Michele Horrigan. Photo by Deirdre Power.
Askeaton native Michele Horrigan takes the reins this year for the 22nd edition of TULCA Festival of Visual Arts in Galway.
Since 2002, TULCA Festival of Visual Arts has captivated Galway city and county with an eclectic display of contemporary art. TULCA is a multi-venue, artist-centred festival of contemporary art that works with Irish curators to present innovative exhibitions that provoke and energise audiences into the world of the Visual Arts. Exhibitions take place in both gallery and non-gallery spaces, featuring projects and events across urban and regional contexts.
The 22nd edition of TULCA Festival of Visual Arts will embed itself in multiple venues and locations throughout Galway city and county in November 2024, accompanied by an extensive public programme and publication.
Titled ‘The Salvage Agency’, curator Michele Horrigan shapes the theme for the festival to consider the agency and role of art in contemporary ecology and environmental study, and those that examine the underlying attitudes that have led to today’s critical and urgent impasse.
Michele Horrigan is an artist and independent curator. Since 2006 she is founder and curator of Askeaton Contemporary Arts, facilitating artist experimentation and residencies, exhibitions and publication production in rural Co. Limerick. Over 100 projects have been realised with a particular interest in contemporary art engaged in site-specific, ecological and social practice. Many artworks made in this context have subsequently been presented throughout the world in exhibitions, art biennials and film festivals.
Michele studied art at the University of Ulster, Belfast and the Städelschule, Frankfurt. She is a member of IKT, the international association of curators of contemporary art, and an active collaborator with New York’s Independent Curators International. In 2022 she was presented a Civic Award by Limerick City and County Council in recognition of her ongoing curatorial work in Askeaton. In 2024 she will present the activities of Askeaton Contemporary Arts at the Curatorial Forum held at Expo Chicago on the theme of Curating and the Commons. She continues to develop artistic and curatorial projects for Publics, Helsinki, Flat Time House in London, Schloss Britz in Berlin, and The Model, Sligo.
“I have been a firm admirer of TULCA for many years and have enjoyed watching it grow and encompass the city and county and take its place in the local, national and international art scene. I look forward to working with artists, places and communities that shape its unique vision as the west of Ireland’s most renowned visual arts festival. It is a privilege to be able to follow in the footsteps of last year’s curator Iarlaith Ní Fheorais and build on the legacy of accessibility that she has put in place.”