From the Venice Biennale to Galway International Arts Festival: The Story Behind Assembly

Assembly, one of the latter, makes its Galway premiere this week at the O’Donoghue Theatre, following its debut as Ireland's national representation at the Venice Biennale in 2025.

Handcrafted from Irish beech and woven textiles, Assembly is a “multi-sensory pavilion” that invites visitors to step inside a space shaped by collective voices. We caught up with architect Louise Cotter of Cotter and Naessens Architects (who curated the exhibit) to discuss their inspiration for the thought-provoking piece.

“Because we're architects, we're very passionate about making spaces for people to come together, and the more we thought about creating a space where people could congregate, the more we thought about other aspects of assembly; including the Citizen's Assembly,” says Cotter.

“What was interesting to us was the depth of subjects that those assemblies have tackled, and the fact that significant change has happened in the constitution and in lawmaking, because there was a facility afforded for people to take a deep dive into a topic. It allows people to change their mind about things and and not be so 'tribal' about issues, and we thought that was pretty inspiring.”

As one explores Assembly, they are surrounded by a soundscape; layers of noises from nature, humans and machines. This includes a medley of voices from Cavan Arts Festival 2024 and a poetry composition written by Michelle Delea, one of the Ireland at Venice 2025 team.

“There's sounds of people playing football...the sound of sap rising up a tree... the sounds of crayfish, a kind of a crackling sound. There's snippets of a cattle market because that was one of the first inspirations we had actually, because we looked at round cattle markets and how the sound transports itself around the space and how people communicate, sometimes with nods and winks and all the rest. And that was all part of this idea of the circle. ”

“It's really about allowing people the time to just let it all sink in and come to their own conclusions. We're delighted to offer that to people.”

Another sound that makes up the audio is that of a rug being shorn; the very rug that cushions visitors steps upon entry to Assembly. The idea for the custom-made piece from Ceadogán Rugmakers in Wexford was sparked by a visit to Cloyne Cathedral in Cork.

“We started thinking about choir stalls and churches, and one that we have frequented recently is Cloyne Cathedral. Often there would be a rich red carpet between the choir stalls. The cathedral itself is quite a hard space, so the sense of specialness that the carpet creates was very interesting to us.

“We were also inspired by Persian carpets, which were a major thing in Venice in the 1500s and 1600s. They were like a gateway between East and West, you know, a real token of currency.”

This week, in the black box space that is the O'Donoghue Theatre at University of Galway, Assembly will feature alongside a film chronicling its creation, a choice that Cotter feels adds an important layer to the experience.

“We see people stick their heads in, have a look at it, then go and watch the film, and they often come back into the space again, having understood some of the process. It's great that people get another bite of the cherry.

“It's really about allowing people the time to just let it all sink in and come to their own conclusions. At the Biennale, we just really enjoyed how many people would spend up to half an hour in there, no problem at all. We're delighted to offer that to people, to give them their space and their time. It's a privilege.”

See Assembly for free until the 26th July at the O'Donoghue Theatre, University of Galway. Open from 11am to 6pm Sunday to Wednesday, and late til 8pm Thursday to Saturday.