion with the curator.

We will confirm receipt of all applications. Selected artists will be notified no later than 2 May 2022.

We regret we are not able to give individual feedback regarding unsuccessful applications.

There is no submission fee

TULCA is a unique festival that provides the opportunity for artists to engage with a wide audience in new and unusual ways, to build new collaborations and to extend your network with artists nationally and internationally. As well as an artist fee, we offer curatorial and artistic development, technical support and a significant press, marketing and audience campaign. The festival will be accompanied by a publication with commissioned writing. TULCA presents a dynamic programme of education within primary and secondary schools and third level institutions.

All applicants should be aware that, if selected, they will be required to do press and promotion work as necessary. TULCA reserves the right to photograph works and to use elements of accepted entries for exhibition for publicity purposes, unless the artist expressly states the contrary in writing. Copyright of all work remains the property of the artist.

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TULCA Festival of Visual Arts
The World Was All Before Them
Curated by Clare Gormley
4 - 20 November 2022
Galway, Ireland

www.tulca.ie

Image credit: Photo Collage by Superstudio © Superstudio

Announcement: Clare Gormley to curate TULCA 2022

Announcement: Clare Gormley to curate TULCA 2022

TULCA is pleased to announce Clare Gormley as the curator of the 20th edition of TULCA Festival of Visual Arts in 2022.

This forthcoming edition of the festival titled The World Was All Before Them, explores the notion of futurity and asks—in this moment of global change, upheaval and uncertainty—what the political potentials might be in imagining new futures and envisioning new ways of being in this world.

This year’s TULCA will run in November 2022 across multiple venues in Galway city and county.

Clare Gormley is a curator and researcher from and based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She is Head of Programmes and Partnerships at Belfast Photo Festival, where her recent projects include the curation of Zanele Muholi’s first solo exhibition on the island of Ireland (2021), and major forthcoming commissions with artists including Kensuke Koike (2022) and Hannah Starkey (2023). 

Clare is also the co-founder and Director, alongside Anna Liesching, of the Northern Irish Art Network (NIAN), a research, commissioning and curatorial platform supported by Tate, Paul Mellon Centre and British Council. Current and recent NIAN projects include a collaborative symposium with The Courtauld on ‘Northern Ireland’s Feminist and Queer Art Histories’; forthcoming exhibitions at Golden Thread Gallery and Ulster Museum; and a collaborative project with the African Artists Foundation to develop critical discourse around Northern Irish and Nigerian art practice. 

Previously, Clare was Assistant Curator at The MAC, Belfast, where she worked across the visual arts programme, curating a range of exhibitions including the group show, ‘On Refusal: Representation & Resistance in Contemporary American Art’ (2019) and Ambera Wellmann’s solo exhibition ‘UnTurning’ (2021). Prior to this, Clare held curatorial and research positions at institutions including TATE; Pangolin London; Catalyst Arts; and Islington Exhibits, and has worked as an independent curator for organisations such as PS² and Outburst Queer Arts Festival in Belfast. 

Clare is a graduate of the Courtauld Institute of Art (MA), and the Glasgow School of Art (BA) and is Alumni of Tate’s Emerging Curators Group and the Independent Curators International (ICI) Curatorial Intensive programme.

“I’m delighted to be curating the 20th anniversary edition of TULCA; a festival I’ve always admired as a platform and incubator for the visual arts in Ireland. As we somewhat emerge from the fog of the last few years, I’m very excited to be working with the TULCA team on an edition of the festival that both takes stock of our current moment and, hopefully, also provides a glimpse of the way forward as we reckon with the myriad challenges—ecological, societal, political and cultural—posed by our rapidly changing world. I’m particularly looking forward to exploring the work of artists, who are adept at problem-solving, world-making and asking questions about the future of our society, to see what they might have to offer us in this unprecedented moment.” Clare Gormley, TULCA 2022 Curator

TULCA 2022: The World Was All Before Them will run in November 2022 across multiple venues in Galway city and county.

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts
The World Was All Before Them
Curated by Clare Gormley
4 - 20 November 2022
Galway, Ireland

www.tulca.ie

TULCA Education shares the public outcomes of its 2021 programme

TULCA Education Programme 2021

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts is delighted to showcase our 2021 Education Programme offerings.
 
