What’s on in the Arts
9th March, 2022
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The Belfast Ensemble: After a sell-out run at Outburst Queer Arts Festival, the award-winning smash-hit production, Abomination: A DUP Opera, by Conor Mitchell, finally makes its Dublin premiere at The Abbey Theatre from 24 March – 2 April 2022. Revolutionary in form, Abomination centres on the scandalous live radio interview given by NI Politician Iris Robinson, when she referred to homosexuality as an ‘abomination’ – an act that has gone down in Irish queer history and instantly re-ignited the Northern Irish equality debate.
With their unique high-impact, multi-disciplinary style, the Belfast Ensemble wrap this story in a fresh web of incendiary historical comments by DUP members on the subject of gay rights, marriage equality, ‘poofs’ and ‘perverts’ to shockingly theatrical effect – challenging the power of words in the hands of the powerful. Contemporary, political, comic, and emotionally complex, this riotous Northern Irish original redefined what a 21st-century opera could say, and why… and with just a touch of drag!
Originally produced by The Belfast Ensemble and Outburst Arts for Outburst Queer Arts Festival 2019, with support from The Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Paul Hamlyn Foundation and British Council. For tickets visit www.abbeytheatre.ie
ITMA: in partnership with the NATIONAL CONCERT HALL presents DRAWING FROM THE WELL: THE LIAM O’FLYNN COLLECTION Tuesday 15 March 2022 at 8 pm Main Stage, National Concert Hall, Dublin An outstanding combination of esteemed soloists and masters of their art, many of the country’s top musicians, will come together to celebrate their connections with the late Liam O’Flynn (1945–2018) and his archive.
From world-renowned fiddle player and TG4 Gradam Ceoil Musician of the Year recipient Seán Keane, to up-and-coming teenage piping sensation Sorcha Ní Scolaí, this concert promises to give the audience a sensational live music experience.
The concert will showcase established and emerging talent including Mary Bergin (tin whistle), Matt Molloy (flute), Louise Mulcahy (uilleann pipes/flute), Noel Hill (concertina), Paddy Glackin (fiddle), Sorcha Ní Scolaí (uilleann pipes), Neil Martin (cello), Pádraic Mac Mathúna (uilleann pipes), Laoise Kelly (harp), Seán Keane (fiddle), Noel O’Grady (bouzouki), Colm Broderick (uilleann pipes), Tony Linnane (fiddle), Mick Conneely (bouzouki), Síle Denvir (harp, sean-nós) and Barry Kerr (flute, uilleann pipes).
Music on the evening will be interspersed with spoken word from the ITMA Liam O’Flynn Collection delivered by internationally acclaimed actor Stephen Rea. All the participants share connections with O’Flynn’s rich legacy. Seán Keane, who performed with Liam for over 40 years, will be joined by close friend and fellow piper Pádraic Mac Mathúna who plays the Séamus Ennis set of pipes bequeathed to him by Liam.
Tickets priced from €25 available from National Concert Hall online and NCH Box Office.
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 https://www.scottsjazzclub.com/
Portico of Ards: presents a new programme of events for 2022 with highlights including,
- 19 March, The Shamrock Tenors
To find out more about Portico or concerts coming up please visit porticoards.com
Ulster Orchestra: presents Salon Sessions. With the aim to expand their support of and collaboration with local music artists, the Ulster Orchestra is launched an exciting new digital series, Salon Sessions, which is available to watch on their YouTube channel. Salon Sessions is free to view. For further information on Salon Sessions, please visit www.ulsterorchestra.org.uk
The Ulster Orchestra also presents a series of concerts. To view the full programme and to purchase tickets visit www.ulsterorchestra.org
Oh Yeah: The award winning NI Music Exhibition at Oh Yeah is now open for visitors. 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. There is a ‘Legends’ series of wall displays that hail the great achievers including Ruby Murray, Van Morrison, Terri Hooley, Bap Kennedy, David McWilliams and Henry McCullough to name a few. Exhibition cases display some unique rock and roll memorabilia including the Fender Guitar that Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol used to write ‘Run’ and ‘Chasing Cars’, a vintage street sign of Cyprus Avenue, made famous in a Van Morrison song, and a specially arranged exhibit of Gary Moore memorabilia.
