Travellers’ gift of art for Tulca filled with heart and heritage
Arts Week with Judy Murphy
“It’s time we shifted the narrative. We can create a state of conflict or a state of blessing,” says Oein de Bhairduin of the unique arts project Rubōg Ela /Hope Box. This has been created by Oein and members of the Travelling community for this year’s Tulca Festival of Visual Arts which will open in Galway City next week.
Oein, who lives in Dublin is originally from Cloontua which “was once outside Tuam but the town has come to meet it”. He’s a Traveller and a compelling voice for his people.
An educator, he is also a keeper of the Travellers’ cultural flame, with an enormous knowledge of traditional customs, such as herbalism, and the Gammon language.
His project for Tulca, which involves Travellers from around Ireland with a Galway connection, is a Hope Box/ Rubōg Ela. This will be the first artefact from the Travelling community to become part of the Galway City Museum’s permanent exhibition.
A Rubōg Ela was given to a person or a family if they were moving away from their own community for any reason, explains Oein. Marriage, maybe, or a new adventure.
It contained an array of talismans to bring luck, protect against evil and represent their faith.
The idea for the Tulca project originated from a Minceir or Traveller workshop on herbs and healing that Oein gave at the Museum of Country Life in Mayo in March. Afterwards, he was informed of Tulca’s ‘Open Call’, which invites artists to submit projects for inclusion in the festival. Those selected are exhibited alongside the work of invited artists.
The theme of Tulca 2019 is Tactile Magic, so it was important that Travellers were involved, he says, pointing to their unique mix of Celtic, pagan and Catholic tradition.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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