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What's On

What's on in the Arts

10th August, 2023

From festivals, to exhibitions, concerts, theatre and more, there's something to suit everyone this summer in our What's on in the Arts guide.

Singer on stage at the Open House Festival singing with a Ukulele.

FESTIVALS

Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich: will close their Lúnasa festival programme this weekend (25th-26th August) with a special programme of fringe events. Supported by National Lottery funding through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Cultúrlann Belfast’s Liú Lúnasa has become one of the highlights of the annual July and August summer celebrations at the Irish language arts centre. Now in its eighth year, this year’s two-day fringe festival will include a poetry slam, music and movement workshops for kids, and a very special closing concert, headlined by Huartan. Relative newcomers to the music scene, Huartan’s Stiofan Ó Luachráin, Caitríona Ní Ghribín agus Múlú (Miadhluaghan O’Donnell) have taken sean-nós songs and remixed them to create a magical electronic show that has earned them bookings at festivals all over the country this summer. Visitors to this year’s Belfast Mela will also have a chance to experience the joy of Liú Lúnasa, in the Gaeltacht Tent, with a display of traditional music, literature, céilí dancing and more. Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich is an Irish language and arts centre located on the Falls Road, Belfast. Their annual programme includes, visual arts, theatre, music and youth events, as well as community and family events. Further info and details of upcoming events can be found at: www.culturlann.ie

The brilliant Open House Festival returns to Bangor from 3rd-30th August with a programme of ticketed events at Bangor Castle Walled Garden plus a series of free events in the city. This year’s programme features comedian Micky Bartlett, Nick Lowe, Swordfishtrombone with performances from Duke Special, Kyron Bourke, Clara Tracey & Mike Mormencha, and a tribute to Northern Irish jazz and blues singer Ottilie Patterson, with three of the country’s current leading jazz and blues artists, Dana Masters, Winnie Ama & Siobhan Brown. www.openhousefestival.com

The brilliant Belfast Mela Festival, is on from 19-27 August opening with the spectacular Mela Carnival through the streets of Belfast, followed by Mela Plus events throughout the week. New for 2023 is Mela Colours at Botanic Gardens on 26 August where thousands of people will come together for a vivid, powder-throwing multi-colour frenzy with dancing, music, live drumming and amazing food on offer. www.belfastmela.org.uk

August Craft Month: From jewellery-making classes, open studios where you can watch highly skilled artisans at work, to workshops onboard a famous battleship, the countdown is on for the annual celebration of Northern Irish craft.

August Craft Month celebrates the vibrant local craft scene right across the island of Ireland, providing unique opportunities for people to get involved as well as supporting makers by buying products and learning more about their work. Supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Craft NI and in partnership with Design & Crafts Council of Ireland and Cork Craft & Design, the month-long celebration will once again be part of an island-wide summer programme.

There is a packed itinerary of over 300 eclectic events in all corners of the island, with around 150 events taking place right across Northern Ireland. To see the list of events taking place across the island, please visit www.craftni.org/about-august-craft-month and for the island-wide programme visit, www.augustcraftmonth.org

Northern Ireland Opera: presents The 13th 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 their 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

Camerata Ireland presents: The annual Clandeboye Festival which will take place from 19-26 August in the historic surroundings of the Clandeboye Estate, Co. Down, featuring world-renowned pianist Barry Douglas, Camerata Ireland and international guest artists including Dmitri Sitkovetsky (violin), Arto Noras (cello), Cathal Breslin (piano), Ed Creedon (viola), Michel Lethiec (clarinet), Richard Watkins (French horn), Ailish Tynan (soprano) & Patrick Rafter (violin). Highlights include:

  • 24 August – Barry Douglas Piano Recital featuring music by Brahms, Schubert and Liszt.
  • 26 August – Camerata Ireland and Barry Douglas featuring music by Grieg, Penderecki, Mozart and Beethoven.

Visit www.camerata-ireland.com/clandeboye2023 for full details and to book tickets.

30th Charles Wood Festival and Summer School: returns to Armagh from 20-27 August 2023 with highlights including:

  • 24 August – The Charles Wood Composers’ Competition: Final, Methodist Church, Armagh.
  • 25 August – Hail, Gladdening Light: A Charles Wood Lecture with Professor Jeremy Dibble, Armagh Robinson Library.
  • 26 August – The Charles Wood Singers visit 10 local care homes
  • 27 August, Sung Mass with the Charles Wood Singers, St Malachy’s Church, Armagh, 9:30am.
  • 27 August - Festal Evensong with the Charles Wood Singers, , St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral Armagh.

