arts Archives | Lisa Regan PR

Magical Dragon to roam the streets of Galway

July 19, 2023

This Friday….. Dragon

As part of Galway International Arts Festival The Kings Head are delighted to support the Irish premiere of Dragon, a fantastic creature that will pass through the streets of Galway. This free street performance will allow us to dive into this extraordinary world, as an enormous Dragon wanders the medieval streets of Galway!

Dragon will run 3 times during the festival – Friday 21 July 9.30pm, Saturday 22 July 2pm and 9.30pm. The route is Eyre Square to the Spanish Arch via the O’Brien’s Bridge & Dominick St. Lower.

Look at the fire, witness the shadows dancing in the night. Let the Dragon make your forgotten dreams come true!

Artistic Director and producer Pierre Povigna created Planète Vapeur in 2006. Having studied architecture, Povigna was always passionate about complex mechanisms and giant biomechanical machines. Working with a team of technicians and artists, Planète Vapeur bring fantastic and magical worlds to life.

“Galway International Arts Festival is the highlight of our year at The Kings Head. We have been involved as a venue since the late eighties and look forward to hosting Lunchtime Comedy with the ‘Laughter Loft’ again this year. This year is extra special, as we are lending our support to this amazing, family friendly, free event. Dragon will give that sense of magic on the streets of Galway that we have come to expect every July from Galway International Arts Festival,” said Paul Grealish of The Kings Head.

Check out https://www.thekingshead.ie/ or https://www.giaf.ie/festival/event/dragon for more.

Featured In the Media Love

Exploring the illusion of separation

June 14, 2023

An immersive sculpture installation engaging all senses

Self taught , professional Irish artist and teacher of wire sculpture. Glenn Gibson’s work, spanning two decades, explores themes of mysticism, consciousness and the natural world. For the last six years Glenn has been the Creative Director for Art in Mind, Galway’s artist led non-profit organisation that is dedicated to promoting mental wellbeing through creative practice. Now Glenn is launching One, an immersive sculpture installation engaging all senses which will launch in September 2024.

What started as a hobby became a vital therapeutic tool to combat life’s more difficult times. Combined with a meditation practice Glenn discovered that this focused activity began to untie all the knots in his mind, giving clear and calm periods where creativity poured from him. “It was the only time in my day where the chatter of my brain would abate, my stress and anxiety would fade and time dilate. I had accidentally stepped into a flow state, and have been fascinated with it ever since,” said Glenn.

Introducing One The project:
This work explores the illusion of separation in three parts. “In an ever ‘connected’ world we find more and more people experiencing loneliness and feelings of isolation. The first part explores the sensation of being surrounded by people and still feeling alone, while at the same time offering a perspective shift to realise that everything is interconnected and that we all participate in the creation of our experience,” explained Glenn.

Why 108? In many cultures 108 is a sacred number. According to the mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci, who was born around A.D. 1170 and after whom the Fibonacci sequence is (nick)named, it is believed that the number 108 has a way of representing the wholeness of existence. This subject will be explored more throughout the installation.

Join The 108

The reason I chose to use this number is an entire rabbit hole in itself but suffice to say, 108 is a sacred number, According to Vedic cosmology, 108 is the basis of creation, represents the universe and all our existence. In yoga, the number 108 refers to spiritual completion. That’s the reason why malas used for japa (silent repetition of a mantra) are composed of 108 beads.

The 108 are the core supporters of this project. For more information, to get involved and or to support check out https://108.ie/.

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Blue Teapot – Owning the Space!

October 12, 2022

Blue Teapot Theatre Company has launched its Strategic Arts Plan 2023 – 2027 ‘Owning The Space’ which sets out the company’s vision for the next five years. This is their first arts strategy that is built on three key priorities of Production, Progression and Provision and is a response to the positive development of disability arts in Ireland over the last 20 years.

CEO Artistic Director Petal Pilley said, “We are proud to present our 5 year Strategic Arts Plan ‘Owning The Space’ which reflects a coming of age for Blue Teapot Theatre Company and the unique talent and contribution our artists make to Irish cultural life. With over 25 years performing on the main stages of Ireland, it is all about the artists who can engage and develop on their own terms through three distinct programme strands. They own the space.

Fortuitously, we also recently became the new owners of our theatre premises on Munster Avenue that we have inhabited since 2008. We are thrilled to have a permanent home in the heart of this very special neighbourhood in Galway City. It is time to celebrate!”

Creating the strategy involved the company artists, staff and Board Directors and was developed in consultation with arts advisor & cultural planning specialist Mary McAuliffe, who has over twenty-five years’ experience working in the public and cultural sectors.

