Limerick Early Music Festival Launch

Launch Programme:

• 5:30pm: Welcome
• 5:45 pm: Masquerade: : Exploring the Human Psyche through Gombrowicz, Baroque Music, and Chant. A short, powerful performance that examines the essential role of masks in human existence. Inspired by Witold Gombrowicz’s philosophy of the mask—as a necessary but paradoxical element of identity—the piece delves into how we present ourselves to the world, how we shift masks depending on the context, and whether true freedom from them is possible. Performed by actor Justyna Czwojdinska and Anna Banko (voice, violin).
• 6:30pm: Masks and Music in Ceremonial Context: Transformation and Liberation. Billy Mag Fhloinn will give a presentation and performance based on his work as director of Pagan Rave. This is an ongoing project which aims to reimagine folk traditions and calendar customs of Ireland. Using as a starting point the ancient costumed figures of Irish and European folk theatre and seasonal festivals, it seeks to operate at the margins of place and mind, and embody the transformative and liberating aspects of masks and music in a ceremonial context. Space will be given to audience questions and interaction, and the event will finish with a performance on the yaybahar, an acoustic instrument invented by the Turkish musician Gorkem Sen.
• 7:30pm: Reception