MÚSCAILT, NUI, Galway’s 10th annual arts festival runs from Monday February 8 to Friday 12 and contains many music, art, performance, and film events for students and the general public to enjoy.
Múscailt, organised by the NUIG Arts and Theatre Office, was officially launched on Monday. This year will see the university musical society GUMS perform its version of The WIZ, a funk-soul take on The Wizard Of Oz, based on the 1978 movie starring Michael Jackson.
Múscailt and Music for Galway will present pianist James Lisney performing music by Schumann and Chopin. Irish rappers Bubba Shakespeare and GMC will perform ‘as Gaeilge’ on the festival’s opening day. Students from the dioplóma sna dána class will present a trad music gig.
The NUIG Chamber Orchestra, Traditional Irish Music Society, Rockapella (Barbershop ), and local grunge band 21 Outs will be performing.
The festival’s Gaeilge night will take place in Tigh an Táilliúra, Cheathrú Rua where Bubba Shakespeare and GMC will join comedienne Kathleen O’Ruairc. They will be followed by DJ Ben O’Faoláin.
Alice Maher will exhibit two of her iconic pieces, Coma Berenices and The Seduction, which were recently acquired by NUIG. As well as giving a short talk on her work, Alice will also open the visual art exhibitions in Múscailt, including Slippage, a temporary solo exhibition of drawings and animations by Aideen Barry.
The group exhibition Acquisitions will feature work by Robin Jones, Aideen Barry, Ben Geoghegan, Dagmar Drabent, Brian Maguire, and Brigit Beemster. Many of these artists, including stone carver Pat Bracken, will participate in a series of informal morning conversations.
MUSE, the 30th annual Art Society exhibition, will feature a collection of drawings, paintings, textiles, and sculptures. A new ceramic sculpture by Simon Murphy, specially created for the 10th Múscailt Festival, will also be unveiled.
Theatre events include Plastic Age by Francomime and Colours the Opera by Colours Street Theatre. A new initiative, SOLO SHOW – Monologue for Múscailt, will feature short solo performances.
Comedian John Colleary will perform with student comedian Steve Bennett in support. Artist Benji de Burca will create a giant cut-out painting using stencils of images of students created on the day. The Juggling Society will perform with special guest juggler Marco Paoletti, while Cumann Drámaíochta will provide a performance ‘as Gaeilge’.
For film fans, new releases will be shown throughout the festival and the Fantasy and Science Fiction Society will run a marathon of retro sci-fi films.
All events are open to the public and are free, with the exception of the James Lisney (for tickets contact 091 - 705962/[email protected] ) and The WIZ at the Black Box (091 - 569777/www.tht.ie ).
