What's on in the Arts

FESTIVALS

Belfast International Arts Festival: has announced details of their 2023 programme. Fresh from their milestone 60th year celebrations, Belfast International Arts 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. Highlights include;

• This October, Belfast International Arts Festival will open simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic as its collaboration with Cahoots NI on the company’s latest stage show, The Vanishing Elephant, opens at the New Victory Theatre on Broadway in New York.

• Back home in Belfast, Gary Mitchell’s new play, Burnt Out (11^th October – 4^th November), which is set to be staged at The Lyric, will officially open the festival to local audiences.

• Other theatrical highlights include the return of the formidable Pat Kinevane and Fishamble Theatre Company with the critically acclaimed King (27^th–28^th October); the hugely entertaining and provocative work.txt (24^th–25^th October) from one of the UK’s brightest young playwrights, Nathan Ellis and a new and innovative adaptation of Rhinoceros – Rhino – by Eugene Ionesco and from Tinderbox Theatre Company (18^th–29^th October).

• In celebration of Belfast’s designation as UNESCO City of Music, on Saturday 14^th October renowned music agent and promoter Paul Charles will host a workshop and discuss his new book, Adventures in Wonderland, while The MAC plays host to Country Roads, an evening of new country music from critically acclaimed Ontario-based duo Aaron & Aimee Allen and the multi award winning Gary Quinn. The following evening, Sunday 15^th October, West End star Henry Goodman will be accompanied by pianist Lucy Parham in Elégie: Rachmaninoff, A Heart in Exile which chronicles the life of composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff on the 150^th anniversary of his birth.

• Discussing their latest literary releases as part of this year’s talks and ideas strand are gifted authors Gary Younge (17^th October), Jacqueline Crooks & Santanu Bhattacharya (31^st October), Keina Yoshida (1^st November), Claire Kilroy & Mike McCormack (2^nd November), Rachel Connolly & Nicole Flattery (3^rd November), Megan Nolan & Paul Murray (4^th November) and many others.

• Delivering a special keynote address on leadership (19^th October) will be this year’s Featured Artist, Nicholas McCarthy. Born without a right hand in 1989, Nicholas made history in 2012 when he became the only one-handed pianist ever to graduate from London's Royal College of Music. Since then, he has performed extensively in the UK and internationally, including for the 2015 edition of Belfast International Arts Festival. The talk is one of four special events Nicholas is involved in with this year’s programme. Others include a special guest appearance with the Ulster Orchestra (20^th October) and a special free concert at Ulster University (27^th October) alongside Acoustronic, the Derry-based ensemble of young musicians founded by NI based composer, Frank Lyons,

• 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.

For full programme information and to book 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 in Derry Londonderry: 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:

• 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

Millennium Forum Derry-Londonderry: presents a new season of music, comedy, theatre and more. For the full programme of events visit www.millenniumforum.co.uk

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

• 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,

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:

• 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

Sestina: the early music ensemble Sestina Music performs music from the international court of Christian IV of Denmark. This autumn 2023, Belfast-based early music ensemble Sestina Music presents performances of Music for Christian IV of Denmark in Armagh, Portaferry and Magherafelt. The ensemble will perform an illustrious programme of music that celebrates Denmark’s complex and contradictory king.

With works from popular composers such as court lutenist John Dowland, the programme also marks the 500th anniversary of the death of lesser-known Danish composer Mogens Pedersøn. Renowned historical harpist Dr Siobhán Armstrong joins the ensemble to introduce audiences to the music of her instrumental predecessors at court, Darby Scott and Charles O’Reilly. Explorations of Melchior Borchgrevinck's Giardino Novo collection (which includes madrigals from Claudio Monteverdi and Giaches de Wert) will also appear alongside the works of Hans Nielsen and the spy/soldier/gambist Tobias Hume.

Music for Christian IV of Denmark will be performed in St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, Armagh (29th September 2023, 7.30pm), The Portico of Ards, Portaferry (30th September 2023, 7.30pm) and Seamus Heaney HomePlace, Magherafelt (1st October 2023, 7.30pm). Tickets £20 (£10 for under 18s & students). For full details of the concerts and ticket booking, please visit www.sestinamusic.com

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,

• 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

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

For all this and more visit www.niopera.com

Ulster Orchestra: presents 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

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,

• 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

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: www.craftni.org

Golden Thread Gallery: presents,

For further information visit www.goldenthreadgallery.co.uk

Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich: presents,

• Exhibition: A Thinking Forest by Petra Dominova – continues until 21 Sep 2023.

Petra Dominova is a multidisciplinary artist working with painting, moving image, sound art, digital art and installation. With the use of myth and personal intuitive iconography, she creates work, that brings attention to the subconscious layers of the psyche, where significance is given to symbolism, depicting a connection to the unity of Nature and our roots, whilst also exploring ideas about consciousness, eco-psychology and mysticism. Building worlds, that are weaved together through organic forms and figures, submerged in a collective sensuous reality. Creating work that is poised in an immersive environment and can be felt directly by the viewer.

• Exhibition: 4D Mound Network by Jennifer Meighan, continues until 21 Sep 2023.

4D MOUND NETWORK is a solo exhibition by Jennifer Meighan, where images are made using paint, phones, graphics cards, and artificial intelligence. Autobiographical in nature, the show collapses graveyards, archives, daydreams and neuroses into each other, collaborating across timelines with deceased Irish women to create visions of autonomy in abstraction. Pulling largely from her research into British 19th century decorative fine arts (with a focus on the Arts and Crafts movement and the Pre-Raphelite Brotherhood) and the image legacies of life in Ireland across the same century, Meighan examines the artist’s role in managing ideas of beauty, power, purity, and futility.

For more information visit www.culturlann.ie

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

VOID Gallery: 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

Future Stars of the Arts World to Exhibit at ArtisAnn Gallery in Belfast

Emerging Artists 2023: A group exhibition featuring recent graduates including,

Eimhéar Atkinson
Holly-Mae Greer
June Hill
Stephanie Lindsay

Wednesday 6th to Saturday 30th September

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