Gallery Assistant Development Programme

Gallery Assistant Development Programme 2026

The Gallery Assistant Development Programme is a curated opportunity for a small group of artists, art students and those with an active interest in contemporary art to engage with TULCA Festival of Visual Arts from inside the festival.

Selected participants will spend time alongside the festival team across the preparation and duration of the festival, gaining insight into curatorial thinking, gallery operations, and the wider ecology of contemporary art production. It is a space to learn, ask questions, and have honest conversations about what it means to work in and around contemporary art.

Places are limited to 6 –10 participants. 

What the programme offers

  • Behind the scenes access to the curatorial and organisational process

  • Facilitated group discussions on art, practice, and the festival context

  • One to one mentoring sessions with members of the TULCA team

  • Practical introductions on gallery operations and visitor engagement

  • A certificate of participation on completion of the programme

Programme structure

Before the festival Participants meet as a group ahead of opening for an orientation session. This introduces the festival programme, the venues, and the curatorial framework behind this year's edition. It is also a chance for the group to get to know one another before the festival begins.

During the festival, participants will spend agreed time across festival venues as gallery assistants, with structured time built in for learning and discussion. A typical week might include:

  • 2 gallery sessions of approximately 3 hours each a week — present in a venue, engaging with visitors and the work. Sessions are agreed in advance and scheduled around your availability.

  • 1 group discussion session — a facilitated conversation responding to the programme, usually 1.5 hours

  • Access to talks, openings, and public events as part of the festival 

  • One brief check-in with the Gallery Manager

Approximate weekly time commitment: 10 hours - There is no obligation beyond what is agreed at the start of the programme, and scheduling is always done in dialogue with you.

End of the festival - a closing session brings the group back together to reflect on the experience. Participants are invited to share thoughts on their own practice in light of what they encountered. This session also opens a conversation about next steps - further opportunities, connections made, and how the experience sits within each participant's broader development.

Who it is for

The programme is open to artists, art students, aspiring cultural managers and those with an active interest in contemporary art. We are looking for people who are genuinely curious, who want to understand how a festival is made, and who are willing to engage actively with the work, the spaces, and each other.

Participants must be age 18 or older and available to take part across the festival period.

How to apply

To apply, email volunteer@tulca.ie with a short note explaining why you would like to take part and what you hope to get from the programme.

Deadline: 27 September 2026

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts
Veruca Salt
Curated by Sinéad Keogh
6-22 November 2026
Galway, Ireland

www.tulca.ie

Video: Laura Griffin

TULCA at Tsundoku Art Book Fair 2026

 

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts will take part in Tsundoku Art Book Fair 2026, presented by PhotoIreland, taking place 17–19 April at the International Centre for the Image.

Returning to Dublin this April, the fair brings together independent publishers, artists, and organisations from Ireland and internationally, with a programme of events including launches, exhibitions, and workshops.

TULCA will present two recent publications from the 2025 and 2024 festival editions.

Strange lands still bear common ground

Produced on the occasion of the 23rd edition of TULCA Festival of Visual Arts, curated by Beulah Ezeugo, this publication extends the exhibition programme through essays, artworks, and contributions by Caroline Mac Cathmhaoil, Francis Jones, Jericho Mars, Hussein Mitha, Enya Moore & Kate O’Shea, PATHOS, and Durre Shahwar.

Published November 2025

View publication

The Salvage Agency

Produced for the 22nd edition of TULCA Festival of Visual Arts, curated by Michele Horrigan, this publication considers the role of art in contemporary ecology and environmental action, engaging with landscape, public space, and political structures.

Published November 2024

View publication

Tsundoku Art Book Fair 2026
17–19 April 2026
International Centre for the Image
Dublin

 
Source: https://image.museum/on/tsundoku-art-book-...

TULCA 2026: Open Call

 

TULCA 2026: Open Call

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts is pleased to announce the Open Call for the 2026 festival, curated by Sinéad Keogh.

2026 marks fifty years since the inception of Punk as we know it. A movement sparked from a need for change, born of the underground, Punk would go on to alter culture and society forever. An ideology of reform gave people a choice to say “no”, to push back, and to adopt a DIY approach. These acts of rebellion became a catalyst for more progressive modes of expression, opening the doors for new diverse approaches to music, art, and a command for equitability more expansively.