Visit www.charleswoodsummerchool.org/events for a full programme of events.

Belfast International Arts Festival: has announced details of their first shows which are now on sale. Fresh from their milestone 60th year celebrations, Belfast International Arts Festival is now at the dawn of a new decade of world-class arts programming as they reveal the first events of their 2023 autumn season. They are delighted to announce the festival will return from Thursday 12 October - Sunday 5 November featuring the absolute best in international and homegrown theatre, dance, music, visual art, literature and film. A full programme will be revealed in August!

Among the headline shows now on sale are:

  • An Evening with The Belfast Ensemble and Marc Almond, 17 Oct, Grand Opera House. Join The Belfast Ensemble for an unforgettable evening in The Grand Opera House as they share the stage with iconic pop star Marc Almond for a two part concert featuring the critically acclaimed Abomination: A DUP Opera and the multi-award winning song cycle Ten Plagues.
  • Cara Dillion, Coming Home, 16 Oct, Grand Opera House. Few singers are as celebrated and revered as Cara Dillon. Known for her captivating live performances she seldom fails to leave audiences spellbound. This autumn sees Cara unveiling Coming Home, her first new material in almost six years, in which she effortlessly blurs the lines between spoken word and song to stunning effect. Skillfully interspersed with songs from her catalogue throughout the set, join Cara and her band as she shares this truly unique and inspiring collection accompanied by original music written by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sam Lakeman. A very special opportunity to experience a revealing and emotive performance by this internationally acclaimed singer - and not one to miss!
  • FIQ!, 20 & 21 Oct, Grand Opera House. Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger bring their phenomenal acrobatic energy to Belfast International Arts Festival with FIQ!, a luminous, acrobatic and playful ode to the young people of Morocco that is a celebration of light and colour. An absolute treat for audiences of all ages this autumn, FIQ! will transport you to a colourful, visual world designed by celebrated artist Hassan Hajjaj. Expect magical acrobatic feats, breakdancing and freestyle football, set to the unique sounds of DJ Dino’s scratching and fiery rap in the majestic surroundings of the Grand Opera House.
  • The Waterboys, 28 Oct, Ulster Hall. Few bands have as great a live reputation as The Waterboys.From their mid-1980s "big music" period through the influential mix of Celtic, gospel and country on their classic Fisherman’s Blues tours, to the hundreds of brilliant shows accompanying the last decade's run of supremely in-form albums from 2011's An Appointment With Mr Yeats to this summer's Good Luck, Seeker The Waterboys have consistently blended tightness, inspiration and improvisation to reach heights of performance few other acts can. Led by mercurial and brilliant Scottish guitarist/vocalist Mike Scott, the 2020 version of the band features the established line-up of Memphis keyboard great "Brother" Paul Brown, ace British drummer Ralph Salmins and funky Irish bassman Aongus Ralston.

Visit www.belfastinternationalartsfestival.com

The City of Derry International Choir Festival returns from 18-22 October with five days of choral events taking place in the Millennium Forum, the Guildhall and other venues in Derry~Londonderry, Strabane and Inishowen. Over sixty choirs from across Ireland, the UK and Europe have signed up to participate in the festival’s packed schedule of competitions, workshops and community performances. Visit www.derrychoirfest.com

FILM, LITERATURE, DANCE AND DRAMA

Lyric Theatre: presents an exciting programme this August and September with highlights including:

