What's on in the Arts

FESTIVALS

Belfast Photo Festival: The Belfast Photo Festival is returning this year at outdoor and indoor venues across the city from 1-30 June. Launched in 2011, this now annual photographic event has been described as one of the "best photography festivals in the world" by Capture Magazine.

The Festival consists of exhibitions, talks, symposiums, workshops, screenings, masterclasses, portfolio reviews and tours. The 2023 edition of Belfast Photo Festival explores how artists in the contemporary moment are interpreting the idea of the ‘journey’ as a subject of art. For more information visit https://www.belfastphotofestival.com/

Belfast Book Festival: The 13^th Belfast Book Festival returns from 13-18 June with highlights including:

13 June, Patron’s Picks, Lucy Caldwell, Wendy Erskine and Yan Ge

14 June, The Big Top: Readings with The Stinging Fly

15 June, Seamus Heaney Centre Fellows: Roddy Doyle, Conor Mitchell and Kae Tempest

16 June, The Voice of Carers and The Power of Writing

17 June, Making Stories with Paul Howard

18 June, Love Poetry Today: Bebe Ashley, Leeanne Quinn & Stephen Sexton

For more information visit https://belfastbookfestival.com/

The Playhouse: presents, Artitude Climate festival from 23-25 June. A free three day community-led celebration of art, climate action and the circular economy. Showcasing creative, community-led responses to the climate emergency, the festival is delivered in collaboration with The Gathering, Zero Waste North West (ZWNW), Northern Ireland Resources Network (NIRN), Environmental Justice Network and Making Relatives – a visit of water and land protectors from Lakota Nation, US.

Emerging from The Playhouse’s Artitude: Climate, Culture and Circularity project, the festival is part of a unique and transformational programme of activity, using the arts and creative practice to engage communities in the DCSDC area in exploring climate action and the circular economy, with a view to encouraging positive behavioural change.

The Playhouse works with partners Zero Waste North West, Northern Ireland Resources Network, Queen’s University and Derry City and Strabane District Council to use the arts to co-ordinate and deliver the 18 month programme. Full programme of events coming soon. Visit www.derryplayhouse.co.uk

Belfast Tradfest and Summer School: Belfast TradFest Summer Fest will return from 23-29 July 2023, jam-packed full of traditional music, song and dance, with some of the best traditional musicians, singers & dancers from across these islands. Featuring a week-long programme of workshops and a full programme of concerts, talks, lectures, sessions, céilís & festival clubs, this weekend is the only one of its kind in Northern Ireland and brings together both the Irish and the Ulster-Scots musical traditions, in a shared celebration of culture & heritage. Visit www.belfasttraditionalmusic.com for the full programme.

Northern Ireland Opera: presents The 13^th Glenarm Festival of Voice from 25-27 August 2023.

Join Northern Ireland Opera in the beautiful coastal village of Glenarm for their annual celebration of song: The Glenarm Festival of Voice. Now in its thirteenth year, this much-loved event brings together BBC Radio 3 recitals, outreach events, performances by emerging artists and culminates in the Competition Finale, hosted by our Patron, BBC Radio 3 broadcaster Sean Rafferty, where five singers from across the island of Ireland compete in front of a live jury panel to win the Deborah Voigt Opera Prize and become the NI Opera Young Opera Voice of 2023.

The theme for the 2023 BBC Radio 3 Recitals is Women Composers and Poets. NI Opera’s three BBC Radio 3 recitalists will be announced later this spring. Free tickets will be available to book to experience these BBC Radio 3 recitals live in Glenarm through BBC Audiences in the next month or two. NI Opera will announce the date when these will be available on their website, via their social media and through their e-newsletter. Visit www.niopera.com

FILM, LITERATURE, DANCE AND DRAMA

The Playhouse: presents a series of events this summer with highlights including,

• 23-25 June, Artitude Climate Festival
• 29 June, Kinnaris Quintet
• 30 June, Grimes and McKee New Ireland
• 9 September, Deirdre O’Kane – Demented

