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What's on in the Arts
20th March, 2024
From festivals, to concerts, exhibitions and more. Here's your guide to What's On in the Arts....
Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas & Politics 2024: This year’s festival takes place from 18-24 March in 30 venues across Belfast and will explore the theme ‘Top EnterBRAINment - Bring your thinking caps’’. The week-long programme is an eclectic mix of talks, workshops, theatre, comedy, music, exhibitions, film, poetry and tours with over 130 in-person and online events. Visit imaginebelfast.com for more.
Deaf Arts Festival NI: Building on the success of the inaugural Deaf Arts Festival NI, launched at the MAC in May 2023, Cre8 Theatre has grown the festival from two plays last year to 20 events in 2024. The festival is for deaf and hearing people to enjoy and has access and inclusion at its very core. Every event is suitable for both communities as there will be interpreters across all events over the entire festival weekend. Please see age group guidance per event.
Highlights includes:
The Fisherman's Friend | 29 & 30 March, 8pm & 6pm: Set in a mythical Northern Irish Bay, The Fisherman’s Friend tells the story of one Fisherman and one ambitious girl. What life stories does the Fisherman have for the young girl with the big dreams? How can one deaf and one hearing person communicate?
BSL Gallery Tour: Join Martin Glover, deaf BSL signer and art facilitator for an interactive tour of Niamh McCann: 'someone decides, hawk or dove', the current exhibition filling all three MAC galleries.
Easter Signed Story & Crafts | 31 March, 12 noon: This Easter-themed storytime features BSL lead storybook reading, and you'll also get to make Humpty Dumpty Easter eggs from papier-mâché, using balloons, newspapers, ribbons, spray paints, googly eyes and other fun materials!
For more information visit: Deaf Arts Festival NI 2024 | The MAC Belfast (themaclive.com)
Festival of Fools: The amazing Festival of Fools returns to the streets of Belfast from 4-9 May 2024. Festival of Fools this May thanks to The National Lottery players. This thrilling festival spreads amazement and joy across the city of Belfast every year and once again the organisers have curated a fabulously fun programme with something to suit all tastes, from the very young, to the very young at heart! Visit www.foolsfestival.com to view the programme.
Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival: returns in May 2024 with a packed programme of music, comedy, talks and more. Highlights include:
- Fri 3 May: The Breeze ‘Thin Ground;’ Album Launch
- Sat 4 May: PP Arnold and Bronagh Gallagher
- Sun 5 May: Conchúr White
- Wed 8 May: Contra, at Circusful
- Thurs 9 May: Belonging, at Circusful
- Sat 11 May: Sara Pascoe- Weirdo
- Sun 12 May: Revolucion to Roxy, Phil Manzanera In Conversation
For all this and more view the full programme and buy tickets at www.cqaf.com
Belfast 2024: is an ambitious cultural celebration made by the people of Belfast and led by Belfast City Council. This programme will see the city come to life with creative projects, events and civic initiatives taking place across Belfast throughout the year.
Highlights include:
Touch, Hear, Feel, by Helen Hall and Belfast International Arts Festival. Touch, Hear, Feel is an immersive and multisensory installation created with visually impaired communities led by artist Helen Hall, that explores touch through original choreography, fabrics, audio and video narratives.
Teac Damsa. An Droichead and Michael Keegan Dolan. An Droichead will create a new multi-disciplinary piece of dance theatre along with Teaċ Daṁsa, led by Michael Keegan Dolan.
The Art of Reconciliation, by Féile an Phobail, in partnership with Belfast International Arts Festival and EastSide Arts. Féile an Phobail, in partnership with Belfast International Arts Festival and EastSide Arts presents an international story of art and reconciliation, showcasing international experiences of the transformative role of the arts in dealing with complex issues around legacy, conflict and reconciliation.
Sound Links, by Ulster Orchestra. Townsend Street will be transformed for a one-day festival of dance, song and fun for all ages! This collaboration with Ulster Orchestra and Townsend Enterprise Park aims to continue the revival of a fascinating but overlooked street in west Belfast with a rich history and exciting future.
ROOTS, by Eileen McClory, Off The Rails Dance Company and Black Mountain Shared Space. ROOTS created by choreographer Eileen McClory with a dynamic collective of artists and expert gardeners will transform an interactive community garden, creating space to grow, dance, and dream. – Join us on the mountain in this new shared space -Culminating in live performances amid the flourishing Garden in August, and an immersive audio trail installation at Black Mountain Shared Space.
Midsummer at the Lyric, by Lyric Theatre. Come experience the Lyric Theatre like you’ve never seen before! Set to illuminate the banks of the River Lagan with an extraordinary festival in July 2024. Midsummer at the Lyric will be a collaborative spectacle igniting the Lyric’s outdoor space along the River Lagan; creating a magical and mythical space for play, theatre and music.
