Northern Ireland

A total of 63 rural arts projects will share £400,000 of funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, it has been announced.

The money, which is coming from the third round of the National Lottery's Rural Engagement Arts Programme, will go to community groups, arts organisations and local authorities in communities across Northern Ireland.

Organisations set to benefit include Dylan Quinn Dance Theatre Company in Fermanagh and Omagh, which has been awarded £9,000 to undertake a 40-day programme of dance workshops.

Meanwhile, £5,640 will go to Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann Craobh Boirche in Newry, Mourne and Down, which will use the money to provide traditional Irish music classes. 

Gilly Campbell, Director of Arts Development at Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said: “We know that taking part in arts activities can raise self-esteem, boost confidence and motivation, as well as alleviate isolation and loneliness. 

The Rural Engagement Arts Programme has supported a total of 135 arts projects in rural areas with fudning of £898,780 since its establishment in 2022.

Belfast City Council is inviting applications to its Cultural Multi-Annual Grants scheme, part of its Cultural Strategy for Belfast 2020-2030.

The scheme has two funding strands, available for two or four years.

Arts & Heritage Grants are for arts and heritage organisations with a year-round programme of activity. A second fund provides grants for festivals and events.

All applications are through the council's Online Funding Hub and an online information session to support applicants will take place at 12 noon on 24 August. 

The application deadline is 12 noon on 6 October 2023.

Belfast theatre company Bright Umbrella has announced plans for a £2.6m two-theatre complex in the east of the city.

The 150-seat Sanctuary Theatre and the Little Theatre, which are both part of the same arts centre, will become the permanent base of the company, which has signed a 50-year lease and aims to use drama to improve cross-community relations.

Housed in Mountpottinger Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, which dates from 1875, the theatres are located between the predominantly unionist areas of Castlereagh Street and Albertsbridge Road and the largely nationalist Short Strand.

The location is a short way from the peace line in Cluan Place, where sectarian rioting was once a nightly feature, the Belfast Telegraph reported.

“The church sits directly on what is arguably Northern Ireland’s most notorious interface,” the theatre company’s mission statement says.

“Many buildings and sites in the vicinity are derelict. Levels of paramilitary influence are high. Violent incidents and murders ramp up community anxieties, but despite this there remains a strong sense of community belonging.”

Bright Umbrella plans to refurbish the historic church, with backing from both sides of the community. The planned upgrades will preserve original features including the stained-glass windows, pews, vaulted roof timbers and the plaques and monuments honouring soldiers from the First World War.

“The original plan was to tour classical plays to other people’s theatres, but when we started to rehearse at Mountpottinger we realised it would be a wonderful performance space,” said artistic director Trevor Gill.

“We know funding’s tight but we are quietly confident that we can get the money we need,” he added. “We hope construction work will start in January 2025, with the opening a year later.”

Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) has published a catalogue of the latest acquisitions to be added to its contemporary art collection.

The collection is available for exhibition on a loan basis both within and outside Northern Ireland, as part of the Arts Council’s Art Lending Scheme.

The scheme is free and available to borrowing organisations interested in exhibiting any of the catalogue of works, which date back to 2003.

Currently consists of over 680 works, the collection spans a range of disciplines, including painting, sculpture, craft, print, photography and video, including 35 new pieces by 22 Northern Irish artists purchased in 2021 and 2022. 

“Many of the artists represented in the Arts Council’s contemporary art collection have major national and international reputations”, said Dr Suzanne Lyle, ACNI Head of Visual Arts.

They include the Turner Prize-winning Array Collective, silversmith Cara Murphy, whose work is held in the Goldsmiths Company Collection, painter Colin Davidson, who was selected in 2016 to paint the official portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II, two-time Turner Prize-nominee photographer Willie Doherty and BP Portrait Award winner painter Ian Cumberland.

“By offering the collection for public display, we are helping to showcase the work of our artists and to introduce the public to Northern Ireland’s wealth of creative talent,” Lyle said.

ACNI staff are available to help with the selection and curation of works for a range of public venues, she added.
 

Trade unions are criticising plans to reduce Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s (ACNI) budget by 10% ahead of a rally in Belfast.

Earlier this month, ACNI warned its regularly funded arts organisations their annual funding for 2023-24 was likely to drop by 10%, due to an expected reduction in funding allocated to Northern Ireland’s Department for Communities.

In response, Equity Northern Ireland will host an arts funding rally tomorrow (25 April) in Belfast, campaigning against the move.

An online petition by Equity Campaigns Officer Gareth Forest has received over 2,000 signatures since its launch last week, which Equity plans to hand deliver to the Permanent Secretary's offices at the Department for Communities in Belfast.

The campaign has received support from the Musicians' Union, who called the proposition “reckless in the extreme”, adding it will put the jobs of musicians across Northern Ireland at risk.

“The budget of Arts Council of Northern Ireland is already incredibly poor per capita when compared with Arts Council England, Arts Council Wales and Creative Scotland,” the union said.

It is planning to write to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Communities and to the Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to “urge them in the strongest terms to reverse these proposed cuts before it is too late”.

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has awarded £110,000 to 22 projects through its Small Grants funding programme.

The initiatives receiving support span the regions of Down, Mid-Ulster, Armagh, Fermanagh, Antrim and the North West.

“Thanks to National Lottery players and money raised for good causes, we are delighted to announce today funding to support 22 fantastic projects, creating more opportunities for people to engage with the arts, from grassroots level projects through to professional productions,” said Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

“This valuable funding programme will support a variety of high quality arts projects in locations across Northern Ireland, including performances, workshops and tuition.”

The Lurgan and Armagh George Russell Festival Society has received funding to support its George Russell Festival, a history, literature and art festival that began on 1 April and continues until 10 April. 

Funding was also awarded to Tempo Maguires GAC to provide weekly low-cost traditional museum classes; Lilac Cancer Support Ltd to recruit an artist to work one day per week in the Art Development Studio at its Community Hub; North West Cultural Partnership to fund a May to July festival celebrating the opening of a new £1.8m arts centre, Seaview Integrated Primary School for a 10-week block of dance classes; Down Academy Pipes and Drums for a music tuition programme at a local primary school; and Africa House NI for a series of arts development workshops and training for the African diaspora community. 

Northern Ireland is hoping to secure its first Cultural World Heritage site through a joint bid with the USA and Germany.

The proposal to UNESCO is for Gracehill in County Antrim, an 18th century settlement associated with the Moravian Church.

The picturesque village became Northern Ireland’s first conservation area in 1975.  

The other sites in the bid are settlements in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Herrnhut in Saxony, both of which also have strong links to the Moravian Church.

The nomination is being led by the USA in conjunction with the UK and German governments. 

Colum Boyle, Permanent Secretary, Department for Communities, said: “If successful in securing World Heritage Site status, Gracehill and the wider community will benefit culturally and economically from this important accolade that will further protect an important piece of history for future generations.”

The transnational nomination will be considered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee next year.