Visit www.derryplayhouse.co.uk

Lyric Theatre: presents a new programme for 2022/23 with highlights including

• Amadan presents, GEPETTO on 26th, 27th & 28th May 2023. Geppetto is a brand new children's production from Amadan Ensemble premiering at the Lyric Theatre. Geppetto is the story of a lonely old man, grieving the loss of his wife and isolated from the world outside his workshop. He spends his days pottering in his repair shop, half-heartedly fixing broken things, never quite getting to the bottom of the pile of these once loved but now discarded items. His small and solitary life is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a mysterious visitor that brings his broken things to life; a lamp causes havoc, a radio bursts into song, and a Hoover is determined to cause trouble. Geppetto is slowly pulled out of his lonely existence and into a world full of hope and opportunity. He’s finally able to move through life no longer weighed down by loss. As we leave him, the mysterious visitor has one last gift to bestow - one story’s end is just another story’s beginning.

• The Beauty Queen Of Leenane, 27 May – 1 July 2023. A contemporary classic by Martin Mc Donagh. In an isolated cottage in Connemara, Maureen Folan leads a lonely life with Mag, her demanding, manipulative mother. With the arrival of an unexpected admirer, Maureen finally sees the possibility of escaping her dismal life. However, Mag has other ideas, and the two women are plunged into a desperate conflict which leads to a shocking conclusion. The Beauty Queen of Leenane is one of playwright Martin McDonagh’s (The Banshees of Inisherin Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri;The Lieutenant of Inishmore) finest achievements. Winner of four Tony Awards on Broadway and nominated for an Olivier Award, the play conjures up the unbearable tension and loneliness of an isolated existence. It is not to be missed.

For further details on these and to view all events visit www.lyrictheatre.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

Grand Opera House: presents a series of shows this month and next including the highlights below:

• Johannes Radebe: Freedom Unleashed, 25-27 May
• The SpongeBob Musical, 30 May – 3 June
• The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, 6-10 June
• Vote DLA, 13-17 June
• The King and I, 20-24 June
• Colin Murphy, 29 June – 1 July
• Oliver, 20-22 July
• Demon Dentist, 26-29 July
• Northern Ireland Opera Tosca, 9,12,14 & 16 September

For tickets and the full programme please visit www.goh.co.uk

Millennium Forum Derry-Londonderry: presents a new season of music, comedy, theatre and more. Highlights include:

• Strictly Ballroom, 22-27 May
• Menopause the Musical, 28 May
• Tom Allen, 8 June
• Buddy – The Musical, 8-12 Aug

For the full programme of events visit www.millenniumforum.co.uk

THE MAC: presents a fantastic programme of events with highlights including:

• Queer Set Dancing. Part of the MACtivate programme in association with The Rainbow Project, our fortnightly Queer Set Dancing class with Alexa Moore is specifically beginner-friendly. Join Alexa and the group on select Thursdays from 6.30pm-8.30pm for a fun class with no expectation of any prior dancing experience. The class is run by a queer woman and aims to create a welcoming and friendly environment for LGBTQ+ people and allies to learn a new dance, have some fun and meet new people.

Visit www.themaclive.com to view a full programme of events and exhibitions.

DU Dance (NI): 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

Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich: presents

• Poetry Jukebox. Poetry Jukebox are #ChangingTheMessage! This project aims to share beautiful, profound and life-affirming words and change the words on our streets, opening hearts and minds, putting poetry to work where it belongs: everywhere, for everyone. As well as pressing buttons on the physical jukebox outside the Cultúrlann, poetry-lovers will be able to listen online at www.quotidian.ie.

Bruiser Theatre Company: is proud to present a live theatre tour of their critically-acclaimed production of Mojo Mickybo by Belfast playwright, Owen McCafferty in NI and the Republic of Ireland this May and June.

Mojo Mickybo shows the friendship between two boys growing up in Belfast – a friendship that at first is immune to the sectarian violence taking place around them, but which nonetheless is ultimately destroyed by it.
Mojo and his mate Mickybo are two nine-year-old boys from opposing sides of the sectarian divide. They are 'thick as two small thieves', playing headers, being mouthy, building huts, spitting from cinema balconies and re-enacting their favourite movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They are young cowboys in the making, with the violence of The Troubles only obliquely impacting on them – until finally their friendship is destroyed in a way that they only later come to understand.