Little Amal, by The Walk Productions. A big Belfast welcome will be ready for Little Amal in May 2024. Little Amal, a 12-foot puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee child, will take a journey across our city to see the place we call home and make it her home for a weekend as she explores our places and enjoys experiences with our people. Produced by ArtsEkta in collaboration with Des Kennedy and Amir Nizar Zuabi.
Eco Arcade, by Robin Price. Artist Robin Price is teaming up with young minds and local ecologists from the National Trust to create an interactive experience that merges gaming, technology, and environmental consciousness. Eco Arcade will take over the outside of two of Belfast's prominent cultural spaces, the MAC and Ulster Museum, during the dark winter evenings of '24. The arcade games will become fully playable by the general public so everyone can have a go!
Are You On The Bus? by Outburst Arts and Kabosh Theatre Company. Outburst Arts and Kabosh present Are You On the Bus? - a ground-breaking collaboration that looks at Belfast’s queer past to collectively imagine the future, featuring stunning new multi-media and audio works by Pea Dinneen and Stacey Gregg that draw inspiration from city transport, time travel and cross-generational queer kinship.
For more information visit https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/belfast2024/home
Lyric Theatre: presents an exciting programme of events with highlights including:
20-24 March, Vection, at the Naughton Studio. Caitlin and Danny are about to become parents. Using virtual reality they are collecting experiences to show their new-born: from the past, present and future. Danny is convinced their child should travel to Ancient Rome; see the building of the pyramids; see the long-gone Great Barrier Reef. Caitlin believes they should keep it closer to home - show their child how they met and where they got married. They also use virtual reality as an escape. Neither knows what the other does, and they’re both hiding something.
3-6 April, The Ferryman
10-21 April, Sunny Side Up
17-21 April, Boy out the City
24 April – 5 May, Project Children by Fionnuala Kennedy and Brassneck Theatre Company -NEW YORK, 1975. Patrick and Denis Mulcahy, County Cork natives and police officers in the NYPD, watch news footage of the violence in the north of Ireland... and Project Children is born. Over the next 40 years, 23,000 Catholic and Protestant children would travel from Northern Ireland to America during the Summer months, as respite from the conflict. Belfast playwright, Fionnuala Kennedy, has documented this extraordinary intervention through interviews with participants, host families and the passionate volunteers involved with Project Children, the people who gave their time, so that our young people might have the opportunity to see another world outside of the conflict, creating a better future for us all. 'Project Children' is a powerful reminder of how activism and radical kindness can positively change the lives of children and young people.
16 May – 15 June, The Pillowman
For further details on these and to view all events visit www.lyrictheatre.co.uk
Grand Opera House: presents an exciting series of shows including,
22-30 Mar 2024: This Sh*t Happens All the Time by NI playwright Amanda Verlaque
21 Jun 2024: The Shamrock Tenors
6 June 2025: Russell Kane: HyperActive
24 Sep 2025: Rob Beckett: Giraffe
For tickets and to view the full programme please visit www.goh.co.uk
Strand Arts Centre: presents films and events, visit www.strandartscentre.com
The Playhouse in Derry-Londonderry: presents a series of events with highlights including,
Experience a set of staged concerts in the round until May 2024. From short opera, song cycles, cabaret to musical theatre from the golden age, each event will take you into a world of beautiful music, drama and emotion in the special, intimate surroundings of The Playhouse.
All productions fully staged with singers in costume, accompanied by a pianist. Shows include:
- 22 March, Cara Dillion at The Guildhall
- 6 April, Gepetto
- 20 April 2024 – The Lost Boy
- 28 April, The Bluetones
Visit www.derryplayhouse.co.uk
Linen Hall Library: the Linen Hall Library is a truly unique institution. Founded in 1788, it is the oldest library in Belfast. The library is free for all to enter and enjoy. The Linen Hall Library offers a year-round programme of arts and cultural events featuring authors, academics, historians, performers, and much more. To view the full events programme visit www.linenhall.com
Millennium Forum Derry-Londonderry: presents music, comedy, theatre and more with highlights including:
Moves and Melodies. Moves and Melodies is an age friendly project in the Millennium Forum that includes song and dance workshops for 60 people. This project will be provided complimentary and will be held once a month in the Studio Theatre. The music facilitator is Fiona Logue and the dance facilitators are Claire Harkin and Emma Lindsay from Emma Lindsay Dance. There will be an opportunity to learn new dance skills and sing a range of song styles every month. 2pm – 3.30pm. For further information contact Lisa Heaney on 028 7127 2779 or email lisah@millenniumforum.co.uk
- 20-23 Mar, Oliver
- 12 April, Paddy Raff
- 16-21 April, Shrek the Musical
- 15-16 May, Peppa Pig’s Fun day Out
- 21-25 May, The Woman in Black, cirect from the West End,
Visit www.millenniumforum.co.uk
THE MAC: presents a fantastic programme of theatre, comedy music and talks with highlights including:
Queer Set Dancing. Come along to a Queer Set Dancing class with Alexa Moore. Part of the MACtivate programme, in association with The Rainbow Project, the MAC’s fortnightly Queer Set Dancing class with Alexa Moore is specifically beginner-friendly. Join Alexa and the group for a fun class with no expectation of any prior dancing experience. The class is run by a queer woman and we aim to create a welcoming and friendly environment for LGBTQ+ people and allies to learn a new dance, have some fun, and meet new people. Come along when you can - you don't need to have joined from the first date to attend. All welcome.