Exhibition Opening Times
Mon – Fri: 10am-4pm
Sat: 12-5pm
More info will follow on when the Music Bus Tour will restart soon. To enquire about a visit, or for further info and group bookings please contact info@ohyeahbelfast.com or call 02890310845
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
Phil Taggart: ChillDaBeats is the brand new show from NI DJ, Phil Taggart. Every week he brings you a soft focus selection of the best alternative chill sounds along with the biggest guests picking some brain soothers in the Soul Food Selection. ChillDaBeats goes live every Sunday. Listen on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/0M2IpL7ldc1Rui2aa9meX3 This podcast series is supported by emergency funding through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Department for Communities.
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)
Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich: presents Music Corner, the best of traditional music with great traditional musicians every Saturday. Visit https://www.facebook.com/AnChulturlann/
FILM, LITERATURE, DANCE & DRAMA
Echo Echo: presents Introduction to Body Wisdom Movement for Over 50s on Tuesday evenings 7pm - 9pm at Echo Echo's studios on Magazine Street, Derry-Londonderry. Join Echo Echo for a short introductory evening course in Body Wisdom Movement and Dance for the over 50s led by Echo Echo's Artistic Director Steve Batts.
Of course moving is healthy, physically and psychologically but we aren't striving for those benefits. In our experience they come best as a by-product of exploring movement as a shared, poetic artistic process. The approach Echo Echo take is that older people have enormous poetic potential embedded in their movement lives. Echo Echo take away the expectations that are usually attached to dance as an art - extreme mobility, athleticism, agility - and begin from where people are.
Any men and women 50 years and upwards can join, no matter the level of physical ability or experience. To register please visit https://www.echoechodance.com/whatson/introduction-to-body-wisdom-movement-dance
For more details on al of Echo Echo’s classes and events visit www.echoechodance.com
Kabosh Theatre Company: presents a tour of, Before You Go, a new play about the fragility of love written by Laurence McKeown and directed by Paula McFetridge. Sorcha O’Hagan is leaving for Australia. Her bags are packed. Only an overdue conversation with her father remains. Before she goes. Sorcha's mother died when she was only 18 months old. She was raised by her father Brendan and his family. They had a strong relationship, but his regular absenteeism was never talked about. As the sun rises on the border, the clock is ticking, and things need to be said...
Before You Go was initially developed and created through funding from the European Union’s PEACE IV programme. Revival funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and An Chomhairle Ealaíon Touring Fund. The play will be presented at the following venues:
The Old Church Centre, Cushendun. Tuesday 22nd March
Strule Arts Centre, Omagh. Thursday 24th March
Íontas Arts, Theatre & Community Centre, Castleblayney. Friday 25th March
Riverside Theatre, Coleraine. Saturday 26th March
The Ardhowen, Enniskillen. Tuesday 29th March
Playhouse Derry. Thursday 31st March
The Marketplace, Armagh. Friday 1st April
Garage Theatre, Monaghan. Saturday 2nd April 2022
Lyric Theatre, Belfast. Tuesday 5th – Thursday 7th April
Visit www.kabosh.net
Big Telly: presents Incognito, taking place in Portrush on 17, 18 & 19 March at 2.30pm. It is free to play and will take around 90 minutes to complete. All you need is a smartphone to download the App and game content.
You can find out more about how it works by visiting https://youtu.be/2WMrkpgVj58
BOOK NOW https://big-telly.com/book/
Further info: https://big-telly.com/portfolio/incognito-portrush
The Lyric Theatre and BBC Arts Lights Up: presents, Rough Girls, available to watch now on BBC iPlayer. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0015694/lights-up-series-2-rough-girls
A century after the formation of the first Northern Irish women’s football team, Derry Girls’ Tara Lynne O’Neill’s debut play, enacted by an all-female cast, chronicles the courage and determination of the women who became known as the suffragettes of soccer.