This is pure, undiluted storytelling in Bruiser’s trademark dynamic physical style. Fast-paced, darkly funny and action-packed. The show is brought to life by two of our finest local actors, John Travers and Conor Quinn, who seamlessly slip in and out of multiple roles and imaginary worlds. .

For all tour dates visit www.bruisertheatrecompany.com

Crescent Arts Centre: presents,

• Belfast Book Festival, 13-18 June 2023.

• Stitch and Natter. On a Saturday morning, The Crescent runs free Stitch and Natter sessions in the café. Customers are encouraged to stop in for as long or as little as they’d like, and to come to all or just a few of the sessions.
  • This Apr - Jun term will be our 2^nd time running this free activity and the the sessions will be focusing on English Paper Piecing Patchwork. This block will last for 5 weeks.
  • All materials will be provided (along with tea, coffee, and biscuits)
  • The finished patchwork will be framed and displayed in The Crescent building

• Tech Tips: Support And Advice On Using Your Phone, Tablet Or Computer. Popular drop-in Tech Tip workshops available on various dates. More details can be found here: https://crescentarts.org/whats-on/tech-tips-support-and-advice-on-using-your-phone-tablet-computer-may23

• Creative Learning: Spring Term (17 Apr – 3 Jun). The latest course and workshop term has started. Lots of activity happening in the building, and lots of activity yet to start; https://crescentarts.org/courses

Visit www.crescentarts.org

Seamus Heaney HomePlace: has releases details of their spring and summer programme. Taking place from May to August 2023 at Seamus Heaney HomePlace, the programme is overflowing with brilliant musicians, poets, authors, and artists. Highlights include:

• Audiences will enjoy several genres of music throughout the season, featuring renowned performers such as Mundy (27^th May), Lisa Lambe (3^rd June), Ruth McGinley (1^st July), Luka Bloom (8^th July) and Colm Mac Con Iomaire (26^th August).
• A film screening of the Oscar-nominated Irish-language feature film An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) is planned for 10^th June. This coming-of-age drama tells the poignant tale of a young girl sent to live with distant relatives in eighties rural Ireland.
• Playwright, author and poetry aficionado Roger McGough brings ‘Alive & Gigging’ to HomePlace near the end of June. This will be Roger’s second visit to The Helicon following a memorable sell-out appearance in 2019.
• Then there is the special announcement of the debut performance of Brian Bilston in The Helicon in November. Brian Bilston has gathered a huge following on social media and has been described as ‘Twitter’s unofficial Poet Laureate.’
• The highlight of the summer is a weekend of events to mark the tenth anniversary of the death of Seamus Heaney. Seamus Heaney HomePlace will welcome a number of award-winning poets from across Ireland and the UK over the course of this commemorative weekend. The weekend will close with a poignant screening of Seamus Heaney and the music of what happens. This special weekend is taking place from 25^th - 27^th August 2023 at Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Bellaghy and is part of a full programme of events happening throughout the summer. A weekend pass for all five events is available to book.

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

MUSIC

Portico of Ards: presents.

Sat 3 June: ULSTER CONSORT

Programme: Serenade to Music

In music fit for a summer’s evening, the Ulster Consort presents well-known works by some of the giants of the British and Irish music scene of the 19th and 20th centuries. These include Dublin-born Charles Villiers Stanford, and Armagh-born Charles Wood, both of whom taught Ralph Vaughan Williams, as did Hubert Parry. In contrast, Edward Elgar was largely self-taught, but is now regarded as one of the finest composers of his generation. Celebrate this rich legacy from these islands in the feast of choral and organ music.

Fri 30 June: KINNARIS QUINTET

Winners of the 2019 Belhaven Bursary for Innovation in Music – the most significant prize in Scotland, matched only by the Mercury Prize – Kinnaris Quintet burst onto the scene in 2017 with a unique, highly emotive, energetic, and powerful sound. Their music has been described as ‘euphoric’ and combines Scottish and Irish traditional music with Bluegrass, Classical, Scandinavian and Appalachian influences. Uplifting, fresh music…created by three fiddles, mandolin and guitar. Expect influences of Trad Scottish & Irish, Bluegrass and Classical.