- 23 Mar, MAC Baby Time
- 23 Mar, Songs and Dances of Death & Kindertotenlieder with NI Opera Salon Series
- 29 Mar, Ottilie: A Rehearsed Reading performed by Rachel Tucker
- 29-31 March, Deaf Arts Festival
- 1-2 April, Easter Petting Zoo
- 6 April, Unanimous with DU Dance
- 6 April, music with Briana Corrigan
- 13 April, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered with NI Opera’s Salon Series. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered will be performed by soprano Wendy Ferguson and pianist Ruth McGinley, with songs from the golden age of music theatre.
- 19-20 April, The Sound of Music, Youth Edition
- 23-27 April, theatre with Young Frankenstein
For all this and more visit www.themaclive.com to view a full programme of events and exhibitions.
DU Dance (NI) in association with The MAC, presents the annual youth dance platform, UNANIMOUS, showcasing great new dance theatre on 6 April 2024 at The MAC. This event brings together some of the best youth dance groups from across the island of Ireland in a non-competitive arena.
This year the National Youth Dance Company of Scotland will also be performing at UNANIMOUS as part of their UK and International touring schedule. UNANIMOUS is a powerful and energy-packed event for families, young people and anyone with an interest in dance. Come along and see the exciting youth dancers of tomorrow, here today. Concessions available for under 16s, students, disabled, carers and unemployed. Community rate available, email tickets@themaclive.com for more info. Visit www.themaclive.com
DU Dance also presents, Belfast Boys, physical dance theatre for boys aged 7-11 years at the Crescent Arts Centre. Classes at 2-3pm every Saturday. No experience is necessary. Book at info@dudanceni.com
Bruiser Theatre Company: Bruiser Theatre Company is delighted to announce its new pilot project, ‘Sharing Festival’, a new performance opportunity which demonstrates the excellence and highest standard of practical work across Northern Ireland schools. The project welcomes schools studying the Bruiser style, techniques and ethos to apply to perform in a showcase of devising and performance excellence. Apply now at
https://bruisertheatrecompany.com/education/competitions/sharing-festival
Crescent Arts Centre: presents a series of language, visual arts, craft, music, dance classes, and more plus workshops and events. Visit www.crescentarts.org for details.
Seamus Heaney HomePlace: has releases details of their Autumn/Winter programme. Taking place from Sep-Dec 2023 at Seamus Heaney HomePlace, the programme is overflowing with brilliant musicians, poets, authors, and artists. Highlights include:
- 4 Apr, Dara McNulty in conversation with Marie-Louise Muir
- 12 Apr, An evening with Irvine Welsh
- 14 Apr, Jan Carson in conversation
- 27 Apr, Lemn Sissay
- 29 Apr, Ulster Orchestra on Your Doorstep – Villa Italia!
To view the full programme visit www.seamusheaneyhome.com for tickets and information.
Declan McConaghy Show: Newry based former BBC broadcaster, Declan McConaghy has created a new series of short films where he talks in-depth to creatives from Newry and the surrounding area who have made a contribution to theatre, music, dance and the performing arts in general. The view the films visit https://www.facebook.com/DMCSHOW ) or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaH9LxmhE8O1Af3Csk-k6vA
Sestina: presents
In Praise of St Cecilia, 4th & 5th April 2024, Belfast | Thomastown, Kilkenny
A celebration of the patron saint of music, exploring the year of 1683-1684 through the celebratory works of Marc Antoine Charpentier & Henry Purcell
Sing with Sestina: Welcome to all the pleasures, 4th & 5th April 2024, Belfast | Thomastown, Kilkenny
Open to anyone and everyone who loves to sing, Sestina Music will be running another Choral Workshop this season! Come along and immerse yourself in a historically informed and authentic approach to this celebratory ode to the patron saint of music.
