First Thought

Welcome to the official Audio Guide to Burning Down the House By David Mach as part of Galway International Arts Festival 2025. David Mach is one of the UK’s most successful, prolific and respected artists, best known for his dynamic and large-scale collage, and his imposing and provocative public art, sculpture and installations constructed from mass-produced materials including coat hangers, car tyres, newspapers and magazines. Mach’s previous sensational GIAF exhibitions – 2012’s Precious Light which featured the enormous crucifixion sculpture Golgotha, made from steel and wire coat hangers, and 2018’s Rock ’n’ Roll which saw Mach place a yacht, car and a caravan with multiple other objects and debris within a monumental quantity of painstakingly positioned newspapers; and 2023’s The Oligarch’s Nightmare which featured an exploding Range Rover – enjoyed record-breaking audiences. He returns to the Festival with this new site-specific installation Burning Down the House at the Festival Gallery, William Street.  For more information about other shows in the festival visit www.giaf.ie.

Welcome to the official Audio Guide to Tactile Tunes by Jane Cassidy and Arts Alive at the Aula Maxima, University of Galway as part of Galway International Arts Festival 2025. Tactile Tunes is led by Jane Cassidy, a multimedia artist and educator from Galway. Arts Alive Galway is a community-based arts programme for adults with intellectual disabilities under The Brothers of Charity Services Galway. Arts Alive Galway aims to make the joy of music accessible to everyone, transforming how we engage with sound through inclusive creativity. Tactile Tunes is an interactive musical installation designed to encourage music-making among people of all abilities. Using sensory-friendly materials and surfaces, it blends sound, touch, visuals, and movement to create an immersive environment. The project celebrates the belief that everyone has the right — and the ability — to make music in their own way. Developed with the support of Galway Culture Company and Galway International Arts Festival’s ELEVATE Bursary, and the Create Artist in the Community Scheme.  

Welcome to the official Audio Guide to We Travel Together By Patricia Piccinini as part of Galway International Arts Festival. Patricia Piccinini is one of Australia’s most acclaimed artists who has received worldwide attention for her startling sculptures, installations and digital environments. Born in Sierra Leone, Patricia uses her craft to create striking images of hyperrealistic hybrid animals, humans and creatures to question the way that contemporary technology and culture changes our understanding of evolution and what it means to be human. When leaving this exhibition the artist hopes the audience are inspired to ask questions about the changing relationship between us and the world around us and that hopefully, we can begin to imagine a new way forward, together with other creatures rather at their expense. The Festival Gallery is presented in association with The Dean Galway who also provided support for this audio guide. For more information about other shows in the festival visit www.giaf.ie.

Vinyl Hours is a series of talks with music aficionados in conversation with music maestro Tiernan Henry. On this episode Tiernan sits down with internationally renowned photographer, film maker, DJ, and chronicler of hip hop music and culture Brian Cross [AKA B+] to discuss the music, particularly music on vinyl records as you'll hear, that moves him. This episode was recorded live at GIAF 2023. Listen along to Brian Cross's playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/11xKo54H41Dp8TARbh6qit?si=031e520755014011 Spend an hour on an aural journey of treasured musical memories with special guests, who reveal their go-to playlists, the soundtrack to their lives and explore what exactly it stirs within them; fun, heartbreak and revolution.

Welcome to First Thought Backstage with Galway International Arts Festival, a series where we sit down with theatre-makers from GIAF 2023 to discuss the making of their shows. Life & Times of Michael K, is a hugely ambitious theatrical staging of Nobel Prize-winning author J.M. Coetzee’s novel which combines puppetry, performance, film and evocative music bringing together some of South Africa’s most revered, multi-award-winning artists in this epic production adapted and directed by Lara Foot. Listen to Charlotte McIvor, lecturer in Drama and Theatre Studies at University of Galway, catch up with cast members in this post-show talk recorded live after their performance at Galway International Arts Festival 2023. First Thought Backstage is presented in association with University of Galway.