In Belfast in September 1917, in the midst of World War I and one year after the Easter Rising, a group of women representing the teams Celtic and Distillery got together to play football in front of 16,000 fans at Grosvenor Park. While the men were away at war, the women risked ridicule and rejection by kicking a ball. But the game proved so popular that it was repeated to ever-increasing crowds.
They went on to contest the first women’s international match that same year at the same venue, and carried on playing until the FA ban on women’s football in 1921. One hundred years later, Northern Ireland’s women’s football team qualified for the European Championship for the first time, making history once again.
Oscar Wilde said, ‘Football is all very well a game for rough girls, but it’s hardly suitable for delicate boys.’ This is the story of the ‘rough girls’.
Rough Girls was filmed for television at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, with a socially distanced audience, for BBC Arts.
The Lyric Theatre: also presents a new programme for 2022 with highlights including,
- Patrick Kielty, 15-20 March 2022
- Breadboy, 28-31 July 2022
- This Sh*t Happens All The Time, by playwright, Amanda Verlaque, 22 March-2 April 2022
- Abomination – A DUP Opera, 6-10 April
- Translations by Brian Friel, 23 April – 28 May
- Stones in his Pockets, 7 June – 3 July
For further details on all events and to buy tickets visit www.lyrictheatre.co.uk
The Playhouse: On the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, The Playhouse in Londonderry presented The White Handkerchief performed in the city's historic Guildhall. This performance recreates the events of 30 January, 1972 and tells the stories of those who were killed and injured on Bloody Sunday. And it features a new generation of talent from Derry and beyond.
This new film from BBC Northern Ireland documents the play's development from page to stage over a period of nine months. It includes the creators, local cast members and the families of the victims.
Available to watch now on BBC iPlayer. The film will also be aired on Friday 11th March at 11.05pm on BBC Two NI and on Sunday 13th March at 9pm on BBC Four. www.derryplayhouse.co.uk
The MAC: presents The Half Moon by Alice Malseed.
Written by Alice Malseed, one of Northern Ireland's most exciting new playwrights, the play explores the lives of three generations of women from the 1940s to the present day living in the Tiger's Bay area of Belfast.
Expectations, family dynamics, these women’s place at home, in the workforce and in the community are explored in this sharply perceptive one-person play.
Is a strong sense of home a double-edged sword; simultaneously allowing these women to feel comfortable but ultimately burdened?
Starring Ruby Campbell (Sylvan; Rough Girls), The Half Moon unveils a rich tapestry of female characters who will make us all look again at our own lives. For tickets visit www.themaclive.com
Bruiser Theatre Company in association with the MAC: presents Mojo Mickybo by Owen McCafferty. 6-10 April. Fast-paced, darkly funny and action-packed.
“Belfast. The summer of 1970. The heat’s meltin’ the tarmac on the street, the buses are burning bright and punters are drinking petrol outta milk bottles”.
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.
Critically-acclaimed Mojo Mickybo is pure, undiluted storytelling in Bruiser’s trademark dynamic physical style providing opportunity for a new generation of theatre-goers to experience Belfast’s most treasured, living playwright.
Age Guidance: 14+ Visit www.themaclive.com
The MAC, in association with WOMEN'STEC, presents a special event: Women's Work - Never Done on 19th March.
The seminal documentary film, Women’s Work, was produced by DoubleBand films in 1997, the year before the Good Friday Agreement. Join The MAC for a screening of Women's Work followed by a panel discussion with some of the women involved in the original film including Bronagh Hinds, founding member of Women’s Coalition (who can be seen having an altercation with Ian Paisley Snr. in the documentary) and Nuala Haughy who was the film's researcher and interviewer.
They will be joined by those new to the political and social activism arena in NI including political commentator Sarah Creighton. We will be interrogating and discussing developments, progress, and attitudes since the film was first screened, 25 years ago. The panel will be hosted by Lynn Carville, CEO of WOMEN’STEC. Click on the Team & Cast tab for the full panellist line-up.