For more info visit www.sestinamusic.com
Northern Ireland Opera: presents,
Mussorgsky’s‘Songs and Dances of Death‘ & Mahler’s ‘Kindertotenlieder‘: 23 March, 7.45pm, Downstairs at The MAC, £30/£14 concessions
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered with soprano Wendy Ferguson and pianist, Ruth McGinley: 13 April 2024, 7.45pm, Downstairs at The MAC, £30/£14 concessions & 25 May 2024, 8pm, The Playhouse, Derry/Londonderry, £20
The Lost Boy with vocalist, Conor Quinn: 20th April 2024, 8pm, The Playhouse, Derry/Londonderry, £20
Chorus, 18th May, Ulster Hall. Following on from the huge success of the 2023 Opera Chorus Development programme and their performances in the highly acclaimed production of ‘TOSCA’ at the Grand Opera House Belfast, NI Opera proudly present our 2024 Northern Ireland Opera Chorus as the feature of this very special showcase. NI Opera choristers have become one of the greatest assets for the company and through this specialised programme, they have worked with industry professionals including vocal coaches, conductors, language coaches, choreographers and movement directors from highly prestigious opera houses all over the UK and Europe. For this concert they will be working with conductors James Grossmith, Margaret Bridge and Matthew Quinn. Come and enjoy well-loved favourites as well as some lesser-known delights. This concert will include works by Purcell, Wagner, Puccini, Verdi, Tchaikovsky and John Adams.
Eugene Onégin by Tchaikovsky. 14,17,19,21 September, Grand Opera House Belfast. After two consecutive sold-out productions, La Traviata in 2022, and Tosca in 2023, Northern Ireland Opera returns to the Grand Opera House with Tchaikovsky’s stunning operatic masterpiece, Eugene Onégin. Love, friendship and fidelity collide with devastating consequences in this story of passion, pride, a moment’s madness, a duel and a true love lost. Directed by Cameron Menzies, don’t miss your opportunity to see this award-winning national opera company’s new production of one of the most exciting stories ever set to music. Performed in Russian with English surtitles.
Visit www.niopera.com for details
Belfast Music Society (BMS): please visit www.belfastmusicsociety.com
Moving on Music presents:
- 28 Mar, Mary Lattimore, St Joseph’s Church, Sailortown, Belfast
- 3 Apr, Jolie Holland and Band, Black Box
- 11-14 Apr, Tour – McGoldrick, McCusker, Doyle
For tickets visit www.movingonmusic.com
Portico of Ards: presents
- 23 Mar, Singing Workshop with Peter Corry
- 7 Apr, Chamber Choir Ireland Quartet
- 12 Apr, THE BREEZE
- 19 Apr, Kammer Philharmonie Europa
Visit www.porticoards.com
Ulster Orchestra: presents their new season with highlights including,
22 Mar, Towards Harmony. Conflict and triumph in musical form appear in this programme. Conflict and triumph in musical form appear in this programme, through Shostakovich’s reflection of the futility of war in his Chamber Symphony in F Major and Mendelssohn’s celebration of the tercentenary of the Protestant Reformation. Weinberg’s First Flute Concerto, by turns cheerful and melancholy, sits neatly between both.
29 Mar, Music for Good Friday. Join Honorary Principal Guest Conductor Jac van Steen, a stellar group of soloists including Northern Irish soprano Giselle Allen and Belfast Philharmonic Choir for a beautiful concert that reflects the mood of Good Friday.
12 Apr, Daniele's Brahms. Brahms’s struggle to overcome his intimidation at tackling symphonic writing may have taken almost fifteen years, but it was worth the wait as he took Beethoven’s compositional legacy and turned it into something spectacularly his own.
26 Apr, Pathétique. Tchaikovsky’s symphonies are no-holds-barred emotional essays, and his sixth symphony is no different.
4 May, May the Fourth Be with You - A Star Wars Spectacular. Calling all Star Wars fans, young and old! Almost half a century has passed since the first Star Wars film changed cinema forever in 1977, with the franchise still going strong decades later. John Williams’s epic scores are some of the most thrilling music ever written, especially when heard with a live orchestra. With music spanning from Episode IV: A New Hope, The Emperor Strikes Back and The Phantom Menace to The Revenge of the Sith and The Mandalorian, The Force is strong with this one.