  • 29 August – 10 September – The Man Who Swallowed a Dictionary by Greenshoot Production. This one-man show chronicles the remarkable life of Ervine, from the backstreets of East Belfast to Long Kesh prisoner to political negotiations at the White House and Downing Street. From his personal family tragedies to becoming the man who is widely regarded as the man who did most to deliver the Protestant working class to support the Good Friday Agreement. As well as being an important figure in the history of Ulster loyalism, Ervine was also known for his grasp of the English language and capacity for using 'big words' in television interviews, hence the title of the play. It's a remarkable story, providing a great insight into not just the man but the Protestant community in the most turbulent period of the Troubles.
  • 29 August – 9 September – Grimes and McKee’s New Ireland, a comic manifesto for a new Ireland.
  • 14-21 September – Mirrorball. A brand-new musical with an original score, Mirrorball celebrates creativity, authenticity and the power of the imagination to make a better world for ourselves. Based on the real-life experiences of Matt Cavan and his drag persona Cherrie Ontop, Mirrorball explores the immense potential of creativity when our worlds are turned upside down by life circumstances.
  • 14-16 September – Five Days. In April 2005, writer Joe Nawaz and his family travelled from Belfast to the wilds of Pakistan on the trail of a mystery. The mystery of how, where and why his father Rab had been murdered there. In this fiercely funny and poignant production Joe will share the difficulties of transporting a body across international lines (easier to pack a poodle), the bizarre odyssey that he and his family took in their quest for truth without even a snippet of Urdu, Pakistani dress sense or cultural smarts. Join Joe as he takes us to the land of his father, where he never felt more Irish, as he sketches some of the history of that country and its unlikely links with Ireland.
  • 19-23 September –Life Goes On. Life Goes On is an exciting and challenging new play written and directed by Patricia Downey of the Spanner in the Works Theatre Company, which tackles in a witty, touching, and sometimes sad way the often ‘secret’ issue of mental illness by exploring one person’s struggle to live a full and happy life with a diagnosis of Schizophrenia.
  • 22-23 September – Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme. Experience the raw power of war, honour and brotherhood in the captivating play, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme. Set against the backdrop of World War I, this gripping production delves deep into the hearts and minds of eight young soldiers, bound together by their shared heritage and duty.
  • 27 September – special event – Live at the Lyric, a fundraiser night of spellbinding music, from Leonard Cohen to Stevie Nicks, from Jacques Brel to Kate Bush. After the roaring success of Séisiún earlier this year, the Lyric presents their next Live At The Lyric event, a sensational series of events which help raise essential funds to support our work in nurturing the next generation of artists. Guest performers include Katie Richardson, Kyron Bourke, Linley Hamilton and Nan Fee; and a host of singers and musicians who will join them for another unforgettable night. As a charity, your support makes a huge difference. All proceeds from the evening will go towards the Lyric’s vital fundraising to support our education programme in schools and community groups across Northern Ireland. Tickets include a pre-show drinks reception.
  • 29 September – 1 October – Lies Where It Falls by Ruairi Conaghan. Empathy, love and care are at the centre of this story, where one man is brought back from the brink by family and the community of theatre. In a time when the legacies of this island’s recent past have never been more important to talk about, this incredible one-person show uses storytelling, song, poetry, humour, cinema and Shakespeare to tell Ruairi’s tale. Directed by acclaimed actor Patrick O’Kane, this unique story will leave audiences with a sense that, even through the worst of times, if we can find empathy, there is always hope.

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

Strand Arts Centre:

  • 22 September – Mandy Bingham, 8pm, £10 tickets, BYO. Mandy Bingham’s emotional and compelling debut album, Bury Me Deep, showcases her unique brand of Folk Noir and Americana perfectly. At first listen you could easily be deceived into thinking that Mandy is a downtrodden country girl from south of the Dixie line. In fact, she is the eldest daughter of the acclaimed Northern Irish musician, the late David McWilliams. Mandy pays a moving tribute to her late father by closing her album with a beautiful and heartfelt rendition of his iconic song The Days Of Pearly Spencer, which features the Arco String Quartet. Mandy is currently writing and recording her follow up album to be released in the near future. For this concert Mandy will be joined on lap steel guitar by her husband Graham. Visit www.strandartscentre.com for further details and to view the screening programme of films and shows.

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

  • 7 September – AJA play the music of Steely Dan.
  • 8 September – John Prine celebration Show.
  • 9 September - Deirdre O’Kane – Demented.
  • 30 September – Talk – The Murder of Wolfe Tone
  • 13-14 October – Nuala McKeever – Truth, Love or Promise.

