Review of the Year 2024
21st January, 2025
As 2025 gets underway, we take a moment to reflect on some of the artistic highlights of the last year.


January
2024 opened with news that the Arts Council was developing a new 10 Year Strategy and an invitation to contribute views as part of a public consultation process. Good news also came in the form of two funding announcements for the New Year. £1.04 million was allocated to 292 artists through the Support for Individual Artists Scheme (General Arts Awards) and details were also revealed of a UK-wide partnership that would make available £3.6 million in grants to support artists working in immersive technology.
In Tyrone, Bardic Theatre brought young people together from ethnic minority backgrounds for a series of music and drama workshops, in preparation for staging their own production of West Side Story later in the year.
Read more: Bardic Theatre’s inclusive arts project for young… | Arts Council NI

February
The Arts Council welcomed new Minister for Communities Gordon Lyons MLA into post in February, following the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Exciting news came also as it was revealed that 24 new works of high artistic quality had been commissioned by the Arts Council, thanks to £200,004 of National Lottery funding. Awards made included the commissioning of a new dance work for younger children from Maiden Voyage and a new theatre production by Matthew Sharpe, exploring race and identity from Tinderbox.
NI Opera opened their production of The Juniper Tree at the Grand Opera House. Led by award-winning director Cameron Menzies, the production drew most of its cast from the NI Opera Chorus Development Programme, creating a wonderful opportunity for audiences to see some local emerging artists on the scene.
Read more: Northern Ireland Opera lead the way in developing… | Arts Council NI

March
Thanks to the National Lottery and Beyond Skin, Afghan musician Alina Gawhary visited Northern Ireland to mark International Women’s Day. During her visit she spoke with students about her incredible journey, living under persecution and having to paint in secret, before fleeing to Bangladesh under a University Scholarship. Also in March, students from Mercy College, Blessed Trinity and Boys Model were invited to Stormont Castle to speak with the Head of the Civil Service Jayne Brady about their experience of taking part in the Creative Schools Programme, a pioneering programme led by the Arts Council and the Education Authority. YA author, Shirley-Anne McMillan took over from Paul Howard to become the new Children’s Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland, while Paul Muldoon, Frances Tomelty and Ian McElhinney lead the first Queen’s Reading Room event in Northern Ireland.
Read more: Paul Muldoon, Frances Tomelty and Ian McElhinney… | Arts Council NI

April
Spark Opera’s Kate Guelke was presented with the Anne O’Donoghue Award in April. Awarded in memory of the former Director of Play Resource Warehouse, the £5,000 grant was presented to Kate to undertake training with Streetwise Opera, which enables people who’ve experienced homelessness to find inspiration and empowerment while they rebuild their lives and identities. Also this month, two NI authors, Paul Howard and Máire Zepf, took to the road to join Laureate na nÓg Patricia Forde on her epic road trip to visit libraries, books shops, schools and cultural venues along the West Coast of Ireland.
While at the Lyric Theatre, Brassneck Theatre Company told the incredible story of Project Children. Written by Fionnuala Kennedy and directed by Tony Devlin, the play tells the incredible story of the landmark programme which spanned 40 years and brought 23,000 Northern Ireland children to the USA during the summer month, as respite from the conflict.
Read more: Story of Landmark project which gave 23,000… | Arts Council NI

May
Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody led the endorsements for the Arts Council’s 10 Year Strategic Plan in May. Launched at a special event in The MAC, the document sets out the Arts Council’s goals and ambitions and a new way forward for the next decade. One of the first areas to be addressed within the document was plans for a new Mental Health and Arts Programme. The programme was launched later that month, in partnership with the Baring Foundation and seeks to provide training and support for artists to improve their own mental health as well as providing funding to support projects within the community.
Read more: Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody welcomes Arts… | Arts Council NI

June
An exhibition of work from the Arts Council Collection opened at the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh in June. Residents of Macklin Care Homes had the opportunity to take part in multi-artform and gardening therapy workshops led by Kabosh. While in Derry-Londonderry, circus and street arts festival, Carnival of Colours, returned for The Big Splash, dropping their anchor at the Foyle Maritime Festival. The event showcased local and international performers along the River Foyle.
The Arts Council also reopened the popular National Lottery Rural Engagement Programme (REAP) for a third time. The funding scheme offers grants of up to £10,000 and is designed to increase access and participation in the arts in rural areas of Northern Ireland.
Read more: Kabosh hosts gardening and arts therapy project to… | Arts Council NI

