Culture Night Galway 2026
Reawakening
A free art exhibition exploring the reawakening of the Irish language.
Friday 18 September 2026
6:00 PM – 10:30 PM
West End Art Collective · Galway
A free art exhibition exploring the reawakening of the Irish language. Created for National Culture Night 2026 at West End Art Collective, ATHMHÚSCAILT brings together work by Jarlath Tourish and Elena Dova and considers Gaeilge as a living expression of identity, memory, heritage, cultural confidence and contemporary creative expression.
The Exhibition
ATHMHÚSCAILT means “Reawakening.” The exhibition explores Gaeilge through cultural identity, memory, heritage, ancestral knowledge, cultural confidence, reconnection and contemporary creative expression.
At its centre is the idea that language can remain alive beneath the surface even when everyday use fades. The exhibition treats Gaeilge as a living cultural force — capable of carrying memory, identity, disruption, creativity and possibility into the present.
Personal Connection
Irish formed part of Jarlath Tourish’s upbringing and education in Donegal, but it was not his everyday first language. Over time he used it less and lost confidence in the language. The renewed visibility of Gaeilge in contemporary culture helped stimulate a desire to reconnect. ATHMHÚSCAILT grows from that personal experience of drift, memory and return.
Contemporary Gaeilge
The exhibition looks beyond nostalgia. It asks what happens when a language becomes publicly confident again: spoken, written, performed, argued over, carried into new spaces and made meaningful to another generation. Cultural reawakening is presented as an active process rather than a return to a fixed past.
Participating Artists
Visual artist, tattoo artist and founder of West End Art Collective. Jarlath’s relationship with Gaeilge is part of the exhibition: Irish was present in his upbringing and education in Donegal, but over time he used it less and lost confidence in speaking it. The renewed visibility of Irish language and culture helped stimulate his desire to reconnect.
Participating artist in ATHMHÚSCAILT / Reawakening for Culture Night 2026 at West End Art Collective.
Visitor Information
West End Art Collective
West End Art Collective
2 Dominick Street Upper
Pump Lane
Galway
H91 PY74
West End Art Collective is in Galway’s West End. Use the map link below for directions to the studio.
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