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

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

  • Dirty Dancing, 22 Aug – 2 Sep
  • Northern Ireland Opera Tosca, 9,12,14 & 16 September
  • Evita, 20-23 Sep
  • The Bodyguard, 25-30 Sep
  • An Evening with the Belfast Ensemble and Marc Almond, 17 Oct
  • Cara Dillon, Coming Home, 18 Oct

For tickets and the full programme please visit www.goh.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.
  • 21-22 Sep, The Daughters of Roisin, Confined to a room for nine months in a house she once called her home. The Daughters of Róisín by Aoibh Johnson is a poignant ode to Ireland’s hidden past that explores the church and state sanctioned abuse against women over the last 100 years. The play uses song, poetry, Irish history and ghostly silence to explore the experience of unmarried mothers and their babies who were forced to suffer at the hands of the church and state. Though heavy, the piece has moments of humour, lightness and an Irish backbone that takes the audience on an emotional journey. The play was produced for a run in the Adelaide Fringe Festival in Australia in 2020 where it received critical acclaim. It has sold out performances in both Belfast and Dublin and is now coming to the MAC stage. Age guidance: 16+. Emotional, heavy content depicting a woman's child being taken off her.
  • 28 Sep, A Year in a Life of Music with Ruth McGinley. Join us as we celebrate Ruth’s year as the MAC Artist in Residence in 2022/23, as she performs with Glenn Patterson, and guests. An intimate evening of piano music, musical collaborations, and reflection that promises to draw the audience into McGinley’s unique and soothing sound world. In conversation with acclaimed writer Glenn Patterson, Ruth reflects on her life, career, and musical journey in a year that saw her release her second album ‘Aura’, perform globally as a soloist again, and how her MAC residency nurtured her daily searching of creative and personal glimmers. An array of music will be performed including works by Rachmaninoff, Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt, Gary Moore and Neil Martin.

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

Crescent Arts Centre: presents a series of classes, workshops and events with highlights including,

Visit www.crescentarts.org for details on all classes and events.

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:

  • 2 Sep, Dreamscapes, Landscapes, Escapes with Catherine Grahal, Kate Newmann, Kathleen McCracken and John T Davies
  • 14 Oct, The Road to Riverdance: Bill Whelan in conversation with John Toal with Zoe Conway and John McIntyre
  • 18 Nov, Mary Robinson
  • 1 Dec, Brigid O’Neill
  • 16 Dec, Christmas at the Home Place Hearth with Anthony Toner, Neil Martin, Glenn Patterson and John McCullough

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

MUSIC

Ulster Youth Orchestra: The Ulster Youth Orchestra's 30th Anniversary concerts are jam-packed with celebration. From a new commission to patrons Barry Douglas and Michael McHale performing two incredible works for piano, to the show-stopping West Side Story finale. A treat for any audience! The UYO is regarded as one of the jewels in the crown of the local arts scene with a reputation for excellence in all its performances. Established in 1993, the award winning and dynamic Ulster Youth Orchestra celebrates 30 years of supporting and developing young musicians by showcasing its musical talent at the Ulster Hall in Belfast on 12th August 2023. For tickets and info visit www.uyo.org

Portico of Ards: presents a range of performances with highlights including:

  • 16 September, TRÚ
  • 22 September, Spring Break
  • 8 October, Organ recital: Wayne Marshall
  • 13 October, Reginald D. Hunter
  • 21 October, The Illegals,
  • 29 October, The Phantom of the Opera, screening and live organ

To view the full programme visit www.porticoards.com

Northern Ireland Opera: presents a summer of free events including,

  • 25 August, 8-9pm, St Patrick’s Church, Glenarm, Glenarm Festival of Voice Recital. Nick Spence and Simon Lepper (piano). (Free but booking if essential – see bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows)
  • 27 August, Drawing Room, Titanic Hotel, Belfast. Chorus! Performed by the NI Opera Chorus and Fraiser Hickland (piano)
  • 27 August, 8-9pm, St Patrick’s Church, Glenarm, Glenarm Festival of Voice Recital. James Atkinson and Simon Lepper (piano). (Free but booking if essential – see bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows)
  • 9 September, 12noon, Maritime Festival, Belfast, Main Stage. Arais and Songs with NI Opera soprano, Mary McCabe
  • 10 September, 2:30pm-4pm, Maritime Festival, Belfast, Main Stage. Chorus! Performed by the NI Opera Chorus

25-27 August - Northern Ireland Opera: presents The 13th 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

5 September - Opera Tots for children aged 0-24 months is a programme created by Northern Ireland Opera and due to popular demand, NI Opera is delighted to be bringing it back at the Grand Opera House. Follow NI Opera’s performers as they guide your Opera Tot through the stories and music from some of opera’s most favourite pieces. Opera Tots combines music, dancing, live singing, bright colours, textures and movement to create an immersive experience to stimulate imagination and motor skills. This is an ideal programme for your tot’s first musical experience, designed for both babies and their parents/carers in the fun and relaxed environment of The Studio at the Grand Opera House. This event is suitable for babies and toddlers between the ages of 0-24 months and their parents/guardians. Each ticket admits one child and one adult.

