Northern Ireland
Deadline: 3rd April at 12pm
Craft Northern Ireland is the sector lead agency for the development of the contemporary craft sector in Northern Ireland. Established in 2005, the organisation’s primary funders are the Arts Council and Invest NI. We are now recruiting a Business Development Support Officer to assist in the delivery of the organisation’s programmes and activities. The post is half-time / 0.5.
For job description, application and monitoring forms – see http://craftni.org/news/craft-ni-recruitment-business-development-support-officer-pt/. Alternatively you can email info@craftni.org or phone 028 9032 3059
The Visual Artists Ireland ‘Introducing’ series provides artists with a great opportunity to meet gallery directors, art centre managers and curators in an informal stress free setting. The Series begins in Northern Ireland where you can join Feargal O’Malley, Visual Artists Ireland’s Northern Ireland Manager, for a unique insight into the galleries exhibition policies and to put a face to some of the key cultural providers in Northern Ireland.
We are inviting artists to attend the last of this terms free unique art series of introductions, which will be held at:
- F.E McWilliams Gallery & Studio (Banbridge) Wednesday 20th of March at 11:00am
If you are interested in securing a place at this unique networking event, please register here.
Each visit will have maximum number of 15 places; priority will be giving to members of Visual Artists Ireland. Book now to avoid disappointment.
For any other information e-mail:
Feargal O’Malley
Northern Ireland Manager
Visual Artists Ireland
Email: feargal@visualartists-ni.org
www.visualartists-ni.org
www.visualartists.ie
Support for the Individual Artist Programme (SIAP).
SIAP offers a collection of schemes designed to meet the needs of individual artists working in Northern Ireland. A number of schemes will be open for applications and applicants should check the Guidance Notes when available for details of changes. The Programme opens on 18th February and the deadline for applications is 4pm on 14th March 2013, with decisions announced in June. Online applications will be available.
Creative Industries Innovation Fund.
Programme is now open for applications. Deadline for applications: 4pm Thursday 7th February 2013. Read more
EU Partnership Development Travel Scheme.
Providing financial support to enable arts and cultural organisations to travel from Northern Ireland to develop suitable international partnerships for future collaboration. Programme is now open for applications. Deadline for applications: 4pm Friday 15th February 2013. Read more
Small Grants Programme.
The Small Grants funding programme is currently open to constituted groups who need between £500 and £10,000 to help run an arts activity. Read more
Nineteen groups across Northern Ireland have been awarded grants totalling £141,000 from the Big Lottery Fund and Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Culture for All programme. This small grants funding programme enables communities to play a part in Derry~Londonderry City of Culture 2013.
Application forms and guidance notes are available to download now at: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/northernireland
More info: www.artscouncil-ni.org/news/2012/news15112012e.html
The Marsh Christian Trust and the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA) have announced the shortlist for the Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture 2012. This year’s shortlist includes two works in Northern Ireland: the 38m high ‘Rise’ in Belfast by Wolfgang Buttress and ‘To the People of the Sea’ in Portrush by West Cork-based sculptor Holger Lönze. A total of eight works have been shortlisted for this prestigious UK-wide public sculpture award. The winner will be announced in London on the 6th November by the Duke of Gloucester.
Holger Lönze’s artwork for Portrush was commissioned by Coleraine Borough Council as part of a £1m public realm scheme for Portrush East Strand. The 4m high repoussé sheet bronze sculpture, depicting three traditional Drontheim yawl sails, was completed in February 2011 after only seven weeks of fabrication. A council spokesman stated that “Based on Portrush’s rich maritime culture and its boat building history, it celebrates not only one of Ireland’s famous boat builders (James Kelly) but also the elements that have determined live down through generations.” Images and information of the work is available on the project website www.peopleofthesea.info and on the sculptor’s website www.holgerlonze.com
Sculptor Wolfgang Buttress was selected to create ‘ Rise’ after a competition involving over 40 international artists. Standing at 37.5 metres tall, Rise, a geodesic sphere is suspended within a larger 30 metre diametre sphere by discreet, pre tensioned, galvanised wires. It is sited on the former site of the Broadway roundabout, at the junction of the Westlink and M1 motorway, and is visible for miles around the city. Wolfgang Buttress is an award winning artist working with public space. He creates simple, elegant and contextual public artworks which seek to define and celebrate a sense of place. Over the last 15 years he has produced artworks for the public realm in the UK, Europe, Australia, USA, and Japan. http://wolfgangbuttress.com/
The Arts Council Northern Ireland have been advocating for the enhancement of visual arts provision in Northern Ireland’s festivals’ programmes. This is an area we often programme our normal activity without the really getting the benefits of the festivals’ audience and media opportunities. In association with VAI, Deirdre Robb of ACNI has arranged a visit to Belfast from Woodrow Kernohan from the EVA+ to open the discussion.