Women's Work followed the election campaigns of several women, some relatively new to the world of the Northern Irish political system, across all political parties, in the run-up to that year’s Council and General Elections. Securing just 15% of seats in the Council Elections, not one of these women was elected in the General Elections that year.
Women's Work documentary screening: 45mins
Panel Discussion: 50mins. The MAC is grateful to DoubleBand Films and BBC Northern Ireland for their permission to screen the original film. Visit www.themaclive.com
The MAC in partnership with Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive: presents Dust on the Bible, a 1989 documentary by John T. Davis followed by a panel discussion on women’s experience within the evangelical Protestant tradition in Northern Ireland. 20th March.
Beginning with a screening of John T. Davis’ brilliant documentary, this timely and engaging event will look at how Northern Ireland’s evangelical Protestant community has been represented and critiqued by artists.
Hugh Odling-Smee will introduce the film and host a panel discussion featuring novelists Jan Carson and Sue Divin, and poet, Moyra Donaldson, all of whom have recently produced work exploring women’s experience within the evangelical Protestant tradition, including Except a Man by Jan Carson, a series of monologues and introductory essay for the MAC's NINOW100 project.
The afternoon will also include readings from all three authors and the premiere of a new short film, The Final Word, commissioned by Northern Ireland Screen, written by Carson and produced by Northern Irish filmmaker Tristan Crowe. It gives voice to one of the many silent women in Davis’ documentary. You can listen to an audio version of the piece here – link – https://themaclive.com/watch-listen/episodes/the-final-word.
Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich and Quotidian: 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.
Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich is proud to host the first-ever Irish language Poetry Jukebox curation from February 2022. ‘Cead Aighnis: Leave to Speak’ is a collection of 20 contemporary poems, read by the poets themselves, and with translation to English. Curated by celebrated poet Celia de Fréine, it includes work from Gearóid Mac Lochlainn, Máire Mhac a tSaoi, Proinsias Mac a Bhaird, Philip Cummings and many, many more.
As well as pressing buttons on the physical jukebox outside the Cultúrlann, poetry-lovers will be able to listen online at https://www.culturlann.ie/en
BBC Dance Passion: Don’t miss Flight, a short dance film about that universal desire to fly, led by Northern Ireland choreographer/Co-Director, Jennifer Rooney and Co-Director, Ciarán Haggerty, commissioned by BBC Dance Passion. Flight is part of the BBC series A Season of Arts and available to view now on BBC iPlayer. The film explores that most universal theme - a child’s desire to fly. To watch Flight visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0014fqd
Crescent Arts Centre: has launched a new season of the Crescent’s Creative Learning Programme where you can explore a hobby, brush up on your creative talents, or have a go at something new. Visit https://crescentarts.org/courses
They also continue their monthly Book Festival events until March 2022. Details of all events can be found at https://belfastbookfestival.com/whats-on
Maiden Voyage Dance: Maiden Voyage Dance is inviting 3–6-year-olds and their grown-ups to join them on a ‘suit safari’ in their new show ‘MORF’. Exploring the magical in the everyday, ‘MORF’ sees two dancers use ordinary suit jackets to create familiar animals - including a jellyfish, an elephant, a bird, and a worm - as young audiences travel with them to a ‘fabric fantasy’ world of clouds, mountains, volcanos and castles. Nothing stays the same for long as what is there in one second is gone and transformed into something new the next.
Duration: 30-35 mins
Streamed performances
Online QFT Player: 12-13 March
For further information and to book tickets (£10 each) for ‘MORF’, visit https://www.youngatartevents.co.uk/whats-on/morf
Seamus Heaney HomePlace: has released details of their new winter-spring 2022 seasonal programme of events. Visit www.seamusheaneyhome.com for tickets and information.
Grand Opera House: presents a new season of programming.
