The Galway Arts Centre is currently hosting A Year in Review: Moving, Growing, Fighting, an evocative exhibition by the artist collective Bog Cottage, running from 1 February to 15 March 2025. This exhibition features a collection of deeply personal and politically charged artworks that resonate with audiences, offering a space for reflection, grief, resilience, and solidarity. Through their raw and unfiltered work, the collective seeks to challenge the boundaries of traditional art-making, creating pieces that not only document their personal journeys but also respond to the turbulent realities of the world around them.
Bog Cottage, based in the West of Ireland, began as an informal gathering of friends searching for a sense of community through art. What started as casual meet-ups, where members experimented with clay and DIY projects, eventually grew into a fully-fledged collective known for its queer-inclusive spaces and creative activism. Over time, they built a community-driven model that fosters artistic collaboration, skill-sharing, and mutual support. The group has since facilitated exhibitions, workshops, and even opened a café that became a hub for queer expression and radical creativity. Their work is grounded in the idea that art is not just about aesthetics — it is about building worlds, offering care, and providing resistance.
While Bog Cottage has curated various exhibitions, this one stands out for its deeply introspective and emotionally charged nature. The collective has openly acknowledged that the past year was particularly challenging, as they, like many others, were profoundly affected by the genocide in Palestine. In their own words: “Every day, a new more unfathomable horror. Making art about imagined queer utopias feels indulgent, frivolous, naïve, and privileged.” This statement reflects the internal conflict faced by many artists — how does one continue to create when the world feels like it is unravelling?
Despite this emotional weight, the group persisted in making art, not as an escape, but as a means of processing grief, anger, and helplessness. The result is an exhibition that does not shy away from the discomfort of reality but instead embraces it. The artworks invite the audience to sit with their emotions, to acknowledge pain, and to find solidarity in shared struggles. There is an underlying message of endurance, reminding visitors that even in the darkest times, the act of creation remains a form of resistance. The exhibition speaks in quiet but powerful tones: It’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay to feel lost. Life goes on, but so does the fight.
Much of the work for this exhibition was developed during the group’s time in Berlin, where they spent months engaging with activism, attending Palestinian liberation demonstrations, and immersing themselves in a city known for its rich history of resistance. Their experiences in Berlin shaped the way they approached this exhibition, influencing both the themes and the methods of creation. They describe the art they made during this period as “mismatched, unfinished, repetitive, ugly, purposeful, and forgiving.” This rawness and imperfection are embraced as a reflection of the times — art does not need to be polished to be meaningful; sometimes, it just needs to be honest.
One of the standout pieces in the exhibition is a stitched tent, crafted from an eclectic mix of fabrics, symbolising shelter and the universal human right to a home. The fragility and patchwork nature of the tent serve as a striking metaphor for displacement, drawing a parallel between homelessness, forced migration, and the destruction of communities in Palestine. It compels viewers to consider the meaning of ‘home’ beyond physical structures—home as a place of safety, as the people we love, as a feeling that, once lost, can be impossible to reclaim. This piece, like much of the exhibition, is not just a statement but an open wound, demanding recognition and action.
Through this collection, Bog Cottage not only tells a story of the past year but also asks urgent questions about art’s role in times of crisis. Can art be a tool for protest? Can it provide comfort when words fail? Can it be a force for change? The exhibition does not attempt to provide definitive answers but instead creates a space where these questions can be contemplated. Visitors are likely to leave feeling both moved and unsettled, carrying the weight of what they have seen long after they exit the gallery.
For those who choose to attend A Year in Review: Moving, Growing, Fighting, it is more than just an exhibition — it is an invitation to witness, to reflect, and to join in a broader conversation about resistance, grief, and the power of collective care. To experience it is to be reminded that even in the midst of despair, community and creativity persist.
For more information about the exhibition and visiting hours, visit the Galway Arts Centre’s official website at: www.galwayartscentre.ie