This will take place on the 23rd July 11.30 at ACNI MacNeice House, 77 Malone Road, BT9 6AQ. Whilst this meeting will be pretty informal, we will be setting an agenda to keep some structure to the visit.
Agenda: Deirdre Robb – Welcome and introductions; EVA+ -Woodrow Kernohan; Belfast Festival at Queens – Shan McAnena (TBC); Open discussion.
If there is anything you want put on the agenda and to register a representative of your organisation to attend the meeting please contact
Deirdre Robb | Visual Arts officer | Arts Council of Northern Ireland | MaceNiece House, 77 Malone Road | Belfast |BT9 6AQ
Tel +44 (0)28 9038 5200 | Ext 241| drobb@artscouncil-ni.org
The Arts Council recently announced details of its annual funding allocation for arts organisations across Northern Ireland. The Arts Council is awarding £13.3 million to 93 core arts organisations to cover their year-round running and programming costs. For the first time, organisations have been able to apply in advance for up to three years of funding, following changes introduced by the Arts Council to their Annual Funding Programme. The move from one-year to three-year funding for the arts is in direct response to the wider economic climate, as it introduces a greater degree of stability and enables local venues, galleries, theatre companies, community arts and other front line arts organisations to plan ahead with greater confidence. The list of awardees can be found here: www.artscouncil-ni.org/news/2012/new20032012c.html
‘Churches’ is an exhibition by Canadian photographic artist Sylvia Grace Borda. What is usually an open plan exhibition space has been radically altered to accommodate this show, transformed literally into a foyer and a large black box. Even the ceiling has been lowered and covered with large black tiles. A slightly claustrophobic atmosphere prevails. In the foyer a glass-covered display table houses ceramic ware loaned from official government collections as well as antique shops – a kind of political memorabilia, which also represents the kitsch tourist souvenir one might have carried home 50 years ago to hang on the wall. There is also a table with books, provided by Borda, which have influenced her practice or relate to the subject matter.
A walk along a short corridor leads into the black box, where the main works are situated. The first, entitled Churches, is a video featuring 100 images of churches across Northern Ireland, which is projected onto the back wall of the space. The second is a beautifully executed installation, Coming to the Table. It comprises a long, boardroom-type table, covered in black fabric, with three black pendant lights hanging low over it, creating three pools of light on the black cloth. On this table are 16 ceramic plates, photo-printed with images from the projection. Although there are seats, and the audience is clearly able to handle the work (and has, I’m assured, moved the plates around themselves) I feel somewhat alienated. There is a sombre presence to the work, a feeling that these seats are already taken, that I am excluded from whatever discussions might take place here. The projection, however, draws me in immediately. These unnamed mid twentieth-century churches are displayed very formally in circles, echoing the plates on the table; they are surrounded by black and devoid of people. I find myself looking for clues in the closely framed images. Every so often, the denomination or some details about the community become clear – through a small sign or bold lettering across a church door. There is a really fascinating array of shapes and sizes, some incredibly ugly and plain, others quite interesting architecturally.