Other events include:

• 21 May, Anne Page Organ Recital
• 27 May, Tribute: Patsy Cline and the Country Divas
• 2 June, The Shamrock Tenors
• 11 June, Music From The Movies Organ Recital

To view the full programme visit www.porticoards.com

For tickets visit www.porticoards.com

Jamie Thompson Adjunct Ensemble: Irish composer and performer Jamie Thompson has launched his new album with support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland ACES programme. The album is called Sovereign Bodies / Ritual Taxonomy and features innovative electroacoustic music.

Thompson’s Adjunct Ensemble of highly celebrated musicians consists of a female opera singer, a turntablist, a spoken-word poet, a jazz-punk trio and soloists. Sovereign Bodies / Ritual Taxonomy is a remarkable artistic achievement like nothing you have heard before. The album was created through a mixture of improvisation, notated music, and experimental hip-hop, collage and electroacoustic production approaches. Sovereign Bodies / Ritual Taxonomy is due to be released internationally on Diatribe Records as a limited edition set of three postcards as well as all major digital retail and streaming services.

Northern Ireland Opera: presents,

Northern Ireland Opera: presents The 13^th Glenarm Festival of Voice from 25-27 August 2023.

Join Northern Ireland Opera in the beautiful coastal village of Glenarm for their annual celebration of song: The Glenarm Festival of Voice.

NI Opera also returns to The Grand Opera House in 2023 with Puccini’s Tosca, after their critically acclaimed production of La Traviata in 2022. Tosca is an operatic thriller set in Rome, taking place over one day, making it one of the most intense and exciting operas ever written. Floria Tosca is a beautiful soprano, deeply in love with painter Mario Cavaradossi. When the corrupt Chief of Police, Baron Scarpia, discovers that Mario has been helping political prisoners escape, he sees a way of forcing Tosca into the ultimate sacrifice to satisfy his lust. Scarpia will entrap her and try to get rid of her lover… who will survive?

Directed and conceptualised by Cameron Menzies, performed with the Ulster Orchestra and the NI Opera Chorus on 9, 12, 14 & 16 September. Visit www.niopera.com

Ulster Orchestra: presents

• 26 May, Bella Italia
• 17 June, CBeebies Ocean Adventure with the Ulster Orchestra, Millennium Forum, Derry-Londonderry
• 18 June, CBeebies Ocean Adventure with the Ulster Orchestra, Waterfront Hall, Belfast
• 23 June, On Your Doorstep, Bangor Abbey

For further information and to view the new season programme please visit www.ulsterorchestra.org.uk

Oh Yeah Centre Belfast:

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

Moving On Music: presents,

• 2 June, Anna B Savage (contemporary/folk/electronic/other), The Deer’s Head
• 22 June, Linda May Han Oh and Fabian Almazan, The MAC
• 29 June – 2 July, Kinnaris Quintet Tour
• 27 October, Hailu Mergia, Ulster Sports Club

Visit www.movingonmusic.com

The Black Box: presents a varied programme of music, comedy, street art tours and other arts events with highlights including:

• 3 June, Coven Comedy Club
• 3 June, Duke Special: All Ages Show
• 6 June, Black Moon
• 8 June, Generation Women – Celebrating Women Rising

For further information 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)

