Na Cailleacha – Events

Film Screening & Panel Talk

Join us on Wednesday 6^th October at 7pm for a screening of the documentary Dawn to Dusk by Therry Rudin followed by a panel talk with members of Na Cailleacha facilitated by Journalist Olivia O’Leary.

This event coincides with The Age of Reason/Unreason (Part 3), a group show currently on view in Wexford Arts Centre with artists Helen Comerford, Barbara Freeman, Patricia Hurl, Maria Levinge, Therry Rudin, and Gerda Teljeur, art historian/curator Catherine Marshall, and composer Carole Nelson.Through painting, drawing, film and performance, the group collectively known as Na Cailleacha – the Irish word for witches – explore the nuanced process of growing older. 

The Collective, all, bar one, over 70 years of age, came together to explore issues around creativity, visibility, isolation, health and collective practice from an older feminist perspective. They are committed to raising awareness and promoting public discussion about these issues, in keeping with Gloria Steinem’s assertion that ‘Women may be the one group that grows more radical with age’. 

Olivia O’Leary has presented current affairs programmes for the last three decades for both RTE and the British Channels, BBC and ITV.  As a print journalist, she has written about politics for both ‘the Sunday Tribune’ and ‘The Irish Times’.  She is the presenter of RTE Radio 1’s ‘The Poetry Programme’.

Myth, Magic and Folklore
Creative Writing Workshop
with Caroline Busher
8-12 years

And for our younger audience aged 8-12 years, join Irish Times Best Selling Author Caroline Busher on Saturday 25^th September and explore the strange and wonderful superstitions and beliefs of our ancestors and consider why some of them still exist today.  

You will get the chance to uncover magical settings, learn how to create imaginative characters inspired by myth and folklore while surrounded by an extraordinary exhibition of work by Na Cailleacha. 

Caroline will share her expert tips and you will get the chance to write your own folktale inspired by the exhibition. Caroline will also read from her brand new book “The Legend of Valentine Sorrow.” This is an event not to be missed!  

The Importance of Being a Young Adult
Friday 17^th September, 4pm-5.30pm

Artists Deridre Buggy and Sonya Weston will host a workshop for young adults (12 years +) from 4-5.30pm on Friday 17^th September to celebrate Culture Night. The workshop responds to the current exhibition in Wexford Arts Centre titled The Age of Reason/Unreason (Part 3) by a group of female artists collectively known as Na Cailleacha which is the Irish work for ‘divine hags’.

The exhibition presents Na Cailleacha’s version of the famous Guerrilla Girls poster titled the Advantages of being a Cailleach artist’. Using this as inspiration, the workshop will be performatove and text based.  Discussing social challenges, participants will discuss how they see the world around them and the changes they would like to make in the future.  They will be encouraged to collaborate as a group to create their own manifesto and as social media is one of the main platforms used today for socialising and sharing information, we will create a Tik Tok video as a form of expression.

Gallery Talk with Gerda Teljeur
Friday 17^th September, 6pm
Late opening hours: 5pm-9pm

For Culture Night, Wexford Arts Centre are pleased to present a late opening and a talk of The Age of Reason/Unreason (Part 3), agroup show with artists Helen Comerford, Barbara Freeman, Patricia Hurl, Maria Levinge, Therry Rudin, and Gerda Teljeur, art historian/curator Catherine Marshall, and composer Carole Nelson. Through painting, drawing, film and performance, the group collectively known as Na Cailleacha – the Irish word for witches – will explore the nuanced process of growing older.

The group of eight older women, six visual artists, one musician and one curator, all, bar one, over 70 years of age, came together to explore issues around creativity, visibility, isolation, health and collective practice from an older feminist perspective. Na Cailleacha are committed to raising awareness and promoting public discussion about these issues, in keeping with Gloria Steinem’s assertion that ‘Women may be the one group that grows more radical with age’. The title of the exhibition alludes to the play of rational and irrational instincts in the creative process, especially challenging in relation to ageing and loss of capacity.

The gallery talk will be facilitated by artist and member of Na Cailleacha, Gerda Teljeur.  Gerdais a familiar figure in contemporary Irish art having come her from the Netherlands in 1967.  Her large scale, abstract ink drawings, frequently in black on white paper mix concentrated energy with a profound sense of the importance of each mark. She has worked with community groups and in care settings and as a teacher and artist-in-residence in schools and other education centres, where her ability to draw out essential qualities in both the artist and the materials are particularly valuable. Her work reaches far beyond the contexts in which she places it. Since joining Na Cailleacha, she has developed collaborative ideas with the rest of the group, experimenting with sound, light and transparency. Her work is eagerly sought after in drawing exhibitions, notably the show All About Drawing – 100 Dutch Artists in the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam in the Netherlands. She is a fellow of the Ballinglen Arts Foundation and participated in the exhibitions What is Life and Terra Nostra – Perspectives on Landscape at the Street, Wexford County Council Offices.

Arboreal – The Carole Nelson Trio
Saturday 11^th September, 8pm

Carole Nelson is a long- established musician and jazz composer who’s career across many musical genres has gathered international awards and great critical acclaim. 

In 2015 she turned her attention to composing for jazz piano trio, releasing the Carole Nelson Trio’s first album One Day in Winter in 2017. Arboreal, their 2nd album of contemporary jazz, was released in early 2020 and received great reviews in the Irish Times and UK’s All About Jazz Magazine (best jazz album 2020). 

The trio of Carole on piano, Dominic Mullan, drums and Cormac O’Brien, bass, bring a lyrical sensibility to Carole’s nature-inspired compositions. 

‘A rare and exceptional talent. One of the more original composers in Irish jazz’ Irish Times 

‘Nelson is, without question, as the refined language of her writing and playing constantly reiterates, a singular voice.’ All About Jazz