DETAILS OF this year’s Tulca Visual Arts Festival were unveiled at a reception in the House Hotel last Friday.
The festival, which runs from November 7 to 23, is curated by Cork-born artist George Bolster and goes under the title of I-podism; cultural promiscuity in the age of consumption.
In his introductory essay in the Tulca programme, Bolster remarks: “Tulca 2008 is an examination of the role of curator as both a cultural researcher and consumer. I-podism explores the bombardment we experience when faced with the overwhelming production of new contemporary art, music, dance, architecture and media….The Curator acts as a visual DJ, presenting mix-tapes of separate areas of interest within contemporary practice.”
Among the diverse array of artists Bolster has assembled for his festive ‘mix-tape’ is Vietnam-based Jun Nguyen-Hathsubisha whose Memorial Project Nha Trang, Vietnam: Toward the Complex - For the Courageous, the Curious, and the Cowards is a striking film piece exploring the plight of the country’s rickshaw drivers and fishermen - two groups who find themselves marginalised by new technologies. His show can be seen in No 1 Merchants Road.
No 9 Henry Street is the venue for a group exhibition entitled Chiaroscuro which takes the basic idea of the contrast between light and dark and explores it in different ways.
Bolster’s magpie curatorial instincts are very much to the fore in the group show at Merchants Road, simply titled Shuffle, which brings together disparate artists like Tom Molloy, Mark Cullen, LA-based Joey Kotting, Bea McMahon, Alan Phelan, and Suzanne Wright, among others, in a thought-provoking and lively exhibition.
There’s another group exhibition, entitled Arduous Intent, at Galway Arts Centre in Dominick Street while Tulca events are also to be found at Bar 8 (Dock’s Road ), GMIT in Cluain Mhuire, NUIG gallery, and G126 in the Balybane Industrial estate.
The festival is also casting its net beyond the city limits, with shows in Athenry Castle and Tuam Mill (the latter a solo exhibition by Laura Brennan ).
Full details of this year’s programme can be obtained from Galway Arts Centre in Dominick Street. See also www.tulca.ie
