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Quotes from our Partners
“Savage Beauty was a once in a lifetime project for me. Almost impossible task in monumen tal scale without any backups in one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world. This scale is very rarely possible to work with and this kind of project requires great people with great professionality and production like Galway2020 that believes the project without hesitation. On this journey i learned a lot about the area, people, way of living in the region and inner peace. It was a great privilege to work with local people on the mountains in such a great spirit, even with really harsh conditions. After this shared experience and project it is my honour to call many of them as friends.
For me this is exactly why Capitol of Culture projects are very important, we can share knowledge, culture and create together projects that are not possible in any other way. This way we can create long term impact with a short-term project”
“We were delighted to be part of Galway’s ECoC programme. It allowed us to dream bigger artistically and collaboratively and gave us the platform to share our work with the county, country and world. This, during a global pandemic, is no small feat.”
– Maeve Bryan, Galway Music Residency, Producer of The Mighty Ocean
“Galway 2020, despite the challenges of the past year, delivered an engaging, exciting and impactful programme. At a time when we needed it most, the Arts were there for the people and through Galway 2020, Irish culture was made available around the world.”
– Feargal Hynes, Executive Director, Druid
“Baboró has benefited from the opportunity to commission Irish artists to make innovative work with and for children in our community, whilst engaging with exceptional artists from across the globe. These relationships and the collective experience will benefit Galway and its community for many years to come.”
– Aislinn hEocha, Director, Baboro International Festival for Children, producer of RISE
“The legacy of Virtually Here will span far beyond the scope of its timeline in providing valuable learning resources which can be accessed by teachers and pupils nationwide.”
– Michael Mc Namara, Team Leader, Immersive Classroom Project
“Culture is about the extent of your imagination. Imagination can take you anywhere. Galway 2020 has taken us all on a journey, circumnavigating a pandemic, and filling our children, and our communities with curiosity with an unprecedented programme. We were delighted to play a small part”
– David Minton, North Western Regional Assembly
“We are thankful for the opportunity Galway 2020 presented us and, most of all, grateful to all the partners, artists, supporters, and friends who got us here. Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture year may be coming to an end but, for us, Galway will always be a capital of culture, deeply connected to Europe and the rest of the world.
– Ulla Hokkanen, Executive Creative Director, Galway Community Circus, Wires Crossed
“Galway 2020 enabled us to launch Festival in a Van, with all three vans touring Galway City and County in one day. From Clifden to Ballinasloe we played at Nursing Homes, housing estates and watched school children dance. After so many months of feeling that nothing was possible, suddenly it all was. Doing things differently makes things happen, and the team at Galway 2020 made it all possible, and gave us a great Galway welcome!”
– Gemma Tipton, Producer, Festival in a Van
“Working with the visual artist Louise Manifold, and the Foley artist Jean McGrath for Aerial/Sparks on Inis Oirr for Galway 2020 was a tonic in a strange and uncertain year. My thanks to Louise for her huge commitment and perseverance, and to Galway 2020 for the constant support and back-up.”
– Kevin Barry, Aerial/Sparks Artist
“I would like to thank you and all the Galway 2020 team for hosting and producing the Aerial/Sparks project and exhibition, which has been a tremendous success under such challenging circumstances. It was an honour for me to be involved, and the process of developing and creating a new body of artwork as a result of my initial residency aboard the RV Celtic Explorer has been hugely beneficial to my artistic career. The friendships and art/science collaborations I was able to establish during this time are continuing beyond the closing of this memorable chapter in my life.”
– David Stalling Aerial /Sparks Artist
“Four years of preparations went into the creation of my project, Sea Tamagotchi for ECoC which involved an intimate, one-to-one, community-focus folklore project in some of the remotest regions of Ireland’s Atlantic coastline. It launched in February 2020 and with the arrival of the Pandemic could have been entirely scuppered. But, the team at Galway 2020 were determined we wouldn’t give in. They helped me re-imagine the entire project into a Covid safe format.”
– Manchán Magan, Sea Tamagotchi
“Galway 2020 has brought lots of great opportunities for me as a Galway based theatre maker. The program has given me the support to create new street theatre and virtual reality work as well as to work closely with international artists and travel through Europe meeting like minded makers. I’m very grateful to have learned new skills, formed partnerships and to have met some wonderfully creative people I wouldn’t have met otherwise.”