For all this and more visit www.niopera.com

The Ulster Orchestra has also revealed their new 2023/24 Season which is on sale now. Highlights include:

  • 22 Sep, Opening Concert
  • 23 Sep, On your Doorstep Cushendun
  • 20 Oct, Glitter of Waves
  • 16-17 Nov, Fire and Ice
  • 2 Dec, Snowman Family Concert
  • 20 Dec, The Magic of Christmas

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,

  • 8 September, 75 Dollar Bill, Black Box.
  • 5-7 October. Goitse tour, various location.
  • 27 October, Hailu Mergia, Ulster Sports Club.
  • 23 November, Arborist (full band), The Empire Music Hall.

Visit www.movingonmusic.com

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)

COMMUNITY ARTS

In Your Space Circus and Circusful: Be the first in Derry~Londonderry to catch the world premiere of AFTER THE RAIN, a brand-new production featuring the globally acclaimed French circus collective Compagnie XY and a 50 plus local ensemble of musicians, choirs and acrobats. It takes place on 27 & 28 August in the Guildhall Square in Derry City and is an Imperial War Museum (IWM) 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund commission, in partnership with Ulster Presents at Ulster University, and co-produced by In Your Space Circus and also featuring Circusful. This spectacular, collective, acrobatic act of lifting each other up has been inspired by the people and communities of the city itself, in sustaining 25 years of peace-building since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement www.inyourspaceni.org and www.circusful.org to find out more.

Open Arts presents: Pieces of Us Exhibition, 29th of June – 31st of August at Arts for All (CitySide Retail Park) Belfast. A journey beyond visual interpretation, showcasing multisensory and diverse artwork produced by participants from Open Arts visual art groups. The collection will display a variety of techniques including print, mosaic and collage.

Open Arts inspires and supports the creativity and artistic development of disabled people through weekly classes across a variety of art forms including music, drama, dance, writing, and visual art Visit www.openartsni.org

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

  • 17 Sep, Tru
  • 22 Sep, Flook
  • 29 Sep, Amy May Ellis
  • 17 Oct, Goitse

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,

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, 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

VISUAL ARTS

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: R-Space Gallery has 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, Portrait of Belfast, an original photographic project and exhibition that celebrates the people who make up contemporary Belfast.

Gallery II: 10 August – 23 September 2023.

Planned to accompany Portrait of Humanity Vol. 5 in Gallery I, Portrait of Belfast features over 300 black and white images that include staged studio portraits, environmental street photography and images submitted by members of the public. These beautiful examples of noir-style portraiture displayed in Gallery II evoke a strong sense of the city’s diverse communities.

Within the images that make up Portrait of Belfast, you’ll find musicians, writers, comedians, politicians, activists, artists, teachers, social workers, carers, parents, children and more. People from all ages and backgrounds. The resulting collection is a portrait of the people who make up Belfast today, reflecting both the city's history and future.

Visit www.belfastexposed.org

The MAC: presents,

Korakrit Arunanondchai, 8 Sep – 26 Nov. The first exhibition in Ireland by Korakrit Arunanondchai, a video and multimedia artist originally from Bangkok who now splits his time between New York and Bangkok. The artist Korakrit Arunanondchai’s interdisciplinary works explore dualities such as life and death, past and present, dream and reality, reflection and rapture, man and machine, individualism, and interconnectedness, combining geopolitical movements and personal experiences of love and loss. In a narrative vein, he will fill the MAC galleries with a hybridised form of documentary, film, installation, performance, painting, and sculpture. 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: Craft NI’s August Craft Month exhibition will be ‘Pathways’, a nod to the journeys audiences make to visit August Craft Month from across the island and beyond.

