CULTURE
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ISSUE 9
ECLECTIC NI
COMMUNITY RELATIONS & CULTURAL AWARENESS WEEK
CULTURE
WELCOME TO
HUB ECLECTIC NI
BUILDING THE FUTURE TOGETHER Welcome to this Special Edition of CultureHUB Magazine. This edition celebrates Community Relations & Cultural Awareness Week organised by the Community Relations Council. We are delighted to feature the events of the Week and to provide you with articles aimed at building community relations and showcasing cultural diversity.
CONTENTS ARTICLES 4 • Community Relations: Interview with Paul Jordan 6 • CRC Events: CultureHUB Selections 7 • Literary & Poetry Events NI 8 • John Baucher: It is Nothing New
From the team at CultureHUB,
10• Interview with Maggie Cronin
Happy reading folks.
12• Ben Glover: The Emigrant
Creative Director: Anna Wherrett Editor: Scott Boldt Cover Design & Layout: Anna Wherrett Cover Photography: Tremaine Gregg Cover Guests: Maggie Cronin & Cormac MacDiarmadá Journalists: Melanie Brehaut, Stacy Fitzpatrick, Cara Gibney, Kaity Hall, James-Alexander Johnson, Adam Henry Magee, Stephen McGurk, Gemma McSherry, Stephanie Mitchell, Conor O'Neill, Maeve O’Reilly, Gerard Walton. Photographers: Michael Barbour, Carrie Davenport, Tremaine Gregg, Liam Kielt. CultureHUB Magazine Ltd. Merrion Business Centre Office 6a, 58 Howard Street Belfast, BT1 6PJ Tel: 02895 43 4060 www.culturehubmagazine.co.uk info@culturehubmagazine.co.uk
14• Tongued - Cormac MacDiarmadá 16• Shirley-Anne McMillan: A Good Hiding 18• Alternative Ulster: In Touch with History 20 • Across the Line - 30th Birthday 22 • Home Artists 24 • Belfast International Arts Festival 26• Duke Special: The King of Collaboration 28 • Book Review 30 • Visiting Artists 32 • Maverick David Balfour 34 • Born and Reared 35 • Album Review 36 • Sarah Maple: You and Me 38• Larne House Short-term Holding Centre 40 • Scream For Me NI 42 • Bruiser Theatre: Shakespeare (Abridged) 44• Global Citizenship Conference
This publication has received financial support from the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council which aims to promote a pluralist society characterised by equity, respect for diversity and recognition of interdependence. The views expressed in the publication do not necessarily reflect those of the Community Relations Council.
© CultureHUB Magazine Ltd All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical without permission of CultureHUB Magazine.
46 • My World: Alzeimer's Society Exhibition 47• Honorary Consul Poland 48 • Migrant Workers - Post Brexit 50 • Amazing The Space
INTERVIEW WITH
Paul Jordan This special edition of CultureHUB is focused on Community Relations & Cultural Awareness Week – Building the Future Together. To help gauge the current status of community relations throughout Northern Ireland, Paul Jordan the Director of Funding and Development Programmes for the NI Community Relations Council was approached with a handful of questions.
After 18 years in the CRC, what's your overall assessment of community relations in Northern Ireland? I have always been an optimist, and whilst over the years there have been many bumps in the road I do believe we are moving forward. At any given moment, it can feel that we haven’t changed enough or that progress has been limited, but when you look at how far we have come, then there is much to be hopeful about. I joined CRC as a Project Officer in July 1998. The Belfast Agreement was merely months old and there were many painful and difficult hurdles that needed to be crossed. So, when I reflect on what we hoped for, there is much to be encouraged about. Are we a more diverse community? Do we have a stable form of government? Is there a massive reduction in the number of people losing their lives as a result of the conflict? The answer to all of these is yes. Have we moved from what once we would have described as extraordinary to the ordinary? Again I would say yes we have. When it becomes normal for members of the DUP and Sinn Féin to go on joint international visits and the only public outcry is how much it is costing the tax payer then we can see just how far we have moved from what would have once been considered as extraordinary to plain old everyday life.
