CULTURE: Westport photographer brings India to Galway

The Galway International Arts Festival’s 2024 line-up includes a free exhibition of work by award-winning Westport-based photographer Karen Cox. The show, entitled ‘Women of the Thar Desert’, offers those who missed its previous outing in Mayo’s Westival another chance to view it.
Cox works both in Ireland and internationally. Her work spans documentary photography and photojournalism, to record both known and untold visual narratives.
For this exhibition Cox documents the harsh lives and challenges of the women of the Thar Desert in India. Nothing is easy yet these women show incredible courage and resilience to survive their inhospitable environment. Extreme temperatures, distances to water supplies, access to food, education and medical care continue to be daily constant obstacles.
Cox’s photographs have appeared in publications worldwide, including The New York Times, The Guardian and Rolling Stone, and they also regularly feature in the Irish national papers and in The Mayo News. She continues to show her work in exhibitions globally.

•  ‘Women of the Thar Desert’ will run in the Galway City Museum from July 16 to 28 (Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10am to 4.45pm; Sundays, 12 noon to 4.45pm). A gallery talk will be held on Saturday, July 20.