COMMUNITY ARTS

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

24 July, Fiddle Concert in memory of Seán Maguire

28 July, Richard Hayward, Romancing Ireland

22 Sep, Flook

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
• Airneál na nÓg, 19|04|23 - 15|06|23. Ranganna 1 – 7 | 4:00pm - 5:00pm, £30. Airneál na nÓg returns under the direction of Caitríona Gribben and will give children the chance to immerse themselves in music. There will be a variety of activities developing young people’s skills in the arts and Irish culture, focusing on the tin whistle and singing, and of course a lot of fun along the way. This is an 8 week course.
• Cultúrlann’s Drama School ‘Aisling Óg’ will start back from 22 April – 24 June, £30. This is a great opportunity for children from Primary 1 and up to build on their confidence, conversational skills and acting abilities. All whilst making new friends and having great fun. We explore every aspect of the arts including dance, art, music and drama to fulfil an exciting and engaging programme. We also produce an end of term performance to show off all our hard work.
• Don’t miss Plúra-Lúra, Nóra Bheag, Daideo and all their friends with their stories, songs and dances that small children will enjoy while enhancing their educational development. There will be plenty of storytelling, puppets and art activities to keep the little ones entertained. Na Bopóga is a perfect activity for young children and guardians. 22 April – 13 May, £3 per week.
• A new season of Babaithe Cultúir (Culture Babies), has started with the next days on 02|05|23 and 06|12|23. Babaithe Cultúir offers a range of interactive and creative experiences that support young children’s creative expression by enabling them to try new things, and the freedom to get as messy and as creative as they want, in a safe, fun and welcoming Irish language environment. Babaithe Cultúir will help to build very young children’s self-confidence, interpersonal and technical skills as well as offering a wonderful way to spend one-on-one time with your child. Delivered in Irish, everyone is welcome regardless of fluency in the Irish Language. Suitable for ages 0-4.
• Join Cultúrlann for a beautiful concert as they celebrate the coming of Bealtaine and the beauty of nature through music with the majestic Gráinne Holland and friends on 13 May 2023.

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: 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, 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: 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

VISUAL ARTS

Deepa Mann-Kler: Join Deepa Mann-Kler in her new show "The Metaverse & Me" on Tuesday 20th June 2023 at the Events Space, Ormeau Baths, Belfast from 6-9pm featuring original artwork alongside cutting-edge augmented reality with a stunning soundtrack. Thanks to Aura Studios Eva Robinson Sinead Burns Josh McAvoy Eoin Peel Clio Young-McGahey for the co-creation process. The project is supported by Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Further information and registration details below.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-metaverse-me-augmented-artistry-unleashed-in-the-digital-realm-tickets-617315325757

#AR # #augmentedreality #artwork #belfast #exhibition #XRtist #XR #ar

Seacourt Print Workshop: presents, A Life in Print and Paint, an exhibition by JEAN DUNCAN 1933-2018 13^th May - 4 August at Seacourt Print Workshop, The Old Bank building, 75 Main Street, Bangor.

‘A life in paint and print…’ is an exhibition looking back over the work of our Seacourt Print Workshop’s co-founder Jean Duncan in our new city centre premises.

The exhibition features prints and paintings from the Duncan family’s personal collection, Seacourt’s archive and Jean’s friends and it showcases the diversity and vibrance of Jean’s work and her contribution to the visual arts here in Northern Ireland.

The Citizens Wallpaper Project 2023: The Citizens Wallpaper is an artistic project, led by experienced international photojournalists, artists and workshop leaders. It benefits the local community by giving the participants skills and techniques in citizens’ journalism and photojournalism using the latest technologies. The project engages communities in the creation of a visual representation of their lives, traditions and cultures. A photographic exhibition by APAC, Belfast’s CPA and Ballymoney camera clubs, will display 24 representations from the Citizen’s Wallpaper project’s four canvasses. The exhibition can be visited by the public at APAC’s online Eirene Gallery from 23 March – 23 July, visit www.apacfoundation.org

Ulster Museum: presents, The Druthaib's Ball, the 2021 Turner Prize-winning installation by the Belfast-based artists collectively known as Array Collective. They are the first artists from Northern Ireland to win the prestigious Turner Prize. The group of eleven artists from the north and south of Ireland, England and Italy all live and work in Belfast creating collaborative actions in response to socio-political issues affecting them and their communities.

The Druthaib's Ball is on display at the Ulster Museum until 3 September 2023. The acquisition to the Ulster Museum collection was supported by the Art Fund and the Department for Communities. Visit www.ulstermuseum.org

R-Space: presents, Re: New Wallace #6 – Time frame now until 30 June. The Re:New Wallace #6 Residency was awarded to artist, Emma Whitehead, who responded to the theme Time Frame for her solo exhibition. Inspired by the journey and time spent passing through the hands of people over time, she explored the compulsion to measure time, distance, the seasons, the stars, and the need to make sense of the connections that intersect with our lives.

