'Veruca Salt has punk energy': Sinéad Keogh on theming a visual arts festival
Veruca Salt is the demanding daughter of a wealthy industrialist in Roald Dahl’s classic children’s novel Curator Sinéad Keogh has borrowed the character's name for this year’s edition of TULCA Festival of Visual Arts in Galway because she gets what she wants.
“I thought she was a good mascot for the programme, a fun symbol of a girl who screams and the world falls to her feet. She definitely has punk energy,” says Keogh.
It might be observed that Keogh has a similar, if less demanding, energy; the curator has a seriously alternative-leaning curriculum vitae, one that includes serving as director of Soul Noir: Festival of the Dark Arts, the Dublin-based showcase for gothic and underground culture, for eight years from its foundation in 2017.
On being approached to curate the 2026 edition of TULCA, Keogh saw an opportunity to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the punk movement.
“I’ve always wanted to do a punk feminist festival, but one that also includes music, DIY culture, and male voices as well as female to make a big beautiful chorus of diversity. I’ve had this idea on the back burner for a long time, and this has been a great opportunity for me to bring it together.”
Keogh relished the opportunity to work in Galway. Most of the curator’s projects to date have been based in Dublin, where Keogh graduated with a Masters in Fine Art from the National College of Art and Design in 2015. Keogh still works in the capital, in a civil service position that seems a long way from the cultural underground.
“I work for the Department of Justice,” the curator says. “It’s almost impossible to make a living in the arts, so I balance the two.”
Like so many others, Keogh finds Dublin unaffordable to rent in, choosing instead to commute from Co Meath. “I live in a cottage in the middle of the countryside. The landscape is very beautiful and unique, and it certainly adds to the gothic atmosphere of my life.”
In Galway, Keogh has installed exhibitions in five venues around the city centre: Galway City Museum on Spanish Parade, Galway Arts Centre on Dominick St Lower, 126 Artist-run Gallery in St Bridget’s Place, An Post Gallery on William St, and the TULCA Gallery at 19 Eyre Square.
The artists Keogh chose to participate are all known for their independence of spirit. “I was looking at the essence of punk in civic action,” the curator says, “so I’ve also included a lot of community groups, like AkiDwa, the Galway Traveller Movement and Domestic Violence Response Galway.
"But I was interested in punk aesthetics as well, so some of the artists are very punk, and their artworks are outrageous in how they’re presented.
“There's a Japanese artist called Seiko Hayase, for instance, who has this six metre tall purple furry sculpture called , in the An Post Gallery. People are encouraged to come in and experience it, and even touch it.
"And then there's another piece by Evgeniya Martirosyan called . Again, it’s this huge sculpture, it's made of rubber and bicycle valves, and it looks like a stingray. It’s a really, really stunning work.”
Some of the artists featured were part of the original punk movement. Keogh is delighted that Guggi, formerly of art rock legends the Virgin Prunes and now a visual artist of international renown, agreed to show his paintings at Galway Arts Centre.
“I read about the Prunes in a magazine called when I was in my early twenties,” the curator says. “I became obsessed with them. So it was great to have a platform like TULCA, where I could reach out to an artist of Guggi’s status and bring his work to audiences in Galway. He was really kind, he even offered me a coffee and chocolate biscuits when I went to his house to pick up the works.”
Guggi also gave his blessing for Keogh to include Ian Thuillier’s recent film documentary on his life and career in the festival. The screening at the Tulca Gallery on November 19 will be followed by a Q&A with the artist and the documentary’s producer, Gabriella Janni.
Keogh’s programme also includes artists’ talks by Rachel Garfield, Del LaGrace Volcano and Euphomia Edward, among others. There will also be music, with Irish bands 50 Foot Woman, Ria Rua and Molly Vulpyne leading the fray at the Women-led Punk Night on November 10.
TULCA always produces a publication to coincide with the festival, and this year Keogh got to invite a diverse group of writers to contribute. “These are all voices that fit in with the themes of civic action and community and punk,” the curator says.
“We have Wigdan Gasmalla, from the AkiDwa organisation, writing on the topic of female genital mutilation, and Elizabeth Power, the manager of Domestic Violence Response Galway, who has written a piece about domestic violence. Both essays look at issues that affect women today and what we can do about them in terms of civic action.
“Then we have the punks. There’s an interview with Cathy O'Donoghue, who was the singer from Ireland's first all-female punk band, the Boy Scouts, and a piece by Gary O'Neill, who published the book, .
"He’s written about his perspective in collecting images of punks, and we’re showing work from his archive on punks and subcultures as well.”
The publication also features essays by Declan Long, who has written about the history of underground clubs and music; Catherine Marshall, who has written about women and community; and Anne O'Brien, a writer who is blind, from a writers’ group in Dublin called The Hardliners, who has written a piece about independence and punk.
“So there's a nice mix, and there’s some really beautiful artwork throughout the publication.”
Keogh’s advice to anyone attending Veruca Salt is to “arrive with an open mind. There's a huge amount of really high-quality artwork, that really packs a punch, and people will be very much rewarded in their experience of it.”
After the festival, Keogh will be concentrating on the day job, for the time being at least. “I’ve been tipping away at Tulca for the last two years now,” the curator says. “I’ve given a huge amount of myself to the programme. So I'm going to take a tiny break, and then we'll see what happens.”
- Veruca Salt: TULCA 2026, curated by Sinéad Keogh, runs in Galway until November 22. Further information: tulca.ie and sineadkeogh.net
