Usually or Infrequently Indecent or Obscene is a collaborative zine made by Soft Fiction Projects with young people aged 16+ involved in shOUT! and CAPE Youth Projects, Galway. It has been produced as a limited edition print (a folded leporello), and in a digital edition for the TULCA website. An extract of the project is installed in the window of Galway City Library during the second week of the festival run.

View the zine as an interactive pdf here.

The zine was made through two DIY graphic design workshops, held remotely via Zoom in October 2020 after research and production materials were posted out to participants. Usually or Infrequently Indecent or Obscene explores feminist activism and historical censorship of sexual expression on the island of Ireland. The project draws on printed materials linked to the Censorship of Publications Act, 1929, in the Republic of Ireland and the subsequent 1946 and 1967 Acts. The project engages with a range of printed materials that were banned in the time period between 1967-1977, and explores the relevance and resonance of this history with young people today. A primary focus is on the prohibition of the distribution and sale of the iconic UK-based second wave feminist magazine Spare Rib and direct actions taken by members of Irishwomen United to counter this. Workshop participants: Ruby Ní Dhubhslaine, Sophia Doherty, Queef May, Ailbhe Moore, Molly Terrins.

Soft Fiction Projects is an artist-run publishing imprint based Belfast, founded in 2018 by artists Alessia Cargnelli and Emily McFarland. The printed project is dedicated to producing digital and printed matter which acts as a forum for presenting new collaborations, workshops, research and writing from invited artists and contributors.

shOUT! and CAPE Youth Projects both work with young people aged 10-25 based in Galway, to provide a safe space to develop and enhance personal, interpersonal, leadership skills; to promote well-being and to empower young people through friendship, inclusion and social justice. shOUT! aims to provide a place where young LGBT+ people can be themselves and socialise with peers in an open and accepting environment, thus empowering the youth in the West of Ireland, encouraging a similar attitude in society at large.

Special thanks to Deirdre Bermingham and Lisa Cannon, Youth Work Ireland Galway.

TULCA 2020: The Law is a White Dog
Curated by Sarah Browne
Launches 6 November 2020
Galway, Ireland

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts is pleased to present a new book and two outdoor installations in Galway City during the two weeks of the festival run, 6 - 22 November, as well as the following online programme:

Mondays: TULCA Artists' Talk Series in partnership with GMIT CCAM.
More information and booking here
Tuesday - Fridays: Podcast episodes released online, featuring artworks and reflective pieces.
More information here
Saturdays: Online Workshop Series. More information and booking here

Rescheduling of indoor exhibitions and screening events will be subject to COVID-19 restrictions and public health advice.

“The events of the last weeks involving the seal of records of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission testify to the enduring and contested force of law in shaping cultural memory through generations. Law can protect and defend but also silence. This is an important moment to share the work of the artists in the TULCA programme, The Law is a White Dog.

While we can’t yet open the doors to the exhibitions or host live performances, there are many parts of the programme that will be accessible for audiences to experience from 6 November. These include a billboard in Galway city, the first collaboration between Vukasin Nedeljovic and Felispeaks. I’m also excited that we can share a newly-published book and a podcast series, both of which place artworks in dialogue with lawyers, advocates and activists such as Justice for Magdalenes Research, Máiréad Enright, Maeve O’Rourke, Eilionóir Flynn and Maria Ní Flatharta. These publications and broadcasts from Galway bring together contemporary art and socio-legal research of national and international significance.

New projects are being developed for The Law is a White Dog by Caroline Campbell (Loitering Theatre) and Soft Fiction Projects that will be shared online. These projects involve collaboration with an older generation of feminist activists, and with CAPE and shOUT! youth groups in Galway, respectively. Art happens even when galleries are closed. Now is a valuable time to reflect and attend to those practices, wherever we find ourselves.”
– Sarah Browne, Curator

TULCA 2020 The Law is a White Dog Programme Details:

• Nov 2: TULCA Curator’s Talk with Sarah Browne in partnership with GMIT CCAM

• Nov 6-16: Billboard artwork on view in the Claddagh by Vukasin Nedeljovic and Felispeaks

• Nov 6: Project launch: The Law is a White Dog limited edition book. Available to order online from Kenny’s Bookshop. Order here

• Nov 7: Grey Eminence: a performance over Zoom by Caroline Campbell (Loitering Theatre) in collaboration with Sarah Clancy. Moderated by Megs Morley. More details and booking here

• Nov 9: TULCA Artists' Talk with Vukasin Nedeljkovic in partnership with GMIT CCAM. Book here

• Nov 14: Afterthought: Professional development workshop for artists by Forerunner (Tanad Williams and Andreas Kindler von Knobloch). Supported by Galway County Arts Office. More details and booking here

• Nov 16: TULCA Artists' Talk with Sibyl Montague in partnership with GMIT CCAM. Book here

• Nov 16-22: Usually or Infrequently Indecent or Obscene, by Soft Fiction Projects, developed in partnership with shOUT and CAPE youth groups, Galway. Digital zine available online and poster installation in Galway City Library

• Nov 23: TULCA Artists' Talk with Saoirse Wall in partnership with GMIT CCAM. Book here

For ongoing updates, please sign up to the TULCA newsletter or follow us on social media at @TulcaFestival. For further information please contact: info@tulca.ie 

Contributors to The Law is a White Dog are artists, poets, lawyers and activists: AM Baggs, Éric Baudelaire, Rossella Biscotti, Caroline Campbell (Loitering Theatre), Maud Craigie, Máiréad Enright, Forerunner (Tanad Williams and Andreas Kindler von Knobloch), Michael Holly, Justice for Magdalenes Research, Vukašin Nedeljković, Felispeaks, Charlotte Prodger, Bob Quinn, Sibyl Montague, Kevin Mooney, Julie Morrissy, Rory Pilgrim, Rajinder Singh, Soft Fiction Projects, Anne Tallentire, Saoirse Wall, Eimear Walshe, Suzanne Walsh and Gernot Wieland.

TULCA Festival of Visual Arts
The Law is a White Dog curated by Sarah Browne
Launches 6 November 2020
Galway, Ireland

www.tulca.ie

Image: Rory Pilgrim, still from The Undercurrent (2019-ongoing). Courtesy andriesse eyck galerie