R-Space also presents a series of workshops including:

• 1 June, Dry Point Intaglio Printing with Robert Peters, 1,2, 9, 16 June, 25 July and 1 August
• 24 June, Bee Embroidery Workshop with Emma Whitehead

R-Space Gallery has also received a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £99,352 for an exciting heritage project, Northern Ireland’s Linen Biennale, which will take place in Lisburn and throughout NI. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, this project will feature a full programme of events, initiatives and community outreach that will celebrate the heritage, and future, of linen and flax on the Island. The 2023 Linen Biennale will run from 26 July - 26 August 2023 and partners will include PRONI, Northern Ireland National Museums, and Portview Trade Centre. Visit www.rspacelisburn.com

Belfast Exposed: presents,

Bank Gallery: Blinded by the very force it imagined it could handle by Donovan Wylie, 20^th April – 28 July. Belfast Exposed is delighted to present Blinded by the very force it imagined it could handle, a new film from Donovan Wylie and Peter Mann. The work examines the enduring legacy and architecture of the Troubles, as we mark the 25^th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, and features never before seen footage from the demolition of the notorious Maze/Long Kesh Prison in 2007. Blinded by the very force it imagined it could handle builds on work done by Wylie as part of his landmark exhibition The Maze (2004) - which was shown at Belfast Exposed - that saw Wylie given access to the Maze/Long Kesh site as in stood empty in the post-Good Friday Agreement political landscape.

Visit www.belfastexposed.org

The MAC: presents,

Upper Gallery – At The Table, 7 April to 2 July 2023. At The Table brings socially and politically engaged practices into The MAC’s core gallery programming. It is their first major exhibition developed from MACtivate - the work The MAC do with their five Associate Partners which speaks to some of the most pressing and challenging issues in our society including mental ill health, LGBTQIA+ rights, reproductive rights, housing injustice and the rights of people seeking asylum. This exhibition has been co-designed with people and communities connected to their Associate Partners - The Rainbow Project, Participation and the Practice of Rights, Alliance for Choice, Action Mental Health and Extern.

The Tall Gallery - Louise Wallace: Midnight Feast, 7-13 August 2023. Louise Wallace produces work that is deliberately provocative, utilising a palette of lush colour to create images that draw on abstraction and Surrealism to transform the suburban into scenes that hover between the familiar and the uncanny. Visit www.themaclive.com

Belfast Print Workshop: is celebrating 45 Years of Belfast Print Workshop with an exhibition at their premises at Cotton Court in Belfast. Belfast Print Workshop still has thirteen of the original members who were there at the beginning and it is a home for another generation of artists who are now establishing themselves. The Workshop has been a dynamic home for printmakers and it is a pleasure to acknowledge its contribution to the arts in Northern Ireland as we celebrate forty five years of growth and development with this exhibition. Visit www.bpw.org.uk

Craft Northern Ireland: presents their 'Spring Collectors’ Showcase', an exhibition which is now open until June 30 at Craft NI Gallery, 115-119 Royal Avenue, Belfast!

The 'Spring Collectors’ Showcase' is a unique exhibition of one-of-a-kind pieces made by some of the most established designer-makers in Northern Ireland. Following a visit from international collectors, the gallery’s current selection shines a light on new work from some of Northern Ireland’s best contemporary craft makers.

The exhibition will give the public a rare opportunity to view and acquire work from silversmith Cara Murphy, renowned for her beautifully enamelled silver bowls, woodturner Mark Hanvey as he unveils his new ‘Graft’ pieces, or new glass work by Andrea Spencer and Scott Benefield. New or award-winning designs by Patricia Millar, John McKeag, Peter Meanley, Alison Lowry, David Cousley, John Piekaar, Sarah Cathers, Michael Moore, Chris McHugh, Anna Smyth to name but a few make this event a perfect occasion to start (or add to) a cherished craft collection from local artists.