For tickets and to see the full programme of performances visit www.goh.co.uk
Millennium Forum: presents a new programme for 2022 .Visit www.millenniumforum.co.uk for tickets and to view the full performance programme.
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
Declan McConaghy Show: Newry based former BBC broadcaster, Declan McConaghy has created a new serfies 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
Duncairn: has released details of their new programme of theatre, music and digital classes. Highlights include:
- Saint Patrick’s Day concert: the team at The Duncairn has been tasked with reimagining a St Patrick’s event in Belfast city centre this year, bringing a little Duncairn magic to the celebrations! Stay tuned for more information about the free concert on the evening of 16th March!
To book visit www.theduncairn.com
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 Podcast has a strong focus on mental health as part of the EA Health & Wellbeing programme this month. 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 Mammybanter. 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.
As well as having a voice the young people are developing their communication skills, confidence and self-awareness as well as learning skills in sound engineering and digital editing, skills they can take with them into their future career paths. 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 Lanscapes, Abstract Art, Ceramics, Painting for Beginners, Contempoary 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: unique to WheelWorks Arts is their state of the art ArtCart — a mobile arts studio that travels to your venue and opens up to provide an additional studio space for workshops and is packed full to the brim with digital equipment such as ipads, music and film making technology.
Virtual ArtCart activities take place at your own venue. Where outdoor space is limited, Wheelworks bring the ArtCart creativity inside your centre. They also come with a full outdoor suite — marquees, stage sound, lighting and outdoor heaters.
This unique space allows your young people the opportunity to experience professional equipment in a custom-made studio. It allows your centre to offer a range of socially distance spaces and utilises outdoor space. To book your perfect digital and arts activities just email www.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
VOID: is delighted to present Sampler, the first solo exhibition by artist Aleana Egan in Northern Ireland. The exhibition will bring together existing works and two newly commissioned pieces, which expand on Egan’s nuanced approach to working with materials that are familiar and that often have residual memories associated with them. The word sampler derives from the Latin exemplum, meaning an ‘example’. In the context of sewing and textiles it was originally like a personal notebook for keeping stitches and motifs of interest together. Bringing works together under this title Egan intends to put emphasis on the ephemeral and fragmentary. It will continue her investigation into creating an ambient space through which to convey emotions by using sparing sculptural gestures. In short, expressing the immaterial through material means.
Visit www.derryvoid.com
Craft NI: Craft NI Gallery, 115-119 Royal Avenue, Belfast.
Dates: 5pm Thursday 3 February – 27 March 2022
Craft NI is delighted to welcome you to ‘Curved with intent’, an exhibition of contemporary design in wood. ‘Curved with intent’ is Craft NI’s first event of a varied 2022 exhibition programme and promises to raise interest in the beautiful medium of wood and admiration for the talented Northern Irish designer-makers who work with it. The participating designer-makers are David Cousley, Mark Hanvey, Ronan Lowery, Brian McKee and John Piekaar. Visit www.craftni.org
University of Atypical: presents The C word, Paradox and Optimism of the Will
Sinéad O'Neill-Nicholl
3rd February - 18th March 2022
University of Atypical is delighted to welcome you to join them for a new solo exhibition by the 2020, Graduate Award recipient Sinéad O'Neill-Nicholl opening as part of Belfast’s Late Night Art on the 3rd of February 2022.
Informed by field recordings made during periods of significant life events, the sound composition serves as both a personal antithetic response to late-stage capitalism and patriarchal structures - an exploration of paradoxical experience.
Living in a seemingly perpetual state of existential crisis, exacerbated by her father’s death from Cholangiocarcinoma (a rare and aggressive cancer) the artist began to collect sounds that captured the essence of the experience.