July
Summer began with the good news that over £2 million had been awarded to 73 organisations through National Lottery Project Funding. The awards were allocated to a wide range of organisations across Northern Ireland, to create a year-round programme of events, festivals and projects. One of those to benefit was Jazzlife Alliance, which delivers specialist music tuition and mentoring in various locations across NI. Also in July, in collaboration with the University of Ulster, Dumbworld hosted the inaugural NI Film Scoring Summer School. The weeklong programme was for young composers and early career musicians interested in working in films, games and television. Meanwhile six major NI works were performed as part of the Spotlight on Theatre and Dance NI Edinburgh Fringe Showcase.
The Arts Council also released its report on the Living and Working Conditions of Artists. The report laid out the stark reality of decades of under funding for the arts on NI and the impact on those trying to make a living from their practice.
Read more: New report shows artists are struggling to make a… | Arts Council NI

August
In August the Arts Council held an information session for artists considering applying to the Minority Ethnic Artists Mentoring and Residency Programme at the Duncairn Arts Centre. Artists had the chance to listen to photographer Sheila Chakravarti talk about the funding she was awarded in 2022. Working alongside Belfast Exposed, Shelia’s grant allowed her to develop her artistic practice, learn new technical skills and create a new body of work for exhibition. The work exposes some of the challenges that manifest themselves when people are faced with racism, using photography as a tool to promote change.
At the MAC, a major new exhibition opened. For The Shake, inspired by Maurice Harron's iconic public sculpture, Hands Across the Divide, Khaled Barakeh reimagined this historical piece, focusing on the hands of the monument's two figures and precisely the gap between them: cast in bronze, frozen in an unfinished reconciliation, almost meeting but never genuinely joining.
Read more: The Shake, an exhibition reflecting on what unites… | Arts Council NI

September
September brought the publication of the Arts Council’s Annual Funding Survey. The survey collected data from 84 of the Arts Council’s regularly funded organisations and presented some bleak findings as the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, combined with a reduction in income was felt across the sector, impacting the number of performances, exhibitions and events.
In Coalisland, Beam Creative Network developed a fantastic new project focused on promoting positive mental health. The sessions, funded by the National Lottery through the Arts Council's Young People Health and Wellbeing Arts Programme, consisted of 20 workshops in creative writing, visual art and drama.
Read more: Coalisland Arts Project is helping Young People… | Arts Council NI

October
October marked 12 years of international collaboration between the Arts Council and British Council, the milestone was celebrated with the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding and a pledge to continue working together to promote NI artists abroad. Belfast based Tamil artist, Anushiya Sundaralingam unveiled a stunning new work at the Ulster Museum. Tappi Odu (Flee) features images of footprints from across the globe and explores themes of displacement.
While Luail- Ireland’s inaugural national and all-island dance company announced a new foundational partnership with Maiden Voyage. Working with partners, the collective model will offer new dance productions, revivals, and creative opportunities to create invigorating, high-quality collaborative work across diverse disciplines and performance spaces.
Read more: LUAIL – Ireland’s National Company announces… | Arts Council NI

November
In November, the National Lottery celebrated its 30th birthday and we paused to reflect on the difference three decades of funding has made to Northern Ireland’s cultural landscape. Poet and playwright Nandi Jola was honoured in a large scale UK first AI artwork, as a National Lottery ‘Game Changer’, one of 30 inspirational people singled out for recognition who have achieved amazing things, with the help of National Lottery funding. Ruth McGinley, violinist, Darragh Morgan, author, Derek Keilty, visual artist, Ian Cumberland and author, Richard O'Rawe were also announced as the Arts Council’s 2024 Major Individual Awardees this month.
While another birthday was marked as Northern Ireland’s longest running artists studio, Queen Street Studios reached its 40th year. Also in Belfast, Golden Thread Gallery welcomed visitors into its brand-new premises at the opening of Claire Morgan’s incredible exhibition, featuring work specially created for the space.
Read more: Golden Thread Gallery’s New Premises Mark Fresh Era… | Arts Council NI

December
With the festive season approaching, there was good news on the horizon as 204 artists from across the region heard that they would benefit from £1.2 million of funding from the Arts Council’s Project Funding for Individual Artists. The scheme supports artists working across all artforms, at various stages of their career.
In December, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons met with some of the artists awarded funding through the Department of Communities supported Musical Instruments Programme. With a total investment of £823,000, he announced that 75 bands, 31 professional musicians and 13 professional and non-professional performing groups had been awarded funding to buy new instruments.
Read more: Christmas comes early for 204 artists across the… | Arts Council NI