Jewellery gets a special spotlight: Egle Banyte shows her ‘Wave' brooch, inspired by North European aesthetics; forward-thinking Anne Earls Boylan delights with her new SLS colourful 3D print designs; and Celine Traynor takes us on a time travel journey with her ‘Golden Years’ piece, a kinetic pendant made up of 24 ever increasing rings that represent the 24 years that she lived in her house on Canal Street, Newry, before it was sold.

Craft NI Gallery are looking forward to welcoming you to this exceptional event and encourage you to visit to see the full selection. The works, spanning across different craft disciplines, varied mediums and concepts, will give the public a thorough understanding, and hopefully a new appreciation of the talent, craftsmanship and skill available in Northern Ireland. For more information visit www.craftni.org

Belfast Photo Festival: The Belfast Photo Festival is returning this year at outdoor and indoor venues across the city from 1-30 June. Launched in 2011, this now annual photographic event has been described as one of the "best photography festivals in the world" by Capture Magazine.

The Festival consists of exhibitions, talks, symposiums, workshops, screenings, masterclasses, portfolio reviews and tours. The 2023 edition of Belfast Photo Festival explores how artists in the contemporary moment are interpreting the idea of the ‘journey’ as a subject of art. For more information visit https://www.belfastphotofestival.com/

Golden Thread Gallery: presents, GATHER BELFAST / Niamh O’Malley from now until 24 June. Golden Thread Gallery is excited to host Irish artist Niamh O’Malley in their main space after the hugely successful Gather, Ireland at Venice 2022. Gather was the national representation of Ireland at the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Temple Bar Gallery + Studios. The exhibition for the Golden Thread Gallery is informed by O’Malley’s work for Gather and will explore the breadth of her current practice.

O’Malley’s work has often been described as ‘a call to gather’. As her work makes its way around the island, this call to gather invites a communality. O’Malley’s sculpture and moving image works are intended to hold us in the space for which they are made. She uses steel, limestone, wood, and glass, and shapes and assembles objects to create a purposeful landscape of forms in the gallery space. Her sculptures, tall and free-standing, ground-bearing and cantilevered, with paced and looped moving image, inhabit and animate the gallery.

The work in the exhibition splits the space with sculptural interventions. Steels rods which support sculptural objects have to be navigated, forcing us to move around, and in-between. These interventions encourage us to consider the space again, from new angles and through different, considered, frames.

Golden Thread Gallery also presents: Charys Wilson Exhibition from 3rd June – 22nd July 2023.

Charys Wilson was the recipient of the Golden Thread Gallery Mentoring & Exhibition Award 2023 and GTG is delighted to show her new work in the Project Space.

Wilson is a visual artist from the north coast of Northern Ireland who completed her BA Hons Fine Art from Aberystwyth University, Wales in 2015. Working most recently in installation, she looks to challenge our relationship and perception of the natural world. Her background in printmaking has influenced her current practice and recent MFA end of year exhibition.

As part of her award, Wilson received mentoring and professional support over the 12 months from GTG Director Peter Richards and Deputy Director Sarah McAvera, building to this solo exhibition in the Golden Thread Gallery Project Space in June 2023.

For further information visit www.goldenthreadgallery.co.uk

Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich: presents,

• Lane Shipsey – Homing exhibition, from 1 June – 27 July.

Does the word HOMING (a) mean to make a home (verb) or (b) describe a missile locked on to a target (adj.) — in which case it could be a way to destroy or unmake a home? The photographs in Lane Shipsey’s first solo show HOMING seek answers to these questions, taking an idiosyncratic, personal, and occasionally humorous look at home, homing and ways we think about home. These photographs, made on a journey, offer the viewer a journey. Along the way, more questions... What do we mean when we say we feel at home? And what do we feel when the place we live in could easily be someplace else? Is the answer all in the eye of the beholder? Come see the show, and write a line in the HOMING notebook with your answers.

• Tomas Monteiro: Chains of Memories exhibition, from 1 June – 27 July.

