TOMCAT 2013 - VISUAL AND MULTIMEDIA ART FESTIVAL
Thomas Street and Catherine Street, Limerick City
This June Bank Holiday weekend in Limerick will be marked by the extensive programme of the TOMCAT Festival in Limerick city. The event takes place in the social heart of the city - on Thomas and Catherine streets.
TOMCAT builds on the legacy of the SpiritStore CATDIG street festival (Catherine Street Cultural Dig) created in collaboration with curator Elizabeth Hatz for EVA 2010. http://spiritstorelimerick.weebly.com/catdig-2010-gallery.html
Officially launched by the Mayor of Limerick Cllr Gerry McLoughlin and Karl Wallace, Artistic Director of Limerick City of Culture 2014 in May 2013, this year’s festival aims to support artistic endeavours and encourage a wider audience.
During the four days of the festival a series of visual and multimedia art works will be hosted, ranging from performance art, street theatre and socially engaged projects, to photography and sculpture, as well as a variety of other media and techniques. This year’s curators Anastasia Artemeva, Gimena Blanco and Steve Maher will focus on ideas that comprise engagement of the audience and create a dialogue between the artist, the public and the traders of both Thomas and Catherine streets, the spaces varying from shops and bars to the infinity of the street itself.
The works, by both established and emerging artists, have been selected to match with the venues and address the dynamics that create these spaces, incorporating the features of the street structures. Roofs, fences, walls, windows, both exposed and boarded up, will be used as the means of presentation, while re-establishing the relationship between the people and the city centre.
In addition to the exhibits, the festival will present workshops, varying from DIY Zebra Crossing for kids to experimental installations of scent and heat. The program of talks and seminars will present discussions as diverse as curiosity cafe, cinematic studies, and investigation into the negative perception of the street. At night, the extensive music program developed by the neighbouring pubs will continue the festive atmosphere.
Please refer to https://www.facebook.com/TomcatStreetFestival and www.tomcat.ie for the full list of artistic events as well as music and theatre performances’ schedule.