10 May, The Sun Still Shines – Ulster Orchestra and Conor Mitchell. Conor Mitchell New Work (World Première). GABRIEL BEBEȘELEA CONDUCTOR. The name Sophie Scholl is not widely known outside Germany, but her extraordinary story is the inspiration for a brand-new work by Conor Mitchell. As a student in Nazi Germany, she co-founded the non-violent group the White Rose and distributed leaflets, encouraging citizens to resist the Nazi regime, denouncing the murder of Jewish people and demanding an end to the war. In 1943, while distributing pamphlets at her university, she was reported to the Gestapo and executed after a show trial, aged 21, and her last words as she went to her death were “The sun still shines” (“Die Sonne scheint noch”). Her short life is a stellar example of the necessity of following your conscience and speaking truth to power, no matter what the consequences.
14 June Lir Arts Festival, Ballycastle – Co.Antrim. The Ulster Orchestra are On Your Doorstep at St Patrick's and St Brigid's Church, Ballycastle. Spend a Summer's evening in Ballycastle with the Ulster Orchestra in concert at St Patrick's and St Brigid's Church. Refreshments served in the Crypt after the concert. Brought to you by Lir Arts Festival, Bringing the Arts to Ballycastle.
Visit www.ulsterorchestra.com for the full programme and to book tickets.
Oh Yeah Centre Belfast: presents a programme of music and tours with highlights including,
30 Mar - Sambroso Allstars perform The Buena Vista live in Belfast. Expect a musical feast of Cuban Son, Latin Jazz, and Rumba.
12 Apr - Come join Rory Nellis and his fantastic band in the Oh Yeah Centre, right in the middle of Belfast's Cathedral Quarter.
16 Apr- Isabella Dorta's Belfast show of her 2024 spring poetry tour and an open mic/book signing!
20 Apr - This show is for the worthiest cause. Please join Oh Yeah for this Gary Moore Belfast Statue Fundraising Concert spectacular. Just announced, Thin Lizzy founding guitarist and blues legend Eric Bell Trio will be joining us on the night, including a very special interview with Eric Bell and BBC's Ralph McLean live on stage!
10 May - The Liquid Engineers: The Gary Numan Experience
24 May - The Linen Hall Library and Women's Work are delighted to launch the brand-new EP ‘Woman’ by Belfast based folk Singer Songwriter Ciara O’Neill. Following on from the success of her last EP where single ‘La Lune’ topped the BBC Radio Ulster and RTE Radio1 airplay charts and her subsequent RTE Radio1 Folk Award nomination this event is not to be missed.
The NI Music exhibition at Oh Yeah is the only permanent exhibit for popular music in Northern Ireland. There is much to see, including a series of storyboards documenting and plotting the history and the stories of Folk, Punk, Rock, Jazz and more. Exhibition Opening Times, Mon – Fri: 10am-4pm, Sat: 12-5pm. To enquire about a visit, or for further info and group bookings please contact info@ohyeahbelfast.com or call 02890310845
The Black Box: presents a varied programme of music, comedy, street art tours and other arts events.For further information n visit www.blackboxbelfast.com
Scott’s Jazz Club: Scott's Jazz Club runs a weekly concert in Ballyhackamore club 1a Sandown Road every Friday Night from 9pm. The club provides a welcoming environment for world class jazz music to be experienced in a concert setting. For upcoming performances visit Scott's Jazz Club (scottsjazzclub.com)
ITMA: 'Drawing from the Well' is an online monthly ITMA series which connects artists with archival materials to inspire new art. To date, nine videos, podcasts and blogs have been created by leading traditional musicians, singers, and dancers, including Louise Mulcahy, Martin Hayes, Edwina Guckian and Cormac Begley. All episodes are free to view online at https://www.itma.ie/drawingfromthewell
Tommy Sands and Artsawonder: In this new online film series, legendary musician, Tommy Sands, films, sings, listens and learns from a singing five times world champion drum major Alan McBride, two young women, Jenna Stevenson and Wendy Graham Hanna, who initiate and drive an Arts hub shop, a rhythmic drum weaver rhythmic drum weaver Damien McKeown and a young woman Bronagh Kelly who lovingly echoes the poetry of her mother. To watch visit Media | Artsawonder (wixsite.com)
Partisan Productions: presents Community Theatre on 26 March at Girdwood Community Hub. Expect original interactive theatre exploring the impacts of anti-social behaviour and sectarianism on communities. This is recommended for age 11 plus as the discretion of parents, guardians and teachers. There is a school matinee at 2pm followed by an evening show at 7pm. Visit Partisan Theatre’s Facebook page for more information.