The exhibition will have a number of prizes aimed at supporting makers at different stages of their careers. This year organisers are delighted to welcome guest curator, Annie Cattrell, artist, lecturer at the Royal College of Art and maker in glass. The exhibition will be on display during August and into September in the Craft NI Gallery, Belfast’s only dedicated crafts venue. To see the list of August Craft Month events taking place across the island, please visit www.craftni.org/about-august-craft-month and for the island-wide programme, www.augustcraftmonth.org

Golden Thread Gallery: presents,

Now until 31st August 2023

Flight from the City | And In the Silence Came… | Heart of a Tree

A film trilogy of works by Clare Langan, curated by Peter Richards and Mary Stevens.

Seminal Irish artist Clare Langan is an acclaimed film maker who is exhibiting in Belfast for the first time in this very special exhibition screening at Golden Thread Gallery. Langan explores the fragility of mankind and our impact on the world around us in her atmospheric films. The work evokes feelings of nostalgia, loss, transformation and isolation. Climate catastrophe frequently repeats throughout her films, acting as a transformative event, as she imagines a world without humans, yet still bearing evidence of human existence.

About the Artist

Clare Langan studied fine art at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. She represented Ireland at the São Paulo Biennale in 2002. In 2003 Langan presented her ambitious A Film Trilogy at MoMA, New York and the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin. In 2019 she became a member of Aosdána, an Irish association of prestigious artists created in 1981. Most recently, a still from her film The Heart of A Tree won The Progressive Vision Curtin O’Donoghue Photography Prize as selected by The RHA Annual Exhibition 2022.

Also at GTG as part of August Craft Month, Anne Butler’s Objects in Time Exhibition will run until Saturday 2nd September. Anne Butler is a ceramic artist based in Northern Ireland. She has exhibited widely in Ireland, UK and abroad. The work is inspired by natural and manmade structures and is constructed to reveal associations between cultural and individual memory as well as contrasting qualities of strength and fallibility, permanence, change and loss. The parian porcelain vessels, wall pieces and sculptures attempt to explore the material and the effect of time.

For further information visit www.goldenthreadgallery.co.uk

Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich: presents,

For more information visit www.culturlann.ie

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

VOID Gallery: presents

Shezad Dawood Leviathan: We go elsewhere, 17 June - 19 August 2023.

Shezad Dawood’s Leviathan film series is an episodic exploration of the current challenges we face in the intersection between climate change, migration, and mental health. The film series envisages a future eerily like our present, whose inhabitants are the survivors of a cataclysmic solar event. Each film is written from the point of view of an individual character, providing insight into their trauma and pathological traits and giving each episode its own personality, visual language and rhythm. At Void Gallery we are premiering Episode 8 of the series that elucidates the indigenous perspective on the impact of climate change and the nature of the universe according to their culture. The film looks at the interconnections between nature and the indigenous community.

Eco Art, a small independent business supplying eco-friendly art supplies, workshops and artisan (ethical) crafts! We work to support local artists and crafters through classes and products and get more people involved in creating art from nature! Conventional art supplies are highly toxic to both our health and to the planet. We therefore strive to educate the community on how to make their creativity safe, working in harmony with the earth rather than as a destructive force. https://ecoart.club/

Visit www.derryvoid.com

CCA, Derry-Londonderry: presents, Sam’s Eden, 1 July – 9 September, 2023.

Artists: Michaela Nash, Yarli Allison, Suds McKenna.

Curated by Thomas Wells, Sam’s Eden, features newly produced and pre-existing work by artists Yarli Allison, Suds McKenna and Michaela Nash. The exhibition will investigate three different responses to the queer body occupying the physical and virtual realms, and reflect on the importance of sanctuary.

The theme of sanctuary references the need for queer bodies to seek safety in community; this is evident throughout history with physical spaces; clubs, bars, ball rooms, cottages, but also in the virtual realms through social media, online gaming and others. Queer spaces are often found in the marginalia of books, in the lyrics of music and in the symbolism of film. Queer spaces have historically been of great importance for a community often shunted from domestic and workplaces, finding solace and security elsewhere. Sam’s Eden refers to Derek Jarman's prospect cottage Eden- based in Folkestone, England as a space of queer sanctuary for the artist and filmmaker. Sam’s Eden began as a queer arts publication founded by Thomas Wells in Belfast in 2020; this exhibition sees the move out of printed matter into the physical realm, forming the exhibition at CCA Derry~Londonderry with new and reimagined work by Yarli Allison, Suds McKenna and Michaela Nash. 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

  • The Name of the Water by Karen Daye-Hutchinson and Déirdre Kelly, Wed 5th July to Sat 26th 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