Blue Teapot has worked consistently to radically transform theatre practices by telling stories through the lens of disability and pave the way for inclusive practices to become the norm. Particular focus is given to how the company is positioned today at local, national and international levels.

Speaking at the launch, Chairperson Fiona Coffey said, “The Board of Blue Teapot is delighted to be presenting such a visionary and progressive Strategic Arts Plan. Delivering on its goals and objectives will nurture and progress the skills and talents of the company artists and help inform arts and disability policy in Ireland. We look forward to ambitious and exciting times ahead”.

Commenting on the building purchase Chairperson of Galways Westend Traders Association, Simon Heaslip, “Everyone in Galways Westend is ecstatic to hear the news, that our beloved neighbours Blue Teapot, now have a permanent home in our area. This very welcome news only adds to our reputation as the cultural quarter of the city.”

Owning The Space purposely aligns with the Government of Ireland Culture 2025 policy and the Arts Council’s 10-year strategy Making Great Art Work. It informs the development and delivery of artistic programmes and shapes Blue Teapot’s role as influencers in the longer-term for disability arts across Ireland.

The plan is available to view on their new website at www.blueteapot.ie which includes accessibility controls for those who are visually impaired.

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Macnas introduces CON MÓR

October 4, 2022

Macnas Are Back with CON MÓR, The Giant at Macnas HQ, Fisheries Field, Galway on Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th October 2022 from 12 noon to 8pm.

And they are inviting kids and grown-ups to join them in welcoming
this special visitor to Galway!

29th September 2022 – This year, Macnas are back with something big and different! Come down to Macnas HQ at Fisheries Field, Galway to see CON MÓR, The Giant situated on the banks of the River Corrib on Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th October 2022. 

Noeline Kavanagh, Artistic Director said – “Con Mór celebrates the Macnas tradition of conjuring Giants into being… Who can ever forget Gulliver on the beach?!

This year we are inviting the public to see Con Mór at Fisheries Field, our home in the centre of Galway city, where he will be for 48 hours only… It’s a rave, it’s a pilgrimage, it’s the Bank Holiday Weekend! Pop up performances on site across the two days. Bring your feathers, your messages of hope and your wellies and we’ll see you there…”

Adding – “For fans, devotees and lovers of another great Macnas tradition… The Halloween Parade… Macnas will reclaim the streets of Galway next year, October 2023. And we can’t wait!”

A stellar team of local and international talent have come together to bring CON MÓR, The Giant to life, with Director Noeline Kavanagh joined by Co-Designers Paul McDonnell and Dave Young, Lighting & Special Effects Designer Richard Babington, Costumer Designer Cherie White and Composer & Sound Designer Mathew Berrill, as well as local structural steel engineers Pat Rynn Engineering Ltd.

The Bank Holiday weekend will also see pop-up performances from the Macnas Drummers, Macnas Brass, Macnas Youth Theatre and Macns Stilt Ensemble across the city, made up of performers and participants from Macnas’s year round education and public participation programme.

Famed for making giants in both familiar and unexpected landscapes around the world, this year Macnas will bring the magic to their own doorstep with Con Mór emerging for the first time at Fisheries Field in Galway city, the company’s home for over 35 years.

And one for the diary! The spectacular storytellers will light up the streets of Galway once again in 2023, with the world-famous Macnas parade scheduled to make its return at Halloween next year.

The Story of CON MÓR, The Giant

Inventors and explorers from all over the world are baffled by evidence of an ancient giant living underneath the Macnas workshop at Fisheries Field in Galway city. Macnas called on Professor Marjorie Morrigan, an expert on Giants & Where They Come From for help.

Marjorie told them – “This giant seems to have been here for centuries. There is a very large iron nose, so big and rusty, you could park a car in one of the nostrils.”

Marjorie Morrigan went on to confirm that this big fella belongs to the legendary Tuatha Dé Danann tribe. His name is CON MÓR and he comes from an ancient Island of Giants off the coast of Connaught. CON MÓR was so famous across Ireland for his love of birds and nature, his friends used to call him The Bird King! 

To help welcome him to Galway, Macnas is asking kids to make or find a feather – with a message of hope for the future – and deliver it to CON MÓR at Macnas over the Halloween Bank Holiday Weekend. Visit www.Macnas.com for more information.
 

CON MÓR, The Giant is made possible by support from the Art’s Council, Galway City Council, University of Galway, Smyth’s Toys Superstores, Connacht Hospitality Group, AIB, Acorn Insurance, Galway County Council, The Latin Quarter and PWC.