Crescent Arts Centre: has a new term of classes to book and enjoy now. Fancy learning to speak some Italian before your holiday to Italy this year? Well now’s your chance! From visual arts, language classes, acting, dance, music making and more, there’s something to tantalise all tastes. Visit www.crescentarts.co.uk
Duncairn: presents live music from the following,
- 22 Mar, Cinder Well
- 28 Mar, Mary Lattimore
- 11 Apr, McGoldrick / McCusker / Doyle
- 11 May, Ryan Young
- 18 May, Nora Brown & Stephanie Coleman
- 24 May, Jinx Lennon + muckno
Visit www.theduncairn.com
Duncairn Player: all of the previous video projects can now be viewed from the Duncairn Player including The Duncairn Virtual Cabaret, Take 2, Carlingford and the Ring of Guillion Sessions. Visit Player — The Duncairn
The Duncairn also has a range of workshops and craft classes and courses. For further details visit www.theduncairn.com
Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich: presents,
Irish Language Intensive Course. Intensive courses are a great way to boost your language skills in a short space of time. The course will be both motivating and informative and will take your confidence in the Irish language to another level. The levels we offer are: Bunrang|Beginner , Meanrang | Intermediate , Ardrang | Advanced . Please email sinead@culturlann.ie for more information
Yoga Classes with Dunla, 6:30-7:30pm, £5.No need to register, just pay on arrival.
Friday 8 March, International Women’s Day Ceol na mBan
Sunday 17 March, St Patrick’s Day celebrations with workshops for children, live traditional music and an amazing show from Clann Mhic Corraidh!
For this and more visit www.culturlann.ie
Greater Shantallow Community Arts: presents Spill The Tae Youth Led Podcast from the young people at Studio2/GSCA. This amazing group of creative young people have launched their very own podcast and it can be found on Spotify or Apple Podcast. The young people plan, host, interview and edit the Podcast. To date they have interviewed some of their local MLA’s, Councillors, survivors and local Derry’s own Serena Terry, creator of Mammy Banter. As well as this they have a voice and a safe place where they can openly talk about mental health and what it means to them. You can find the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcast but also by clicking this link below.
https://shows.acast.com/spill-the-tae-youth-led-podcast
Eden Place Arts Centre: in Derry-Londonderry has an exciting range of courses and workshops to get your creative juices flowing including wood sculpture, Inner Landscapes, Abstract Art, Ceramics, Painting for Beginners, Contemporary Botanical Watercolours, Landscape Painting Life Painting, Spinning and Weaving plus Portrait Painting, among others. All courses are designed for adults aged 18+. Visit www.edenplaceartscentre.com
WheelWorks Arts: presents,
ArtCart: Unique to WheelWorks Arts (WWA) is their ArtCart community engagement and outreach programme, which brings creative and artistic activities to your community. ArtCart is also the name WWA gives to its bespoke vehicle that can travel across Northern Ireland and transform into a unique workshop space. ArtCart is available for hire at youth, community, education, and festival events, bringing artistic and creative activities to the community. The available inventive activities cover digital and traditional arts and can include animation, DJing/music making, arts & crafts, and digital arts using augmented and virtual reality. For further information and to hear about their special Art Cart offers over Christmas, visit https://www.wheelworksarts.com/artcart or email artcart@wheelworksarts.com.
TS3 Programme: The Tech Studio Skills Share (TS3 programme) is a new initiative by WheelWorks Arts (WWA) that offers training to help people improve their creativity and skills in digital communication by harnessing the specialist artistic expertise of the WWA team. The staff team at WWA consists of professional artists and digital innovators who have a wealth of knowledge, talent, and experience in delivering creative activities. They are now offering a range of training opportunities to the corporate and commercial sectors. For further information, visit https://www.wheelworksarts.com/ts3-training.
TechStudio: This is a 60m2 meeting room and collaboration space available for hire at our office in Weaver's Court, close to Belfast city centre (BT12 5GH). The room is equipped with a range of digital and recording resources, including cameras, green screens, tripods, iPads, and an interactive whiteboard, all available for hire. For pricing and to book the TechStudio, please use our online booking system. For further information, visit https://www.wheelworksarts.com/room-hire or email info@wheelworksarts.com or business@wheelworksarts.com.
ChangeMaker: This is a programme by WWA that connects people from diverse communities with varied identities within organisations, communities, or geographical areas. It encourages open dialogue, exploration, and recognition of differences to foster mutual inclusion, enhance interpersonal understanding, and ultimately boost inter and intra-community cohesion. The programme explores perceptions, stereotypes, and misconceptions that workshop participants may have, with a view to understanding other contributors' values, heritage, biases, and experiences, and why people may have certain views or stereotypes. It also highlights how many of these perspectives may be unintentional, unconscious, and often unchallenged. For more information, contact Lesley@wheelworksarts.com.
Streetwise Community Circus: Fancy learning how to juggle and other circus skills?! In response to Covid 19 Streetwise Community Circus has developed a team of tutors who are now working via Zoom to reach out to those who can no longer participate in workshops. To take advantage of this opportunity all you have to do is email Streetwise on streetwiseathome@gmail.com. Suitable for participants who range in age from 8 to 80 plus.
