The Top 7 Shows to See in the UK and Ireland
The best shows to see this winter – from the George Michael-inspired TULCA Festival in Galway to an archive exhibition of Phyllis Christopher’s photographs in Birmingham
TULCA Festival of Visual Arts
Various venues, Galway
5 – 21 November 2021
The title of the festival’s 19th edition – ‘there’s nothing here but flesh and bone, there’s nothing more’ – quotes from George Michael’s 1996 hit ‘Outside’, while Eoin Dara’s curatorial statement frames the citywide event in a list of familiar yet poetic fragments such as ‘wet caresses, soft affection, immortal loves, necessary resistance, quiet rest, careful togetherness, boundless longing, abiding loss’. Love and longing are a thread throughout the programme, with a particular emphasis on trans subjectivities and queer intimacy, touch and sensuality.
– Iarlaith Ni Fheorais