Na Cailleacha present About Time exhibition at Mayo arts festival

THE Custom House Studios + Gallery, Westport, is hosting About Time, a new exhibition by Na Cailleacha, an art collective of women artists aged 70 and over whose work challenges assumptions about ageing, artistic practice and the visibility of older women.

Drawing on more than 500 years of collective experience as artists, curators, writers, historians and composers, Na Cailleacha explore the complexities of growing older through themes of health, loss, loneliness, identity and connection. Their collaborative practice challenges age-related stereotypes while celebrating the resilience, creativity and possibilities that come with later life.

Each artist was invited to record a spontaneous idea every day for 30 days, responding through their individual artistic practice using words, images, music or a combination of these. The resulting works reflect on repetition, timelessness, moments of connection, uncertainty and the significance of everyday experience.

The exhibition also welcomes the collective’s newest member, Mary Fitzgerald.

The new work is presented alongside selected earlier projects, including School of Hibernia (after Raphael) (2024), which received considerable acclaim when exhibited in Rome in February 2026. Bringing together artist’s books, film, video, multimedia installation and a new composition by Carole Nelson, About Time offers a multifaceted exploration of time, experience and creative expression.

Taking its name from the Irish word cailleach, meaning witch or divine hag, the collective reclaims a figure associated with age, power and transformation.

About Time opens on Wednesday, October 28, and is presented at the Custom House Studios + Gallery in partnership with Westival, Westport’s Music & Arts Festival, celebrating the vitality of artistic practice and the importance of creative voices across generations.

For the full festival programme, visit Westival.