What are some of the key lessons the Council has learned in fostering and supporting relations between communities?
What motivates you to work for community relations and has that motivation changed since you began in the Council?
There are always new lessons to learn and different seasons that the work goes through. For me, there are some fundamentals that are constant. Improving relationships and understanding between individuals and communities does not happen either by itself or in a vacuum. The work requires deliberate and measurable interventions that provide opportunities for communities to move beyond their comfort zone.
Since I was a young teenager I was involved in a lot of community relations programmes through which I have established lifelong friendships. Prior to joining the Council, I was a youth worker with responsibility for developing and delivering a range of arts based community relations programmes. My initial motivation would have been to continue on making a contribution to community relations as we emerged out of conflict.
In terms of the best work, it comes from sustained, consistent connections whether through dialogue, debate, the arts or some other form. During Community Relations & Cultural Awareness Week, we will get the chance to see and sample the wide variety of activities and encounters that happen every other week of the year.
Now, 18 years and 3 children later my motivation has grown to include wanting my kids to grow up in a better and more adjusted society than I did. It was brought sharply into focus for me when my daughter came home from school and told me that she was studying the conflict in her history class. Apart from feeling old, I was struck that for her, the times that I grew up in were now seen through the eyes of a history book. One day, children will also learn in history class what we did today, what decisions we made, what type of society we contributed to shaping. Sobering though the thought is, it is a tremendous motivator in trying to do what you can today in the knowledge that it will very soon become our history.
What hopes do you have this year for Community Relations & Cultural Awareness Week? My hope is that through the many workshops, debates, plays, film shows, photographic exhibitions and arts programmes people will take the time to join in and reflect on how they can make a contribution to building a society that is at ease with itself and where difference is something to embrace rather than fear.
Scott Boldt
Do you think the theme for this year should have a question mark? I understand the point that you are trying to make but I would look at it differently. Whether we like it or not we are going to be building a future together. Now that future may well be one that is built on long held enmity and division or it can be a future that is built on reconciliation and trust, either way, the future will be built by the decisions and choices we make now.
Interview by Scott Boldt
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Community Relations & Cultural Awareness Events
CultureHUB Selection Together: Building a United Community Engagement Forum
Leading Ladies
20 September 2016, 9.30am–2.00pm
Dunsilly Hotel, Antrim
The Junction, 12 Beechvalley Way, Dungannon
Local women are invited to hear influential and inspirational women in Northern Ireland to bring them into contact with perspectives which they may not have heard before.
The T:BUC Engagement Forum will examine policy, showcase best practice and facilitate fresh discussion towards helping children and young people play a full and active role in peace-building in a multi-cultural society. Places are limited and advance booking is essential.
22 September, 7.00pm • 028 9446 3113
Traditions and Transitions 22 September, 10.00am–1.00pm • 028 9035 2165
Dynamic Connections - Kids in Control. 20 September, 7.00pm–8.00pm Old Museum, 7 College Square North, Belfast A film showcase of a dance story created and performed by young people from John Paul II youth club, Ardoyne and Fortwilliam youth centre, Mount Vernon.
Intercomm, 290-292 Antrim Road, Belfast Discussion on culture of the musical traditions within the PUL (Protestant, Loyalist, Unionist) community with a focus on marching bands, their history and traditions. Interweaving Cultures - Inter Ethnic Forum
Mary Meets Mohammad Film Screening
22 September, 7.00pm–8.30pm
20 September, 6.30pm–9.00pm • 028 9031 8236
Braid Arts Centre, Ballymena
Girdwood Community Hub, Belfast
Local youth groups and community groups creating a unique intercultural textile art piece facilitated by artist Anushiya Sundaralingam.
