CRAIC IN THE GRANITE MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL
Join us at 6pm on Friday 27 June for the launch of a new exhibition by Eslam Abd El Salam at Kunstverein Aughrim, and a newly commissioned artwork by Marc Reilly at the Monument. Festivities spill onto the street for an evening of live music and village-wide entertainment. Festival activities continue on Saturday 28 June, with creative workshops, live music and entertainment all day at the Pavilion on the Rednagh Road. Everyone is welcome!
Eslam Abd El Salam has been taking photographs his whole life. His constant search for light brings him into contact with people and places in ways that open possibilities and create new affinities in the world. Eslam’s fascination with nature and curiosity around our relationship with it shines throughout his work. We are thrilled to host Eslam as our first artist-in-residence. Eslam will relocate to Aughrim for the month of June, producing a new body of work for exhibition. This newly commissioned image-based work will be unveiled at Kunstverein Aughrim as part of the launch event of Craic in the Granite Music & Arts Festival 2025, at 6pm at the Monument, on Friday 27 June.
Marc Reilly, whose artistic practice responds to the natural world through mark-making and site-specific painting processes, will develop a new painting commission, alongside a series of creative workshops in collaboration with local practitioners and craftspeople. From willow work to foraging, and from drama and movement to panning for gold, these workshops will conjure stories and explore ideas around how we engage with the earth’s natural resources through our hands and our imagination. The project will culminate in a new body of visual and performance-based work that weaves between songs and stage as part of the weekend’s festivities, across Friday 27 and Saturday 28 June 2025.
Festival Workshops:
Join us for a series of creative workshops as part of this year’s festival. Workshops include Drama & Movement with Andrea Kelly (on 14 and 21 June), Willow Work with Aoife Patterson (on 19 June), Wild Foraging with Geraldine Kavanagh (on 28 June), Clay Workshop with Christien van Bussel (on 28 June), and Panning for Gold with Karl Payne (on 28 June). Stilt walkers and face painters will bring hidden stories to life among the festival-goers.
All workshops are free and may be booked directly via the festival website. Capacity is limited so please sign up fast to participate!
The visual arts strand of Craic in the Granite Music & Arts Festival 2025 is produced by Kunstverein Aughrim, supported by Wicklow County Council Arts Office festival awards funded through the Arts Council.
