Galway City Council Night-Time Economy is delighted to present Amharc (meaning "to look, to see"), an exciting new project featuring five unique art installations by celebrated Irish artist Rita Duffy.
Rita Duffy has reimagined storefront windows throughout Galway, turning them into miniature, magical stages. These displays feature striking works of 'reanimated furniture' alongside evocative animated drawings on digital screens.
The public are invited to embrace the long winter nights by taking a stroll and discovering these beautifully illuminated windows, available to view daily from 5.30pm, October 24th to November 23rd. Each installation acts as its own surreal theatre, celebrating the darkness of Samhain and offering passersby a moment to stop and truly look.
Amharc, presented by Galway City Night-Time Economy is part of the Galway City Home of Halloween Gaillimh Ah-Boo Programme, funded by Galway City Council, the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, and Failte Ireland.
Discover more about the installations below, and read what the artist Rita Duffy says about each of them...
1. Lynch and Boycott by artist Rita Duffy
AIB Lynch’s Castle, 40 Shop St, Galway, H91 W400
"Lynch’s Castle, is a wonderful historic building in the heart of Galway City. Stepping through the front door is a unique experience rich in the memory of Galway’s past. Running my hand over the decorated stone of a huge fireplace feels like a tangible link back through the centuries. Samhain has always been a time of remembering the dead embracing the dying of the light and as the light diminishes the natural rhythm of life turns and the season of winter begins. We gather together in the darkness, lighting fires and telling stories, ancestors and people who have died are remembered, and the veil between this world and the other world is believed to be at its thinnest.
Stories of endurance, resourcefulness, wicked deeds, and retribution, feature large in our collective imagination and occasionally it’s the true lived events that form our best tales. ‘Lynch and Boycott’ are two surnames that have particular resonance in the west of Ireland, and this is Lynch’s Castle that you are standing in. No local would fail to tell you both stories and how, through the telling, each surname entered the lexicon as a verb, synonymous across the world with hanging and peaceful protest.
Thank you to AIB for permitting to borrow the windows of the bank to play in the darkness of Samhain and present theatrical renditions of Lynch and Boycott."
2.1 A Moment for Nora by artist Rita Duffy
Claddagh Credit Union, 8/9 Mainguard St, Galway, H91 YA72
"Galway is the birthplace of Nora Barnacle, the little house she lived in is only a short walk away down the street and around the corner from this window. It seems very appropriate to make this animated digital drawing a playful tribute to Nora. A courageous Galway woman, a mother and the inspirational partner of James Joyce - Ulysses would not have been written without her.
The time of Samhain aligns with the changing season and is traditionally a time when we play in the descending darkness. Behind this playfulness there is recognition that the veil between this world and the other world is very thin. Bones are rattled, we dress up and the dead are remembered. I hope somewhere out in that great beyond Nora Barnacle has a view of the Claddagh Credit Union window and sees herself, boldly chewing gum, blowing oyster kisses, and floating off with himself.
Thanks to the Claddagh Credit Union for hosting this artwork."
2.2 Split by artist Rita Duffy
Claddagh Credit Union, 8/9 Mainguard St, Galway, H91 YA72
"Split consists of three animated drawings configured as a mirrored pair, echoing the symmetry of a butterfly's wings. The work explores transformation and internal life. Swallow is a collision of balaclava heads that transform into giant pumpkin heads. In Swimmer, dual figures create kinetic movement, pulling the eye toward the centre where fleeting, strange faces emerge from the distortion. The installation concludes with Apparition, a solitary figure in an act of self-disclosure, as a glowing heart pulses energy outwards, dancing a magical line between darkness and light."
3. Créatúir Aisteach by artist Rita Duffy
Murphy’s Ice Cream Shop, 12 High St, Galway, H91 DC8W
"This work has evolved from the inspiration of a Flemish altarpiece, gathering together a collection of old wooden drawers and boxes. I salvaged some of the small boxes in an old traditional Irish grocery shop in Co. Cavan; some of the little drawers still carry their original handles and labels indicating former contents, nutmeg, pepper, etc. Today, they contain very different disguise and transition compositions. Strange animals whittled in soap while I was on residency in the freezing darkness of the Norwegian Artic. Other boxes hold small wooden creatures brought back from the steamy jungle of Brazil, carved by the Guaranese people who live there. Each box is a small theatrical window into another world, drawings depict strange human-animal figures caught in a moment of the magical process of ‘shape shifting’.
Samhain is the time of year when we dress up and change our faces. An animal mask encourages us to roar into the darkness. Traditionally, we blacken our eyes and hide, just in case the bad spirits might recognise us; we do our best to outwit them and fear being seen by misfortune. This curious collection of creatures is brought to you from north and south, beginning with inspiration taken from where I was living, animals in the surroundings made from materials available in the area. As a habitual gatherer, you can see a few strange creatures I conjured up from beaks and bones I found on my travels.
A great big thank you to Murphy’s Ice Cream for hosting this artwork."
4. Bull In A China Shop by artist Rita Duffy
Poblacht Barbershop, 23A William St West, Galway's Westend, H91 T283
"Bull in a China Shop had its beginnings with a small boy in Galway who loved bulls and his mother’s china cabinet. The ‘china’ was always precious and kept for good use only; a separate cabinet was required to distinguish it from the everyday. A bull is a mighty, strong creature with age-old resonance in Irish mythology, majestic and fearsome. The common phrase ‘like a bull in a china shop’ describes oafish behavior in situations of negotiation and social interaction. This artwork is dedicated to all the men who occasionally feel awkward and uncomfortable. The china cabinet is not really a relaxed space for anyone. Bulls are amazing, powerful, wild, scary, sort of beautiful big animals.
A great big thank you to the team at Poblacht for hosting this artwork."
5. Taonga and Constellation by artist Rita Duffy
Kai Restaurant, 22 Sea Road, Galway's Westend H91 DX47
"On my first visit to Kai I was captivated by the large photograph of a woman in a feather cloak and a Hei Tiki pendant around her neck. I looked closely at the pendant, and it seemed somehow reminiscent of the Irish sheela na gig. The photograph is of owner Jess Murphy's grandmother, a Mãori midwife wearing her Taonga - the Māori word for treasures, or a precious emblem like this one handed down in families. This art work ‘Taonga and Constellations’ found its name before I started. It is a celebration of the multiple women, past and present, in our lives, nourishing each other across cultures and centuries. The central figure is a replica of the 30,000-year-old Willendorf Venus, symbolic of the female principal, a matriarchal mother creator, and symbol of the nurturing mother.
The work is constructed in an old desk drawer. On the underside of the drawer I found little blobs of spent chewing gum, that I interpreted to be a ‘constellation of stars’. It became a collaboration of sorts with a stranger. The lines of the song ‘Galway Bay’ inspired the image - the song’s lyrics lit by moonlight rippling under the boat, complete with the full red sails of a Galway Hooker.
There are two sides to this artwork, one can be viewed from the street outside and the other viewed from within. A great big thank you to Jess and Dave Murphy for hosting this artwork."
Amharc, presented by Galway City Night-Time Economy is part of the Galway City Home of Halloween Gaillimh Ah-Boo Programme, funded by Galway City Council, the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, and Failte Ireland.