Arts Care:
has a wonderful range of arts activities available online on their Arts Care 4U Premium +, their online arts delivery channel that everyone can access. Arts Care’s new dedicated online arts and well-being workshop resource, ‘Break-Time’, accessed via their website to support the mental, emotional and physical well-being of children and young people through the Arts. New art, music, dance & exercise, drama, creative writing and clown doctor’s CDTV videos will be uploaded regularly and it’s all FREE. Visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ85xLA2BlQQdrnWBhKw1hw
The MAC: presents, Niamh McCann: ‘someone decides, hawk or dove’. 8 Dec 23 – 7 April 24. 'someone decides, hawk or dove' is a commissioned work by artist Niamh McCann as part of the programme for ART:2023, a Decade Of Centenaries supported by The Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
The title of the exhibition 'someone decides, hawk or dove' is a line from the poem Hairline Crack in Belfast poet Ciaran Carson’s 1989 collection Belfast Confetti. Hairline Crack is also the title of a film central to this exhibition which comprises of three acts with two musical interludes. An eyeless dog guides us through three separate landscapes: one bucolic, one musicological and one socio-political, in an odyssey along the border region of Northern Ireland. Like a mythological seer, this eyeless dog perceives and interprets obscure truths, through philosophical musings on Man’s long hubristic dominion over beasts, places, people.
Dumbworld and The MAC: presents A New Topography of Love, available to view now until 6 June. A New Topography of Love is a 20-minute animated video-game opera experience, played on a bespoke arcade console. Imagine Super Mario Brothers meets Mario Lanza, Mickey Mouse, whales, bats, birds and Jeff Bezos, all battling it out for the future of our very own planet earth. It tells the tale of the earth – ravaged by waste and excess and almost too late to save – but the animals that remain become our teachers, reminding us of the essence of living and that there is nothing more important than our voice. The piece plays out seven chapters with three-interactive levels, all with one goal in common – to spread the love.
Written and directed by John McIlduff and composed by Brian Irvine, Dumbworld collaborates with artist Stephen Maurice Graham (The Washington Post, VICE, MTV) to create a bold new video-game opera experience. Come visit this installation from Dumbworld at the MAC anytime during opening hours. Visit www.themaclive.com
Belfast Print Workshop - buy framed prints by BPW members working across a range of techniques, supported by The National Lottery, www.bpw.org.uk
Queen Street Studios, Belfast: visit www.queenstreetstudios.net
Seacourt Print Workshop. Visit www.facebook.com/seacourtprintworksshop
Craft NI Gallery presents: QEST Northern Ireland Showcase Exhibition, 1 Feb – 22 March, Craft NI Gallery, Belfast. Visit www.craftni.org
Golden Thread Gallery: While they temporarily ‘go dark’, GTG is delighted that their programme of free workshops for all ages will also continue in collaboration with The Naughton Gallery at Queens. Starting from October, their workshops for families and kids, and for teens and adults, will take place in the Lanyon Building at QUB. As always, all materials will be provided, plus snacks. Dates and times may vary. Full details will be shared on the GTG website and social media in advance. Workshops are free but please book your place by emailing. And make sure you’re on their mailing list to be the first to know! For further information visit www.goldenthreadgallery.co.uk
Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich: presents,
Exhibition: ‘We Gather’ with Siobhán O'Callaghan, from 7 March – 18 April 2024.
Siobhán O’Callaghan is a Dublin-based artist, invigorated by art’s capacity for storytelling, documentary and commentary, and the processes of making. Her work centres around connection in various forms – shared experiences, intimacy, how we relate to our environment. She is mindful that the environments in which we live help people make sense of their belonging in a larger culture and community. Relationships and communication take centre stage in her works and the process of their making.
Exhibition: EXHIBITION - 'In Memory of the Future' - with Illustrators Ireland. In Homage to Tomi Ungerer, 7 March – 18 April 2024.
This is an exhibition by 55 Irish illustrators, celebrating the life and work of Tomi Ungerer. Tomi Ungerer was an internationally recognised, admired and well-loved illustrator. Ungerer spent much of his life as a young man trying to find a place to settle, having been uprooted first by World War 2, then by prejudice, and finally by boredom. In the end, Ungerer settled in Ireland.
In 2018 Ungerer was welcomed as the first honorary member of Illustrators Ireland – a gesture that was partially tongue-in-cheek – but Ungerer accepted his crown with grace, humility and great enthusiasm. Each illustrator has chosen a work by Ungerer and offered their response to it, or their interpretation of it.
