Diverse communities come together for a sonic celebration of culture, race and belonging with Dumbworld and Ulster Orchestra
2nd April, 2025
Dumbworld, a multidisciplinary, creative production company working across performance, digital, installation and film, have been working with diverse communities in an exciting and ambitious project which celebrates culture, democracy, race, and belonging through music and film. The project, which was produced by Dumbworld in association with the Ulster Orchestra, was entitled, How We Stand, How We Breathe, and took place over nine months. Together, the group created seven musical pieces which were recently recorded with the Ulster Orchestra.
Participants included Hotbox Studio Rappers, Anaka Women Collective, Cedar Lodge Special School, and Quire Belfast (LGBTQ+ Singers). The new works are set to be streamed online allowing audiences from all over the world to witness this unique celebration of creativity, collaboration, and cultural expression.
Watch the video taken during the recording below
John McIlduff, Director & Writer, Dumbworld, commented, “We have been working over the last nine months with many different groups across Belfast. We have rappers from Portadown, a group of newly arrived immigrants who are living in Belfast and a group of young children from Cedar Lodge school, so a really broad range of different groups who we've been working with in co-creating these musical pieces. We brought them together with different improvisers, musical improvisers and poets in a series of recording sessions.
At each one of these sessions, we created an enormous musical jam where everybody played together, and we discovered how these different musical pieces slotted together and worked together. The stage we're at now is that we have recorded and filmed all the pieces and they will be presented as a series of short films that will be distributed on YouTube and social media in the near future.”
Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music and Opera at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, added, “The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is proud to support Dumbworld and the Ulster Orchestra. Dumbworld has really perfected a model of engagement and participation where people from all corners of our community are placed right at the heart of creating new imaginative, innovative, challenging, and exploratory work which really reflects contemporary personal and social experiences. Congratulations to Dumbworld’s Brian Irvine and John McIllduff, the Ulster Orchestra and all those involved in this thrilling project.”
The films from How We Stand, How We Breathe, will be released via Dumbworld’s website and social media. Keep up to date at www.dumbworld.co.uk
Visit www.artscouncil-ni.org