Travel A year to

Travel A year to remember From the sublime to the surreal, Galway’s 2020 programme is full of soul Since 1985, one or two European cities have been annually chosen as Capitals of Culture, with the aim of putting specific regions at the heart of cultural life across Europe and boosting their profile and regional development through cultural expression and tourism. This year, Galway holds the title jointly with Rijeka, Croatia. From February 2020, a year-long programme of arts and cultural events throughout the county and online will celebrate Galway’s status. Themed around the Celtic seasons, many hundreds of mostly free events continue to showcase the talent and spirit of the city despite the ongoing pandemic shaking the arts and culture world to its foundations. Just three of those performances are listed below; for the full programme, visit galway2020.ie Hitting the right note: Musician Anna Mullarkey epitomises the city’s creative spirit and energy Executive of Galway City Council. “Some 1,500 people spontaneously showed up to see them off with a round of applause and a song. When the decision was announced in Dublin, we had 4,000 watching on screens in Eyre Square. The people are really behind this.” Marilyn Gaughan Reddan, Galway 2020 Head of Programme, said: “This has come from the people of Galway and will continue with them. The landscapes will provide the galleries, and the streets the theatres. We want collectively to present projects of great beauty that are celebratory, meaningful and ask hard questions – such as ‘City of Light, City of Sanctuary’, in which we create lanterns from the memories of place of both natives and immigrants, to be paraded through the city.” Anna Mullarkey is the epitome of what Galway 2020 represents and wishes to encourage. She is a young, talented composer-performer, a singer in both Irish and English, rooted in place but receptive to international musical influences from Tchaikovsky to reggae. Master of the accordion Máirtín O’Connor was her neighbour when she was a child. “It just seemed normal to have this genius playing tunes in the living room,” she said. For Anna: “Galway has a strong sense of community. Creative people feel comfortable here because the city understands and supports them. The sea calms us and gives us a sense of the vastness beyond. You feel unconfi ned.” Galway 2020 chose her to write and perform music for its launch, which happened on a Galway Reimagined (above): In ‘the show must go on’ spirit, the Galway 2020 Reimagined programme will continue the city’s celebrations inspite of the challenging times. Staying true to the original theme, the mix of live and digital multimedia experiences will bring hundreds of acts into the living rooms of people’s homes until March 2021. Galway Sound Harvest (below): In a true celebration of the city’s multilingualism, cultural diversity and eclectic sonic landscape, the Atmos Collective is creating a music album with the help of Galway’s residents. Using compositions from youth and community workshops, artistic collaborations and hip-hop ‘popup shops from across Galway, the music will be debuted during a special concert in March 2021. Mirror Pavilion (above): Within Irish artist John Gerrard’s two artworks, set in Galway City and Connemara, AI-generated mythical characters create a constantly evolving performance on LED walls, while the mirrored structures – powered by sustainable energy sources – reflect the environment around them. 66 / Jaguar Magazine Jaguar Magazine / 67