– James Riordan, Theatre Maker
“The InterAction programme which featured app launches, VR videos & award winning shows, captured an audience of thousands from over 44 countries. The programme adapted and kept over twenty people in the creative industry employed during a time of great unknown. Galway Theatre Festival would like to thank Galway 2020 for their trust and ongoing support for the InterAction programme.”
– Jane Hanberry, Producer, InterAction, Commissioned by Galway 2020
“The Europa Film Festival network originated from a Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture programme project and first met at a conference during the 2017 Galway Film Fleadh. The network has 14 members from Iceland to France and Greece to Finland, it provides a formalised system for sharing information, strategies and culture amongst independent film festivals. Without the support of Galway 2020, Galway Film Fleadh would not have had the resources and financial capacity to nurture and develop Europa Film Festivals into a network that now represents a strong voice in European film festival culture.”
– Miriam Allen, CEO, Galway Film Fleadh
“Galway 2020 supported us in the creation and development of A Bird at my Window and Other Stories. This was an intimate performance piece for children and their families in hospital settings, incorporating shadow play, puppetry and storytelling. Having the financial support of Galway 2020 and the belief in us as artists to deliver gave us the confidence and ability to create something really special. It is our wish that these shadowbox theatres and stories bring joy and excitement to the children and families who take part.”
– Sarah Fuller, Artist, A Bird at my Window and Other Stories – The Deepest Shade of Green
“Livefeed has been such a rewarding and inspiring project to work on… our epic journey with Galway 2020 started in January 2019 and has taken in workshops and gigs across the city and county as well as a whole series of live and pre-recorded performances reflecting the current times. To see our young songwriters, musicians and photographers grow in confidence and ability over the last few years has been incredible!
Support from Galway 2020 enabled us to adapt to online presentation, providing a much needed sense of community and a creative outlet for the young people involved.”
– Tracey Bruen, David Boland, Eoin Butler, Live Feed Team
“Gilgamesh is an origin story, the oldest tale ever written down by humans. On the surface it is an adventurous epic, the world’s first hero’s journey but in fact it’s way more than that, it’s the story of us – all of us – humanity. The themes that consumed the planet 3,000 years ago are being played out today… Power, love, death… The consequences of our choices upon others and the natural world… These are all at the centre of this story, at the centre of human existence. The telling of Gilgamesh has been quite the journey. With the support of Galway 2020 we set off to deliver a programme of large scale events. The past 12 months has seen Macnas, like so many others, pivot and reimagine and dream it all up again for this brave new world. An ongoing, ever-evolving collaboration with playwright Marina Carr, who has delivered such an accessible, vital epic; an incredible lead creative team of designers; plus so many talented artists and makers, has allowed Macnas to take our work to a whole other level and explore new territories. It’s been exhausting, exciting, exhilarating… pure magic.”
– Noeline Kavanagh, Artistic Director, Macnas
We had a great time putting the Galway 2020 edition of The Stinging Fly together, working with the guest editors, Lisa McInerney and Elaine Feeney, and all the contributing writers and poets. We got to have a party on the page and we’re still enjoying the afterglow thanks to the warm responses from readers near and far that continue to filter in. We’re very grateful to everyone at Galway 2020 for their support throughout, from planning right through to publication.”
– Declan Meade, Publisher of The Stinging Fly
“We were honoured to be included in Louise Manifold’s Aerial Sparks project for Galway 2020. The opportunities this curatorial project created for us – a residency on the Celtic Explorer research vessel and time creating work on Inis Oírr – were unforgettable and will sustain our imagination and practice for many years to come.”
Kennedy Browne, Aerial /Sparks Artist
“I am delighted and proud that To The Island/ An t-Oileán Thiar is now in the hands of every child who started school throughout Galway city and county in the year 2020. It showcases the talents of Italian artist, Nicola Bernardelli who did the illustrations, and of Galway musician and composer Anna Mullarkey who wrote the music that accompanied the book. It was a project built on partnership and would not have happened without the help of the Galway 2020 team, publisher Little Island and the team at Galway Libraries. Tá súil agam go mbainfidh gasúir na Gaillimhe taitneamh as an leabhar seo sna blianta amach romhainn.”