Following the outbreak of Covid-19 in March 2020, this practice continued as a way of reflecting time and the daily experiences that accompanied our collective containment. This sound installation can be further considered as an examination of the limitations of human knowledge and phenomenological experience. Visit www.universityofatypical.org
Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich: presents,
Eimear Nic Roibeaird
Eimear Nic Roibeaird is delighted to debut her solo exhibition An Chéad Bhean/The First Woman in the Gerard Dillion Gallery. An Chéad Bhean tells the story of Irish womanhood through paintings and written work based on the Cailleach figure. The Cailleach figure appears in Irish lore and heritage. The Cailleach is a character is based upon the villainous image giving to Irish woman who possessed unattainable power that neither Nationalism nor Christianity could possess. In this exhibition she will be depicted as the “wicked” Aoife, the venturous Cessair, the frightful Morrigan and the heroic Sadbh. Weaving together myth and realism, this narrative exhibition is a compelling body of work that has been developed by Nic Roibeaird the past 18 months. She is inspired by her Gael heritage and culture and the stories of Mythology she was raised with and her own experiences as an Irish woman. For further details visit www.culturlann.ie
Kevin Hamilton
Traditional Cultures in this part of Ireland can often be abused and misused as a negative commentary, ‘a stick to beat the other side with.’ We are more than just flags and kerbstones. All cultures have an intrinsic beauty within, which is often overlooked. My new series of work I have focused on aspects of the built landscape which have traditionally been associated with one or the other side. Buildings and locations such as Stormont Castle, Clonard Monastery, Milltown cemetery and Windsor Park, created intriguing symmetrical compositions divorced from its previous traditional associations. Through this selection of work, I want to encourage all to see beyond the history of a place and appreciate the beauty within. My work is kaleidoscopic pieces drawn from locations and landmarks previously identified to be one or the other culture, from divided cultures here. Highlighting the beauty which is visible everywhere if you know how to look, a true beauty found in each culture which can be appreciated without prejudice. For further details visit https://www.culturlann.ie/en/visual-arts
ArtisAnn: presents Artefacts of a Pandemic by Connor Maguire, Wed 2nd to Sat 26th March, 2022.
Tue – Fri: 11am to 6pm ; Sat: Noon to 5pm
Connor has produced a series of paintings that are focused on things that we take for granted, such as products we use in everyday life. The art is inspired by how people have behaved and reacted to the global pandemic.
All the products chosen have a significance to our behaviour patterns during this time. Connor also sought out certain products due to the colour and text so the items painted were not just random paintings of household items but chosen for their significance and how we related to them during the pandemic
He has received numerous national and international awards during his career and has exhibited widely to great acclaim. His work has been shown at the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Royal Ulster Academy and at the Zurich Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery in Dublin. He has been shortlisted Artist of the Year for Artists and Illustrators Magazine in London.
Connor received support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to produce these paintings during the pandemic.
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 (and you still get to take the art home immediately the exhibition ends). Visit www.artisann.org
Golden Thread Gallery: presents Slow Art Day – Saturday April 2nd 2022
SLOW DOWN… THE MORE YOU LOOK THE MORE YOU SEE…
Life moves fast. Visitors to art galleries usually spend just 15 to 30 seconds looking at a piece of art – that’s less time than we spend looking at a page on the internet! But what would you see if you stopped, too a deep breath, and spent five whole minutes looking at a painting or photograph or sculpture? What would you see? What hidden detail or unexpected colour could you discover? What idea or memory or connection with the artist could you spark?
Step away. Look from the doorway. Step back… What if you gave it ten minutes?
We could all slow down and really savour the experience of looking at art. This year the GTG will join more than 200 institutions around the world taking part in Slow Art Day. It’s a global event with a simple mission: help more people discover for themselves the joy of looking at and loving art.
Join GTG in the peace and calm of the gallery on Saturday 2nd April. Look slowly at the artworks in OXYgen by Aoife Shanahan in the Project Space and We Are Here in Gallery One and Two, featuring film works by Ayo Akingbade, Duncan Campbell, Susan Hiller, John Akomfrah and Samson Kambalu.
