The Galway International Arts Festival (GIAF), founded in 1978, is a cultural organization that produces an annual arts festival in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city ...

, Ireland. It also produces new work that tours nationally and internationally, in addition to presenting the discussion forum, "First Thought Talks". The festival maintains a non-profit status.

History

The Galway Arts Festival organization was founded in 1978 by

University College Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

's Arts Society in collaboration with community activists of Galway Arts Group. The first festival was described in local papers as "Galway Arts Society's Week of

Craic ''Craic'' ( ) or ''crack'' is a term for news, gossip, fun, entertainment, and enjoyable conversation, particularly prominent in Ireland. It is often used with the definite article – ''the'' craic – as in the expression "What's the craic ...

". Their original budget was €1000 of Arts Council Funding and most of the artistic events were staged in an arts centre that now homes Sheridan's Cheesemongers. The name was changed in 2014 to the Galway International Arts Festival to emphasize the diversity of contributors to the festival. "The festival presents and produces work in Galway which sits side by side with the work of artists and companies from around the world," Artistic Director Paul Fahy stated. The name change also facilitated the vision of the festival as a producing body, creating works that tour internationally.

Festival

The festival takes place in Galway for two weeks in late July. It presents and produces programmes across theatre, music, visual arts, opera, street spectacle, dance, discussion, and comedy. The 2018 festival set records for attendance, breaking a quarter million for the first time, representing a 20% increase over the participants in the 2017 festival. Over 600 artists created and took part in over 200 events across the festival. This 41st festival also featured a new Festival Garden in Eyre Square, offering pop-up performances and local food stands. The Festival Garden attracted more than 145,000 people. Visitors to the 2017 festival were estimated to be 45% from Galway, 18% around the rest of Ireland, and 37% outside of Ireland.

Touring

The organisation has produced or co-produced more than 20 productions which have toured to London, New York, Edinburgh, Chicago, Adelaide, Sydney, Hong Kong, and Washington. These include four exhibition commissions. GIAF has also fostered a relationship with

Landmark Productions Landmark Productions is a theatre production company in Dublin, Ireland. Established in 2003 by Anne Clarke, Landmark produces plays in Ireland and tours Irish work abroad. The company has an association with a number of Irish writers including E ...

, a Dublin-based production company. Together, they have produced multiple works written by or directed by Irish playwright

Enda Walsh Enda Walsh (born 1967) is an Irish playwright. Biography Enda Walsh was born in Kilbarrack, North Dublin on February 7, 1967. His father ran a furniture shop and his mother had been an actress. He is the second youngest of six children. Wa ...

that have toured internationally.

Music

GIAF has hosted musical guests in their Big Top tent, erected yearly in the Fisheries Field on the campus of

NUI Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

. GIAF has also partnered with local music and comedy venue Róisín Dubh for some of their programmed events. Performances in the music programme have included:

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nom ...

, Suede, The National, St. Vincent,

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

, Blondie,

Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary class ...

Brodsky Quartet The Brodsky Quartet is a British string quartet, formed in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, in 1972 as the "Cleveland Quartet". Only Ian Belton and Jacqueline Thomas remain as original members. In addition to performing classical music, and in pa ...

and

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Visual arts

Visual artists who have exhibited have included

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...

Bill Viola Bill Viola ( , ; born 1951) is an American contemporary video artist whose artistic expression depends upon electronic, sound, and image technology in new media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human experiences such as birth, d ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

Patricia Piccinini Patricia Piccinini (born 1965 in Freetown, Sierra Leone) is an Australian artist who works in a variety of media, including painting, video, sound, installation, digital prints, and sculpture. Her works focus on "unexpected consequences", conv ...

Hughie O'Donoghue Hughie O'Donoghue (born 1953) is a British painter. Biography Hughie O'Donoghue was born in 1953 in Manchester, England. His father, Daniel O'Donoghue, was also born in Manchester, to Irish parents, and was a railway company clerk in the city. ...

David Mach David Mach (born 18 March 1956) is a Scottish sculptor and installation artist. Life and work Mach was born in Methil, Fife. His artistic style is based on flowing assemblages of mass-produced objects. Typically these include magazines, vic ...

and John Gerrard. In 2018, GIAF announced a new Internship programme in the visual arts to train 25 participants to be able to engage with patrons in the galleries.

Theatre and dance

Irish playwright Enda Walsh has featured in past GIAF line-ups. His first play, "

Disco Pigs ''Disco Pigs'' is a 2001 Irish film directed by Kirsten Sheridan and written by Enda Walsh, who adapted it from his 1996 play of the same name. Cillian Murphy and Elaine Cassidy star as two young people from Cork who have a lifelong, but unh ...

", which was also

Cillian Murphy Cillian Murphy (; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. Originally the lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of the rock band The Sons of Mr. Green Genes, he turned down a record deal in the late 1990s and began acting on stage and in short an ...

's first stage role, debuted at the festival in 1997. Walsh has since gone on to work with the festival to produce works ranging from operas to experimental staged 'rooms.' His 2014 play ''

Ballyturk ''Ballyturk'' is a play by Enda Walsh. Walsh states that ''Ballyturk'' should‘bypass the intellect and go straight to the bones.’" The play was first performed at the Black Box Theatre, Galway on July 14, 2014 in a co-production between Landmar ...

'' won Best Production at the

Irish Times Theatre Awards The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards recognise outstanding achievements in Irish theatre. History The awards were founded in 1997 by ''The Irish Times''. Awards were established in numerous categories, ranging from design, to acting, to overal ...

and his 2011 play ''Misterman'' toured to New York City and was the New York Times Critics' Choice for eighteen days in a row. American actor

John Mahoney Charles John Mahoney (June 20, 1940 – February 4, 2018) was an English-born American actor. He was known for playing Martin Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Frasier'' (1993–2004), and won a Screen Actors Guild Award for the role in 2000. Mahoney ...

was a frequent performer in the festival starting in 2000. Visiting international theatre and dance companies have included the National Theatre,

Propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

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, Steppenwolf, Fabulous Beast Dance Company, Hofesh Shechter Dance Company, Michael Clark Company,

Druid Theatre Company The Druid Theatre Company, referred to as Druid, is an Irish theatre company, based in Galway, Ireland. As well as touring extensively across Ireland, the company's productions have played internationally to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the ...

and the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a f ...

First Thought Talks

Starting in 2012, GIAF hosted a series of talks at each festival revolving around the festival's theme. The 2018 festival's First Thought Talks about 'Home' was opened by President Michael D. Higgins and was followed up by 43 other scholars, artists, scientists, and athletes, both Irish and international. The majority of these talks are recorded and can be accessed online. They are also live-streamed on Facebook.

Gallery

File:101insects giaf2016.jpg, Street performance File:330big top GIAF 16.jpg, "Big Top" tent File:The National.jpg, Performance by The National File:Art is trash98 GIAF.jpg, Art installation File:Galway Arts Festival 2015 Acrobats.JPG, Acrobats

References

{{Authority control Annual events in Ireland Arts festivals in the Republic of Ireland

Arts Festival An arts festival is a festival that can encompass a wide range of art forms including music, dance, film, fine art, literature, poetry and isn't solely focused on visual arts. Arts festivals may feature a mixed program that include music, lite ...

July events Parades in Ireland Tourist attractions in Galway (city) Festivals established in 1978 1978 establishments in Ireland