– Patricia Forde, Author, To the Island
“Working across a variety of projects for Galway 2020, European Capital of Culture, has led to increased opportunities, experiences and capacity building as an independent producer working in Galway. Already, several new international, European and national opportunities have presented themselves as a direct result of projects which I have been working on over the last number of years as part of Galway 2020, ECoC. Many of the partnerships and networks which I have built will continue on in my future career, and it would have been extremely difficult and taken a lot longer for me to build collaborations of this scale so quickly without this support of Galway 2020.”
– Jill Murray, Cultural Producer
“Without the support of Galway 2020 it would have been impossible for us to have commissioned John Gerrard to create a work of such scale as Mirror Pavilion. Galway 2020 backed the project from its inception and were a great support to our Festival team as we realised this project. We are very grateful to Galway 2020 and congratulate them on their support of all the projects which were realised over the last 18 months amidst the backdrop of a global pandemic”.
– Paul Fahy, Galway International Arts Festival
“The invitation to participate in the Galway 2020 programme launch was instrumental to our company. To experiment a new concept on a large scale format and in front of thousands of people never usually happens. The combination of a time for celebration, a powerful belief in what could be achieved together, and an amazingly supportive team have made it possible. This unique opportunity has been the seed of a new show, due to premiere in 2021. A show deeply rooted in Galway, that will go on to tour the world”.
– Camille Beaumier, direction I production, Gratteciel
“We at Branar are grateful for the opportunity that Galway2020 provided us. We realised a project specifically created for children which finally had a budget to match our artistic ambitions. The fact that our project is one of the largest ever created for children in an ECoC is a testament to the ambition, imagination and support that existed during the creation of the Bid Book. We are proud to have collaborated with and employed over 80 talented artists, technicians, craftspeople, artisans and creative producers the majority of whom are based in Galway and the West of Ireland”.
– Marc Mc Loughlin, Branar
“Being part of the ECOC Programme has been a fantastic opportunity for Galway Film Centre Forming the Screen Talent Europe Network with our sister organisations has not only strengthened our relationships throughout Europe but has also given Irish talent access to training, events and networking opportunities with their European peers”.
– Alan Duggan, Director , Galway Film Centre
“Galway County Council Arts Office continues to support our artists and communities to avail of the many opportunities that have come from the legacy of the European Capital of Culture, Galway 2020. Despite the many challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the legacy of 2020 will continue to be reflected in the level of creativity and engagement it has inspired throughout the County. A newfound confidence in reaching out to our European neighbours to collaborate on cultural programmes and projects has emerged and we will foster and support these conversations into the future. The European Capital of Culture designation will continue beyond 2021 and it will presents us with many opportunities to showcase our attractiveness as a centre of cultural excellence not only in Europe but on a global stage”.
– Sharon O’Grady, County Arts Officer, Galway County Council
“The Irish word ‘at Aistriú crossing territories, languages and artforms are rich literary texts, written in Irish, that address the theme of migration. Our goal was to bring these texts to new audiences in 2020 by having them translated into different languages and into new artforms. Galway 2020 afforded us the chance to work with translators and artists from all over Europe to reach a global audience. Irish literature, the oldest literature in Western Europe, was back in its proper European context”.
– Prof. Rióna Ni Fhrighil (NUI Galway), Co-director of Aistriú
“Beset by many storms and facing a global pandemic, Galway 2020 returned to its roots and began to navigate again on the principles which inspired the successful bid in 2016. TG4 has always trusted in those inherent principles and congratulates all the G2020 team, volunteers and creative artists for their achievements, their vision and their passion”.
– Alan Esslemont, Ard-Stiúrthóir/Director General TG4
‘’Galway 2020’s enabling and resourcing of the resilience, innovation and creativity shown by so many Galway artists and arts organisations in the face of Covid-19 adversity will be a treasured legacy’’.
– Fergal Mc Grath, Director, Town Hall Theatre
“We at Galway City Museum are very grateful to Galway 2020 for giving us the opportunity to create and present our MONUMENT exhibition at the Museum. With a primary focus on the stone forts of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, this innovative project also investigates some of Europe’s most impressive stone monuments located on some of Europe’s smallest islands.
The exhibition involved detailed collaboration with a wonderful team that included project managers, architects, archaeologists, artists, craft makers, film makers, set designers, electricians, case builders, carpenters, lighting designers and map makers. The exhibition will form part of the Galway 2020 legacy by running until 2023, supported by the wonderful Wave Maker Volunteers post 2020. Míle buíochas!”
– Eithne Verling & Sybil Curley, Curators MONUMENT
