Seven fire-breathing insects oblivious to the worst of the Atlantic elements prepared to take to the streets of Galway last night, as Minister for Arts Heather Humphreys declared it was "festival time".
Artist Hughie O’Donoghue’s take on the nature of “truth” around the events of 1916 is one of the highlights of the Galway International Arts Festival’s (GIAF) visual arts programme, which was formally opened by Ms Humphreys.
The Minister, who was visiting the city on the closing day of the Galway Film Fleadh, also confirmed she had approved a "final" funding injection of €255,000 for arthouse cinema the Picture Palace.
Ms Humphreys had granted completion funding of €735,000 for the €8 million project last year, in addition to the €2 million already granted by her department, with a condition that Galway City Council take over project management.
She said yesterday that Element Pictures, which runs Dublin’s Lighthouse Cinema, would assume “management, completion and operation” of the project, which has been spearheaded by film-maker Lelia Doolan.
Capital of culture
Galway has been designated as a
Unesco
city of film, and completion of the cinema is seen as key to the city’s bid for the European capital of culture 2020 title, to be decided later this week. Limerick and the “three sisters” of Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford are also competing for the 2020 title, and the judges are due in Galway today when the arts and fringe festival programmes open in full.
Highlights of GIAF's visual arts programme include artist Ruth McHugh's observation of the final moments of the Ballymun flats in Dublin; and work by graduates and students of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology's creative arts and media and Letterfrack campuses.
Theatre includes playwright Enda Walsh's new work, Arlington; Druid Theatre's interpretation of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot; the National Theatre of Scotland/Live Theatre's adaptation, Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour; and performances by Australian physical theatre company Gravity and Other Myths.
An Taibhdhearc theatre is staging Eoghan Ó Tuairisc's Fornocht do Chonac, and street events include Spanish theatre company Sarruga's giant insects, crawling the streets from 10pm last night and to night.
Fringe festival
The Galway Fringe Festival has received
Arts Council
funding for its programme this year, which includes a day-long commemoration of poet
Patrick Kavanagh
on July 16th and a one-man show by
Claddagh
national schoolteacher
Sean Leonard
on animal rights pioneer “Humanity Dick” Martin, which runs from July 12th-16th. giaf.ie, galwayfringe.ie