Tomas Monteiro is a ceramic artist based in Belfast. His practice examines the exploration of personal experience and his identity as a queer person. He approaches work as a syncretic experience of his life and expressions of his interests. He works with processes of mould-making, performance, sculpture, installation, and grounds his practice in ceramics. His recent work traverses the experience of a young queer artist who is self-examining ideas of queerness alongside simultaneously trying to make sense of personal traumatic experiences he has experienced as a young queer artist.

For more information visit www.culturlann.ie

Queen Street Studios (QSS): Visit www.queenstreetstudios.net

VOID Gallery: presents Re_sett_ing_s, from 4 March to 3 June 2023. In October 2022, Re_sett_ing_s – a collaborative exhibition between Locky Morris and Jaki Irvine – opened at The Complex Gallery, Dublin. The artists, who are probably best known for working solo, were approached separately by Mark O’ Gorman speculating on ‘hidden connections’. Unbeknownst to him, they had a close friend in common, artist Anne Tallentire, whose Setting Out 3 (2021), with its yellow builder’s string and hints at musicality, acted as a kind of starting point and touchstone for the development of the work.

Special event: - Locky Morris & Jaki Irvine - Re_sett_ing_s_Knotsat Void Gallery, Derry-Londonderry, 22 May - 4 June 2023, kindly supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Organisations Digital Evolution Award, thanks to The National Lottery. In conjunction with the current exhibition at Void Gallery - Re_sett_ing_s - artists Locky Morris and Jaki Irvine present Re_sett_ing_s_Knots as a billboard display located at Strand Road & Garden City, Derry, from 22 May - 4 June 2023. Visit www.derryvoid.com

CCA, Derry-Londonderry: presents

SEAMS, 1 April – 3 June 2023.

SEAMS is a solo exhibition by Laura Wilson comprising three installations including a significant new body of work entitled Winding then Winding. Laura is interested in how everyday materials such as bricks, textile, wheat, salt and bread dough transmit historical and embodied knowledge between people over time and place. Laura develops research-led projects, working with specialists and experts to communicate relationships between materiality, memory and tacit knowledge, explored through sculpture, performance, drawings and video. This exhibition is a survey of Laura’s recent works connected by the body, learning, movement and labour. Visit www.ccadld.org

ArtisAnn:

ArtisAnn Gallery, 70 Bloomfield Avenue, Belfast, BT5 5AE
www.artisann.org

Tue – Fri: 11am to 6pm ; Sat: Noon to 5pm

• Standing by the Water’s Edge - An Exhibition by Keith Ayton, Wed 3rd to Sat 27^th May 2023. Keith Ayton was born in Derry in 1960, and graduated from the University of Ulster with a BA(Hons) in Fine Art in 1981. His work encompasses various forms of fine art, painting, photography and printmaking. The broad subject matter is based on the Irish landscape, climate and culture, and how he reacts to it. His work is currently in private collections in UK, USA, Australia and Europe.
• Young Belfast Artists Exhibition, Wed 7^th June to Sat 1^st July 2023. Celebrating the 7^th birthday of the ArtisAnn Gallery with an exhibition by nine of the most exciting artists who have appeared in their annual Emerging Artists shows. Artists include: Leah Davis, Trina Hobson, Santa Leimane, Aimee Melaugh, Saffron Monks-Smith, Aimée Nelson, Lauren Reynolds, Amber Rossi and Irene Sweeney. These young female artists are just at the start of their careers, and they have already been making waves with their work being shown internationally to great acclaim.
• The Name of the Water by Karen Daye-Hutchinson and Déirdre Kelly, Wed 5^th July to Sat 26^th August 2023. The works made in Venice & Ireland, are an ongoing dialogue with the symbolic language of maps, using the aesthetics of cartography. Karen Daye-Hutchinson shows print and bookworks made while on residency at Scuola Internazionale di Grafica Venezia recipient of the RE Fellowship. Déirdre Kelly shows shifting floating worlds, collage works on paper created while on residency at the Ballinglen Visual Arts Foundation in the West of Ireland.

All artworks are available to buy. You can also buy art from this exhibition through the Arts Council supported Own Art scheme which gives you an interest-free loan over 10 months. Visit www.artisann.org