Borda has made it very clear that she is framing this work from the point of view of an outsider, but not that of a tourist. In an insightful essay by Robin Laurence, which accompanies the exhibition, he states that she works “not from a documentary impulse but from a conceptual one”.1 There is no doubt that many historical and social contexts are referenced in these works alongside references to many previous photographers including Eugene Atget, Walker Evans and Bernd, and Hilla Becher. The word ‘church’ refers not only to the buildings, but to the institutions and their clergy, as well as to the service itself. Borda appears to be interested in the aims of Modernist architecture, especially in relation to churches, where design was reduced to function and form.2 Most were ambivalent and ambiguous in terms of denomination. The churches shown come from this Modernist tradition, and demonstrate a stripping back of materials and ornamentation. In the context of Northern Ireland’s recent history this is especially interesting. Focusing on churches from unspecified denominations, for tourists to collect, points at Northern Ireland’s growing tourist industry since the Troubles ended, while the table metaphorically refers to the peace process. Northern Ireland’s ceramic production industry is also represented in the display cabinet and referenced in Coming to the Table. What is also worthy of note is that these churches are all closed, they appear inaccessible, unpopulated, and inward looking. This juxtaposition is an area Borda exploits.
In this ‘Churches’ project, which Borda began in 2009 and worked on for two years, she attempts to explore what churches represent and perhaps to understand a situation that she herself had no innate knowledge of. Some of the references are a bit literal, but she has been successful in identifying the perfect vehicle for this exploration and displaying it beautifully. Borda has uncovered a much-overlooked area of Northern Irish culture, as well as cleverly turning some traditions on their head. It is difficult not to bring a certain amount of baggage to our reading of this work, but that, perhaps, is why Borda’s perspective is so valuable. The circular lens of her camera simultaneously invokes both distance and focus.
Fiona Fullam
is an artist and writer. She is Associate Editor at JAR (Journal of Artistic Research) and teaches at IADT, Dublin.
notes
1. Robin Laurence, Silvia Grace Borda: Erasing the Divide, pamphlet accompanying the exhibition at belfast Exposed 2. Many of the churches shown were built by Liam McCormick, born in Derry, who was widely regarded in the second half of the twentieth century as the ‘father of modern church architecture in Ireland.’ See the Irish Architectural Archive: http://www.iarc.ie/exhibitions/0010.html
Visual Artists Ireland is pleased to announce the appointment of Feargal O’Malley as Northern Ireland Manager. Mr O’Malley will be responsible for the implementing and further development of Visual Artists Ireland’s Northern Ireland programme. Speaking on Mr O’Malley’s appointment to the position, Noel Kelly CEO of Visual Artists Ireland said, “We are delighted to have Feargal join the Visual Artists Ireland’s team. Building on the successes of our previous regional representative programme, Feargal joins us at an exciting time for Visual Artists Ireland as we grow and expand our levels of service for professional visual artists in Northern Ireland.”
Feargal O’Malley comes with a strong pedigree, commitment and engagement with the visual arts in Northern Ireland. Formerly, Mr O’Malley was Exhibitions Manager with the Ormeau Baths Gallery, where he delivered a programme that celebrated the wide diversity of contemporary practices both in Northern Ireland and abroad. He has also previously worked with the Millennium Court Art Centre, Portadown, and has been a regular contributor to both print and broadcast media. Mr O’Malley is a co-director of Platform Arts Belfast. He will take up the position with Visual Artists Ireland on Wednesday, 28 March 2012.
Visual Artists Ireland would like to acknowledge and thank the out-going Northern Ireland representatives, Laura Graham and Damien Duffy for the strength of their contribution during their terms of office.
Further announcement regarding the development of Visual Artists Ireland’s services in Northern Ireland will be made over the next weeks. In the meantime, keep Friday, 15th June 2012 free in your diary for the first All Ireland Visual Artists Ireland GET TOGETHER which will take place in Limerick College of Art & Design, with transportation from Belfast and Derry (subject to numbers).
Do you Twitter? Seems everyone is these days. If you have a Twitter account, be sure to follow us #4VisArtsNI
We’ll be providing details of events and exhibitions across Northern Ireland,notices about our regular and on-going professional development workshops and briefing sessions, as well as providing details of jobs and opportunities open to professional visual artists. There will also be news of forthcoming projects and new services for professional visual artists.
Tell your family and friends to follow us, too. They will be able to keep up with what’s on in the visual arts – Remember that the more eyes watching the closer you are to win! Oh, yes, we didn’t mention it! When we reach our first target of 1000 followers, we will be placing all names into a draw. The winner of which will receive a year’s VAI membership, and will be eligible for a free place on a VAI professional development workshop of their choice.