The 24th edition of TULCA Festival of Visual Arts, entitled Veruca Salt, considers what it means to know who you are and know what you want. The selected artists and community partners engage with practices that operate at the  periphery of the mainstream, dismantle gender roles, and challenge dominant  norms within an ambitious and inclusive programme. Veruca Salt is a punk and women-led proposition that seeks to disrupt through transgressive agency and a strong sense of conviction.

“I want a party with roomfuls of laughter
Ten thousand tons of ice cream
And if I don't get the things I am after
I'm going to scream!”

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts invites proposals from artists working in any medium. For the 2026 edition, there is a particular focus on artists based in the West of Ireland. Proposals may include new commissions or existing works that respond to the themes of Veruca Salt. Submissions that engage with the ethos of Punk, as well as the ecological and cultural landscape of the West of Ireland, are especially encouraged.

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.

Open Call Process & Guidelines can be found here.

Deadline: 30 April 2026, 5pm

Image: Rachel Garfield, Art Sex Work: Brixton Hill Punctum, video still, 2022

 

Announcement: Sinéad Keogh to curate TULCA 2026

 

Announcement: Sinéad Keogh to curate TULCA 2026

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts is pleased to announce Sinéad Keogh as the curator of the 24th edition of the festival.

Sinéad Keogh is a multimedia performance installation artist and curator with an MFA from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. Keogh is the founder, director and curator of Soul Noir: Festival of the Dark Arts, a Dublin based festival for the Gothic and alternative arts (2017–2024).

Keogh’s curatorial practice aims to engage audiences with countercultural, underground and alternative voices that are often absent from the mainstream arts scene. Work with artists is approached in a direct and considered manner, alongside expanded programming and community engagement that seeks to broaden access and participation. A strong feminist position is present within this practice, alongside advocacy for artists and audiences who are blind or visually impaired.

Keogh has worked with artists ranging from emerging artists such as Bassam Al-Sabah and Shota Kotake to cult experimental film artist Vivienne Dick to other esteemed, established visual artists such as Alice Maher.

“I am very honoured to be working with TULCA and to be developing a programme that platforms underrepresented communities, women’s groups, and artists working outside of conventional structures. The 2026 edition brings together these practices through a shared ethos of punk and DIY culture, with a focus on collaboration, collective action, and community engagement.”

— Sinéad Keogh, TULCA 2026 Curator

TULCA 2026: Veruca Salt will run from 6-22 November 2026 across multiple venues in Galway city and county.

TULCA is now accepting submissions for the Open Call. For information on how to apply, and to read a short curatorial statement from Sinéad Keogh, visit the Open Call here.

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts
Veruca Salt
Curated by Sinéad Keogh
6-22 November 2026
Galway, Ireland

www.tulca.ie

Photo: Sinéad Keogh

 

Part Six: Publication | TULCA 2025

 

Part Six: Publication | TULCA 2025

The final instalment of the TULCA 2025 recap series focuses on the festival publication, Strange lands still bear common ground, produced on the occasion of the 23rd edition of TULCA Festival of Visual Arts and curated by Beulah Ezeugo.

Extending the 2025 programme, the publication brings together new essays, artworks, and contributions by Caroline Mac Cathmhaoil, Francis Jones, Jericho Mars, Hussein Mitha, Enya Moore & Kate O’Shea, PATHOS, and Durre Shahwar.

Featured contributions include:
A Collection of Ocean Waifs — Enya Moore & Kate O’Shea
Construction — Francis Jones
An Ireland of the West — Caroline Mac Cathmhaoil
PATHOS Guiding Principles — Ailbhe McDaid, Julie Morrissy, Leah Smith
Reorientating Borders Into — Durre Shahwar
The Wretched of the City (excerpt) — Hussein Mitha
Imagine for a moment that it is spring — Jericho Mars

Edited by Beulah Ezeugo, with copyediting by Joanne Laws and design by Pure Designs, and published by TULCA Publishing.

Order Publication

Available online and via selected stockists.

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts
Strange lands still bear common ground
Curated by Beulah Ezeugo
7-23 November 2025
Galway, Ireland

Image credit:
Strange lands still bear common ground publication. Photo: Mary McGraw