Art and culture re-imagined for Galway 2020

From September until March 2021, more than 350 artists from Galway, and across Ireland, will take part in a series of arts and cultural events celebrating the creativity for which the west of Ireland region is renowned.

The new Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture programme will offer both live and digital components, ranging over 28 projects and hundreds of events that continue the original theme of ‘Language, Landscape and Migration’.

Highlights will include the unveiling of Mirror Pavilion, an installation by Irish artist John Gerrard, which was commissioned by Galway International Arts Festival for Galway 2020. 

With three sides and roof clad in a highly reflective mirror and a fourth wall a high-resolution LED screen, the installation is a beautiful and striking structure. Promising dazzling moments and experiences on the Wild Atlantic Way landscape, Mirror Pavilion will host two different artworks, one at the historic Claddagh Quay in Galway city (3–26 September) and another at the spectacular 4,000-year-old Derrigimlagh Bog in Connemara (11–31 October). 

The re-imagined programme will also feature Macnas, the internationally acclaimed performance and spectacle company, who will bring a dramatic new interpretation of the world’s oldest story to Galway. The legend of Gilgamesh is an epic tale following a young king as he embarks upon a quest for answers to humanity’s fundamental questions about love, power, death and immortality. 

Gilgamesh’s extraordinary adventures will unfold across Galway city, county and online, and will see Macnas elevate its signature style to challenge the boundaries and possibilities of traditional theatre and storytelling – outdoors, indoors and at Macnas.com

The Galway 2020 programme sees the return of major Irish theatre company Druid to live performance in the fields, woods and gardens of Coole Park, a nature reserve that was once the home of Lady Gregory, dramatist, folklorist and co-founder of Dublin’s famous Abbey Theatre.

Performed by a company of 12 actors and musicians, and directed by Garry Hynes, DruidGregory (15 September – 17 October) will include six of Lady Gregory’s one-act plays in a tribute to, and an animation of her life and works. 

This will be followed by a four-week tour through the towns and communities of Lady Gregory’s beloved County Galway and will include unique one-off outdoor performances at Kylemore Abbey and other landmark sites in the area.

The ambitious new Galway 2020 programme makes every effort to create live experiences for audiences again, in a safe way, with those unable to attend having the opportunity to experience memorable moments in their own homes. Further online elements of the programme are to be announced to enable overseas audiences to experience Galway at its best.

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