Then have a seat in their Process Room to discuss your experience. They will have free tea and coffee, additional seating and special ‘Easter egg’ information about the exhibitions that you might never notice if you weren’t taking your time. Experience art differently. Visit www.goldenthreadgallery.co.uk
The MAC: presents the following exhibitions:
Alfred Wallis: Artist and Mariner, 8 Dec – 27 Mar, presented in the Tall and Sunken Gallery.
Alfred Wallis (1855–1942) was a mariner and scrap merchant born in Devonport, Plymouth, who spent most of his life in Cornwall. He started painting around the age of seventy, with no formal training and little income. Despite these challenges, his artistic output was prolific. After going to sea as a cabin boy at the age of nine, Wallis spent his early life working on lugger and deep-sea fishing boats off the Cornish coast and in the Atlantic. He later set up a marine scrap store in St Ives. Following the death of his wife, he turned to making art as a creative release from the loneliness he felt. All works in the exhibition are by Alfred Wallis and from the collection of Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge.
Ronnie Hughes: Isobar, 8th December – 27 March 2022, Upper Gallery, The MAC
Ronnie Hughes is one of Ireland’s most dynamic abstract painters. Hughes’ elegant and poised works are executed with complex technical skill yet retain a lightness of touch. While his finished paintings display a diversity of styles, at heart they share a common concern with the lived experience, and what Hughes has described as “the beauty, the fragility and the violence of being.”
Ronnie Hughes’ works evolve over a long time and are generally process-driven to the extent that there is no plan or, in most cases, any sense of the outcome until the works are close to completion. “My role is to steer and nuance their evolution; to balance the elements and, just as often, to disrupt them resulting in the emergence of waves, nebulae, constellations, lattice structures and fields”.
In recent years Hughes’ work has become more ‘optically’ charged, colour and shape are presented as vibrational energies where the haptic qualities that a painting’s surface contains and its ability to record, hold and represent time are amplified.
Hughes’ work is complex and multi-dimensional. The painted surface is constructed through a layering of stratas revealing a range of associative and representational qualities simultaneously. What appears to be random or chaotic is revealed to have a hidden template, structure or pattern, the regimented order of which is constantly gnawed at and undermined.
MAC Art Workshop: Big Feelings & Little Minds, 26 Feb & 12 Mar
Workshops for children, inspired by the amazing art exhibitions in The MAC galleries.
Still I Rise Diversity Storytelling is back to read from storybooks, inspired by some of the themes in the lives and work of our current exhibiting artists. Using stories that are filled with diversity and inclusive language, Anna and Orla will explore themes such as loneliness, grief, happiness and anxiety. Giving children the language to label their feelings encourages acceptance of big emotions and allows them to develop the tools to navigate mental health challenges and promote positive mental wellbeing from an early age.
This workshop is suitable for 5 - 8 year olds and adults stay in the session with their children. These workshops have limited capacity, and if this event is sold out, please email tickets@themaclive.com to be added to the waiting list.
For further information on this workshops and other workshops for kids visit visit www.belfastexposed.org
R-Space: presents Where lines are drawn and people connect group exhibition from 19th Feb – 18th March 2022.
Now in its tenth year, this group exhibition will explore artists’ and makers’ different approaches to the materials they choose to work with and why; the messages and meaning they wish to convey using those materials; what those messages are, and the methods of production and process they use to make the work.Five artists / makers based in Northern Ireland at different career stages, working in a variety of media, were selected from an open call for this exhibition titled: Borders, Boundaries and Bridges:
Eleanor Wheeler
Meadhbh McIlgorm
Paul McMordie & Robert Peters
Rebecca O’Flaherty
Sinead O’Donnell
The selected artists respond to the themes around borders, boundaries and bridges and will exhibit work that includes mixed media, performance to camera and sound. Visit https://www.rspacelisburn.com
CCA: CCA Derry-Londonderry presents
FEROX 14 Jan – 12 March 2022
CCA Derry-Londonderry is proud to present FEROX – its first exhibition of 2022, and artist Ciaran O Dochartaigh’s most extensive solo show to date. Ciaran makes use of a wide range of media – customised tools made of ceramic, marble, granite, sound recordings, technical drawings – in an attempt to deal with themes of generational grief, trauma and healing and how these lived experiences are indivisible from the landscape. Sources for Ciaran’s work are found in his research garnered from historical documentation and archival footage, as well as personal experience and storytelling.
