Podcast
First Thought
Hosted by Galway International Arts Festival · EN
First Thought invites you to discover new perspectives, people, and more. Tune into conversations on creativity and the issues of the day.
Based on Galway International Arts Festival's popular First Thought Talks series.
15episodes
Episodes
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Audio Guide (as Gaeilge): 'Rebel Kin: To the Letter' by Dolores Lyne
1w ago00:17:12Tap to summarizeWelcome to the official Audio Guide to Rebel Kin: To the Letter By Dolores Lyne as part of Galway International Arts Festival. Rebel Kin: To the Letter is a deeply personal reflection on the Irish Civil War, drawn from a trove of letters written by a young man on the run, documenting life in hiding during the War of Independence, the Civil War and their aftermath. Dolores Lyne brings these letters to life through large-scale fold-out canvases that act as meditations on this poignant history, creating an intimate and immersive experience within the gallery space. An original dispatch bicycle, used during the conflict, anchors the work in lived experience. Continuing her exploration of memory, inheritance and overlooked histories, Lyne’s work invites reflection on the personal within the political and the lasting human imprint of conflict. The Festival Gallery is presented in association with Diligent, who also provided support for this audio guide. For more information about other shows in the festival visit www.giaf.ie.
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Audio Guide: 'Rebel Kin: To the Letter' by Dolores Lyne
1w ago00:16:42Tap to summarizeWelcome to the official Audio Guide to Rebel Kin: To the Letter By Dolores Lyne as part of Galway International Arts Festival. Rebel Kin: To the Letter is a deeply personal reflection on the Irish Civil War, drawn from a trove of letters written by a young man on the run, documenting life in hiding during the War of Independence, the Civil War and their aftermath. Dolores Lyne brings these letters to life through large-scale fold-out canvases that act as meditations on this poignant history, creating an intimate and immersive experience within the gallery space. An original dispatch bicycle, used during the conflict, anchors the work in lived experience. Continuing her exploration of memory, inheritance and overlooked histories, Lyne’s work invites reflection on the personal within the political and the lasting human imprint of conflict. The Festival Gallery is presented in association with Diligent, who also provided support for this audio guide. For more information about other shows in the festival visit www.giaf.ie.
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Audio Guide (as Gaeilge): Presence by Sean Henry
1w ago00:15:24Tap to summarizeWelcome to the official Audio Guide to Presence By Sean Henry as part of Galway International Arts Festival. Sculptor Sean Henry is internationally renowned for his quietly monumental figures, which transform the everyday into something uncanny and deeply human. Working at unexpected scales and with subtly altered proportions, his sculptures capture solitary men and women in moments of pause, vulnerability and reflection, inviting viewers to look closely, and to recognise themselves. Known for landmark public works, Henry’s practice explores isolation, resilience and the emotional texture of modern life. At once intimate and monumental, this exhibition offers a powerful encounter with the poetry of being human. The Festival Gallery is presented in association with Diligent, who also provided support for this audio guide. For more information about other shows in the festival visit www.giaf.ie.
Transcribe →Audio Guide: Presence by Sean Henry
1w ago00:14:28Tap to summarizeWelcome to the official Audio Guide to Presence By Sean Henry as part of Galway International Arts Festival. Sculptor Sean Henry is internationally renowned for his quietly monumental figures, which transform the everyday into something uncanny and deeply human. Working at unexpected scales and with subtly altered proportions, his sculptures capture solitary men and women in moments of pause, vulnerability and reflection, inviting viewers to look closely, and to recognise themselves. Known for landmark public works, Henry’s practice explores isolation, resilience and the emotional texture of modern life. At once intimate and monumental, this exhibition offers a powerful encounter with the poetry of being human. The Festival Gallery is presented in association with Diligent, who also provided support for this audio guide. For more information about other shows in the festival visit www.giaf.ie.
Transcribe →Audio Guide: David Mach Burning Down the House
Jul 14, 202500:11:03Tap to summarizeWelcome 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.
Transcribe →Audio Guide:Jane Cassidy and Arts Alive Tactile Tunes
Jul 14, 202500:06:41Tap to summarizeWelcome 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.
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Audio Guide: Patricia Piccinini's We Travel Together
Jul 15, 202400:10:36Tap to summarizeWelcome 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.
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Vinyl Hours with Brian Cross
Apr 9, 202401:07:28Tap to summarizeVinyl 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.
Transcribe →First Thought Backstage: Life & Times of Michael K
Feb 14, 202400:40:09Tap to summarizeWelcome 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.
Transcribe →First Thought Backstage: The Pulse
Jan 23, 202400:24:02Tap to summarizeWelcome 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. The Pulse by Gravity & Other Myths is a hugely ambitious and monumental work of scale that unites audience, acrobat and choir into a single mesmerising organism. A shimmering mass of sixty acrobats and choir members unite and divide, becoming a spectacular being of muscle, bone and voice as a mountain of bodies crumbles into an ocean of sound. 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.
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