Visit www.culturlann.ie
Belfast Exposed: presents,
Gallery 1: Now and Then – 40 Years of Belfast Exposed, 1 Feb – 23 Mar 2024. Celebrating 40 years since the first photography exhibition bearing its name took place, Belfast Exposed has put together a celebration of photography that will showcase the breadth of talent from across Northern Ireland.
Welcoming works from various artists that all incorporate photography into their practice, ‘Now & Then: 40 Years of Belfast Exposed’ kicks off the gallery’s Spring season and runs throughout February and March. Just one of the many exciting exhibitions and experiences that Belfast Exposed has on its anniversary calendar, ‘Now & Then’ will provide a snapshot into life in Northern Ireland through the lenses of those who have lived and worked here.
Gallery 2: Our Archives – 40 Years of Belfast Exposed. 7 Mar – 1 June. As part of this year's ongoing celebration of their 40th Anniversary, the Belfast Exposed Archive is taking over Gallery II with an exciting exhibition that will provide a snapshot into life in Northern Ireland throughout the 1990s. The Belfast Exposed Archive is a substantial collection of over one million negatives and slides, held in trust for the community. Compiled over the last 40 years, the Archive contains contributions from both professional and amateur photographers.
Naturally, the Archive includes a significant amount of material in relation to the Troubles. However, many of the images show an alternative side of Belfast that reflects the reality, sadness and humour of the city as it experienced conflict, through the experiences of people who lived, worked and visited the city throughout that time.
Each photograph weaves together a tapestry of emotions, experiences, and struggles, forming a poignant testament to the resilience and spirit of Belfast's people. As viewers immerse themselves in this visual narrative, they are transported back in time, invited to bear witness to the unbreakable human spirit that has shaped the heart and soul of Northern Ireland's history.
Belfast Exposed also offer a series of photography classes and workshops for all levels of experience. Visit www.belfastexposed.org
VOID Art Centre: presents, Composting for the future: an exhibition and long-term period of research and training that reflects on ways of working within Void, past and present.
Composting for the future is a twofold exhibitionary project taking place across Void’s galleries. Composting for the future marks Void Art Centre’s commitment to a living practice of Social Permaculture, a group of principles that look to models of co-existence and co-creation in permaculture and our more-than-human world. Void’s organisational structure will be re-imagined, becoming based on collaborative methods of working and sustainable use of logical resources such as project production. Composting for the future represents the initial starting point for this transformation.
Void will host a Social Permaculture hub which runs from February 2024 to April 2024. This hub will act as a training ground for Social Permaculture activities. Alongside the training programme, Karla Sánchez, co-founder of Blackbird Cultur-Lab, will share a collection of publications that expand on farming and agriculture from historical, political-economy, and regenerative-agriculture perspectives, held in a temporary library resource created for Composting for the future. Concurrent to the exhibition and hub, Void will host a public programme that will address issues connected to Void’s future adherence to Social Permaculture values, such as the natural world, sustainability, interdisciplinary development and climate crisis. A public programme will accompany the project, bringing Void’s history and future working practices to events, workshops and reading groups.
VOID also has a range of learning opportunities available for all ages, such as talks, workshops and more, visit their website for full details.
Visit www.derryvoid.com
BLACKOUT at Platform Arts: an upcoming exhibition hosted by 'Nua Collective,' at Platform Arts, Belfast. The event will showcase the works of 13 Irish artists who live around the world and will be held at Platform Arts, Connswater Shopping Centre, Belfast. Visit www.nuacollective.com for more information.
CCA: presents, Susan Hughes: Stones from a Gentle Place, 20 Jan – 28 Mar 2024.
The exhibition follows the artists’ encounter with bioluminescence while swimming in the sea at night, and her subsequent observation of how humans throughout history have made sense of natural phenomena, the stories associated with such occurrences, and the physical and cognitive effects on the body.
Susan’s research has expanded beyond bioluminescence (microscopic plankton ignited by movement) to fluorescent geology and Will ‘o the Wisp (phosphorescence caused by plants decaying in boggy ground). These phenomena are otherworldly, seemingly synthetic in their brilliance, independent combustion and neon colours. Alongside this, Susan has travelled across Ireland, connecting with archivists, storytellers, musicians and mariners, gathering folklore related to this natural phenomena in the landscape.
In the exhibition the artist plays with psychedelic and ambient lights, colours, materials and sounds in otherwise dark rooms. Analog and digital sit aside one another inviting the viewer to submit to a malleability of time, hard fact and fairy tale. Visit www.ccadld.org
ArtisAnn:
ArtisAnn Gallery, 70 Bloomfield Avenue, Belfast, BT5 5AE. All artworks are available to buy. You can also buy art through the Arts Council supported Own Art scheme which gives you an interest-free loan over 10 months. Visit www.artisann.org