FEROX focuses on Lough Fad East, Donegal – a small body of freshwater that supplies drinking water to the surrounding townlands in the Inishowen peninsula. The ecosystem of the lough has been damaged in recent years, most significantly by the introduction of a new fish species that has irreversibly altered its biodiversity which had previously been unaltered since the last ice age.
Throughout the duration of FEROX there will be a series of accompanying events, pending pandemic restrictions. Visit www.ccadld.org
Panarts: presents the 18th Panarts Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival from 16-19 March 2022 in Belfast. This year’s festival is a mixture of online virtual concerts and in-person events live at The Ramada Hotel and includes a number of concerts and workshops. For the full programme and more information visit www.belfastnashvillecongwriters.com
Imagine Festival of Ideas and Politics: takes place from 21-27 March featuring more than 150 events. You are invited to join in discussing the big issues of our times including new ideas on politics, culture and activism. There’s something for everyone in the festival programmes as the organisers try to road test this volatile world. Visit www.imaginebelfast.com
Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival: returns from 28 April – 8 May with a fantastic programme of music and comedy. Highlights includes,
- Dani Larkin, 29 April
- Ciara O’Neill EP launch, 30 April
- Ruth McGinley, 6 May
- Declan O’Rourke, 1 May
- John Shuttleworth, 2 May
- Kae Tempest, 3 May
- Malojian, 7 May
- Brigid O’Neill EP launch, 7 May
Visit www.cqaf.com for the full programme of events.
Moving on Music: presents Brilliant Corners – A Festival Of Jazz In Belfast
Dates: Fri 4th – 12th March at The Black Box, Hill Street
Heading into its tenth year, Brilliant Corners is now heralded worldwide as one of the highlights on the jazz festival circuit. Renowned for the potential to see breaking and established talent in intimate surrounds, the festival has hosted performances from Sons of Kemet, The Comet is Coming, Soweto Kinch, Fred Frith and many more.
The festival returns to its spiritual home of the Black Box after last year’s online festival for 8 days of the finest international and local jazz sounds.
This year we cast the net across Ireland, the UK and Europe with Witch ‘n’ Monk, Wildflower, David Lyttle Trio, Black Top, Potsa Lotsa, Aoife Doyle and Band, The RBG Trio, Jas & Chums, The Long Game, ADJUNCT Ensemble, SlapBang, and Ishmael Ensemble all on the bill.
More info and ticket prices at https://www.brilliantcornersbelfast.com/
Féile an Earraigh: is a vibrant and inclusive culture and arts festival, celebrating and showcasing Irish culture, music and diversity. The programme offers a wide variety of arts and cultural activities including traditional music, workshops, concerts, tours, walks, talks, literary events, youth and sporting events and family based activities.
Féile an Phobail’s Spring festival, Féile an Earraigh, celebrates and showcases local Irish culture and diversity through an eclectic mix of vibrant and inclusive Irish cultural and arts activity for local people and visitors to the city in the lead in to and including St Patrick’s Day. The 2022 festival will see over 150 events take place in more than 30 venues throughout the City.
For full events listings please refer to the Féile an Phobail website www.feilebelfast.com
Belfast Children’s Festival: continues until 13 March with a line-up of gigantic proportions. View the full programme at https://readymag.com/u2245057935/bcf-2022/
Waterways Storymaking Festival: Over the past four years, the Waterways Storymaking Festival has offered a chance for people all over Northern Ireland to reflect and connect in a deeper way with the unique beauty of our waterways. With the continuing support of the National Lottery through the Arts Council, the festival this year will run through the first six months of 2022, offering an opportunity to share with each other thoughts, reminiscences or pure flights of fantasy on the theme of 'Waterways'. Visit https://www.thewaterwayscommunity.org