Bealtaine 2018 invites you to ‘Be our guest’
Celebrating creativity as we age
26 April to 9 June
Stairwell and Link Gallery

Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre is celebrating this year's national Bealtaine Festival with a multidisciplinary exhibition, showcasing many of the art programmes and projects with older people that take place at the Centre and throughout the region, along with workshops, outing to garnish Island, gallery tour and a cross-generational dance performance.
The Bealtaine Festival takes place each May throughout Ireland and involves thousands of participants in every art form. The ancient festival of Bealtaine or Beltane (held on May 1), marked the midway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, and heralded the start of Summer. 
To mark the occasion, a selection of work from West Cork Arts Centre Older People's programme will be on exhibition from 26 April to 9 June in the Stairwell & Corridor Galleries. The exhibition includes paintings by Early Bird Artists who meet at Uillinn each Monday morning with artist Paul Forde Cialis. The group will take an investigative tour to garnish Island on Monday 21 May to get inspiration for their project in the autumn term. 
There will also be a selection of poems, sculpture, film, music and paintings from each of the eleven locations that participate in the Arts for Health Programme in West Cork including Aboriginal Paintings by residents at Skibbereen Community Hospital with artist Toma McCullim, porcelain ceramics 'Píosa obair’ by residents in Clonakilty Community Hospital with Sarah Ruttle & Michael Ray, Dancer Dancer Poems and original musical compositions by residents at Bantry General Hospital collaborating with artist Tess Leak and Daragh Kearns Hayes and 'Secret life of Things' a touring project that took place in five day care centres of Bantry, Castletownbere, Clonakilty, Dunmanway and Skibbereen with artist Toma McCullim, painting and sound installation 'The Determined Daffodil' with Sharon Dipity and Fiona Kelleher and residents of Dunmanway Community Hospital.
The featured image is of a felted sculpture ‘Tales, Tears and Tea’ by a group from Castletownbere Day Care Centre who enjoyed the theme for this year’s national event ‘Be our guest’.  Visual artist Sarah Ruttle who worked with the group explained how they came to make the tea pot sculpture, ‘Sharing stories of their experience in giving and receiving hospitality each participant made a panel piece of felt which would form a teapot which was found to be close to the centre of an Irish welcome, Cead mile Failte’
A highlight of this year’s programme will be a special once off performance fusing dance, music and visual art with a cross-generational community cast from all over West Cork, in collaboration with cellist and visual artist Tess Leak, Uillinn Dance Artist in Residence Helga Deasy. The performance is a response to the river Ilen and its historic significance, which will be presented on the railway bridge at West Cork Hotel in Skibbereen on May 5th at 2.30pm. Fingers crossed for fine weather, as all are invited to watch this free performance from the river bank.
A celebration in the community to mark the launch of West Cork Bealtaine will take place Tuesday 1 May with a lunchtime dance at West Cork Hotel, with a live a performance from Starling Song Band. Contact West Cork Older People Network for tickets. 
Bealtaine Tour of the galleries at Uilinn will take place on Wednesday 16 May at 11am, to book this or take part in any of the above contact 02822090