Contortions and comedy lead to music and mystery

CONTORTIONISM, acrobatics, mysterious transformations, music and dance with Macnas providing the backing track. It must be Galway Arts Festival time again.

The 27th Galway Arts Festival was launched yesterday and promises to celebrate artistic innovation from around the world with a programme of theatre, spectacle, dance, visual arts, music, literature and comedy and contortions.

The week-long festival begins on Monday July 12 boasts two world premiere events produced by the festival; Open Source, a multimedia dance performance involving artists from Iceland and Ireland, and Trad, a new Irish play by Mark Doherty.

Following the success of The Junebug Symphony at last year’s festival, the James Thiérrée’s Compagnie du Hanneton return to Galway with their new physical theatre spectacle La Veillee des Abysses, described as wonderful fusion of contortionism, acrobatics and mysterious transformations.

The 2004 Festival has also teamed up with the China/Ireland Cultural Exchange to bring the Beijing Dance Academy and The China Conservatory of Music.

Music lovers can also look forward to a comprehensive array of events including Beausoleil, Telefon Tel Aviv, Erin McKeown, Burrito Deluxe from the USA, David Byrne, Bill Wyman and The Rhythm Kings from Britain, and Irish stars such as Mozaik (featuring Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny), Bob Geldof, Lunasa, Four Men and a Dog, Scullion, The Undertones and Galway’s own The Saw Doctors.

On the visual arts front, Austrian avant-garde sculptor Erwin Wurm makes his Irish debut at Galway Arts Festival with photographs of human sculptures created in Galway this year.

The Galway Arts Centre will have exhibition of new work by Galway artist Sharon O’Malley, while leading Irish painters Sean McSweeney, Brian Bourke, Graham Knuttel and Jay Murphy are also exhibiting during the festival.

Galway will also play host to some of the funniest men in Ireland. Barry Murphy presents his Comedy Circus, while Dermot Carmody, Kevin McAleer, Eddie Bannon, Ian Coppinger, Brendan Dempsey, David O’Doherty and Des Bishop will also be performing over the weekend.