TULCA is a festival celebrating contemporary visual art that takes place annually in November across Galway City and County. there’s nothing here but flesh & bone, there’s nothing more, curated by Eoin Dara, was the title of the 19th edition featuring works by 26 artistic contributors across 4 exhibition venues together with screenings, online workshops, and performances. This year, the Education Programme was thrilled to welcome a new Education Coordinator, Aoife Natsumi Frehan. In introducing Aoife’s vision, the programme explored its potential by building on existing formats, shaped by Aoife’s passion for facilitating arts experiences for children and young people that focus on their voices and ideas. 
 
there’s nothing here but flesh & bone, there’s nothing more, was an aggregate of many unwieldy things including wet caresses, soft affection, immortal loves, necessary resistance, quiet rest, careful togetherness, boundless longing, abiding loss, honeyed scents, close correspondances, vocal exaltation enduring solidarity, unexpected intimacies, ecstatic whispers and deep tenderness. The festival sought to gently offer up some conversations around closeness and connection at a time when we were just beginning to gather again in proximity to one another. The work invited us to consider closeness and connection in many different ways - opening up such discourse through the use of scents, sounds, and visual stimuli.
 
As always, the TULCA Education Programme welcomed inquiring viewers of all ages to think and talk about visual art together. We aimed to encourage people to engage with the artwork and feed their curiosity, both in the space and online; celebrating the breadth of conversations sparked through the shared experience of looking together.

 
TULCA Education is a unique programme that focuses on looking at and responding to visual art in context. TULCA Education aims to welcome schools and the wider community to create an increased awareness and a shared understanding of the visual arts. The programme engages a process of slow looking, reflection and response. Artists probe, question and investigate topics of social concern.

TULCA Education works to continue this process of critical thinking by creating a space for dialogue and learning exchange drawing on lived experience to acknowledge that we all have our own set of visual codes, value systems, likes and dislikes.

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Gallery Tours - Academic

This year we were delighted to be able to welcome learners back into the gallery space for facilitated, in-person Gallery Tours. This year, TULCA welcomed Primary, Secondary and Third level learners from Galway City and County. Tours took a learner-led conversational format that prioritised eliciting interpretations of the work from the viewer over imparting information to them. Participants were encouraged to ask questions and share their thoughts in a safe space where all answers are celebrated.

TULCA Education invited Primary students to think creatively and to remember that an inquisitive mind is a celebrated thing. Secondary students with focus on the leaving cert, were guided to consider the artwork in relation to its context within the exhibition venue and the festival as a whole. Education Officer Kate McSharry delivered third level tours tailored toward professional practice, in order to aid students' understanding of requirements for submission to an exhibition such as TULCA.

A video capturing the focus of the Education Tours can be found here.

Gallery Tours - Public

TULCA Education maintained its commitment to community development by offering family tours and public tours so creative people of all ages could explore the exhibition through experiences tailored to their needs. This allowed a more open and playful conversation catered to specific demographics.

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Artist Talk Series

Presented in partnership with GMIT Centre for Creative Arts and Media.

The Artist Talk Series hosted in association with our partners at the Centre for Creative Arts and Media GMIT is available to watch online. Featured contributors include curator Eoin Dara and artist Mariah Garnett.

• Curator’s Talk: Eoin Dara
• Artist Talk 1: Harun Morrison
• Artist Talk 2: Renèe Helèna Browne
• Artist Talk 3: Mariah Garnett

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County Schools Project

Two County Galway Schools; Scoil Chroí Naofa and Athenry Boys School, participated in our County Project this year through November 2021 into the New Year. The Project brief was designed by the TULCA board and managed by Aoife Natsumi Frehan. The workshop activities were inspired by the curator’s open call letter format and delivered in person in line with public health advice. Both projects were kindly supported by the Arts Office of Galway County Council.

And Somebody, Anybody, Nobody

Visual Artist and Printmaker Aoife Barrett was invited to work with 2 Primary school groups in Athenry, Co. Galway to respond to the curatorial brief. Aoife guided the students to write a letter to/from a place that they missed while Covid restrictions were in place. The underpinning theme of this letter being the sense of longing, the learners had the opportunity to express these through creative letter making. Starting with some paper folding, the students folded their letters into envelopes. After exploring the idea of mail art as another way of communicating, they used rubber stamps and printing techniques to create images inspired by their messages. Aoife brought a handmade letterbox, setting up a mini post office where the students stamped and posted their letters to TULCA.

Photographic documentation from the project can be viewed here

For more information and updates on the TULCA Education Programme visit: www.tulca.ie/education

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts
there’s nothing here but flesh & bone,
there’s nothing more
Curated by Eoin Dara
5 - 21 November 2021
Galway, Ireland

www.tulca.ie

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Images: Jonathan Sammon and Soft Day Media, TULCA Gallery tours (stills from 4K video). Eoin Dara, 35mm B&W photograph, courtesy the artist. Mariah Garnett, The Pow’r of Life is Love 2021. Multi-channel video installation, 4K video (still), color, sound, 13 min. Image courtesy of the artist and Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles. Images from Scoil Chroí Naofa project, 2022. Photo: Aoife Barrett.