Film following the arrival of Tazmania’s first detention centre through the eyes of local Christian Mary and Muslim Afghan Hazara asylum seeker Mohammad, who is detained inside the centre. Discussion following the film. Two Taiko Drumming Workshops 21 September, 7.00pm–9.00pm • 028 8076 1112 186 Barony Road, Omagh Adults and children alike are invited to take part in Japanese Drumming Workshops introducing them to the musical traditions of a new culture.
The ‘Art’ of Everyday Peace Building 22 September, 10.00am–12.30pm • 07921 851601 Houben Centre, Belfast CRIS presents an art exhibition showcasing the illustrations and storytelling of peace building conversations with over 50 families across Northern Ireland. My Story 24 September, 2.00pm–4.00pm • 028 6632 4343 Enniskillen Castle Museums Women of the World tell their story of coming to Northern Ireland and how life here differs from their own country. Refugee Journeys - Crossing Borders 24 September, 12.00pm–5.00pm • 07413 443374 Mission to Seafarers, Princes Dock Street, Belfast Workshop exploring the journeys and challenges refugees have faced in reaching Northern Ireland.
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Community Relations & Cultural Awareness Week
Intercultural Storytelling 19 September, 10.30am–11.30am 028 9050 9228 Ormeau Road Library 19 September, 2.00pm–3.00pm 028 9446 3891 Greystone Library Storyteller Peter Chand has entertained audiences since 1999, combining his British upbringing with his Indian heritage with his vast repertoire of folk tales from India and other parts of the world.
A Lunchtime Date with Sheila O’Flanagan 23 September, 12.00pm–1.00 pm 028 9266 3945 Lisburn City Library Members from all sides of the community gathering to listen to renowned Irish author Sheila O’Flanagan discussing her own cultural identity and sense of belonging developed throughout her career and influenced by some of her most famous works.
Parades & Protests Booklet Launch 21 September, 9.30am–11.00am City Hall, Belfast Leaflet launch, increasing understanding of parades and protests.
David Hume Talk 23 September, 8.00pm 028 9045 8560 Skainos Centre, Belfast The history of the Ulster Scots in Ballycarry and the life and work of James Orr, the foremost of the weaver poets and a radical Presbyterian who was involved in the United Irishmen rebellion.
The Lantern Man 21 September, 1.00pm–3.00pm & 8.00pm–10.00pm Down Arts Centre, Downpatrick A play set in Dublin before the 1916 Easter Rising when a soldier returns from the Western Front to a city he barely recognises. The performance will be followed by a facilitated discussion on themes including remembrance, contextualising historical events and family relationships.
Being Good Relations - A Convivial Conversation 23 September 028 9066 7441 Book Reserve, Thinking Cup Café, Lisburn Road, Belfast “..we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us” - Jo Cox, MP. How can this perspective help us who share this place to learn to live in mutually appreciative togetherness, like good relations? This is the question that will be explored in this conversational gathering in the café.
Lives Under The Radar 22 September, 10.00am–5.00pm 028 7126 8027 • The Playhouse, Derry-Londonderry The local LGBT community will share and dramatize their experiences of growing up and living in Northern Ireland, facilitated by writer Hillary McCollum who will share stories, artistic processes and film footage from last year’s highly successful “Lives Below The Radar” project in Strabane.
Launch of Diverse Women’s Voices 1916 to date: Film, Booklet and Exhibition 23 September, 7.00pm–9.00pm • 028 9031 2377 Shaftesbury Community & Recreation Centre, Belfast Film, booklet and exhibition created by diverse group of women from Lower Ormeau, Markets and Short Strand showcasing the varied voices of women in South and East Belfast.
Challenging Discrimination, One Poem at a Time 22 September, 6.30pm–8.30 pm Community Arts Partnership, 3-5 Commercial Court, Belfast Local poets and people will come together to examine the role which the arts can play in challenging discrimination and creating cohesive communities. Creative Writing Session with Liz Weir 22 September, 7.00pm–8.45pm 028 9127 0591 • Bangor Carnegie Library Liz Weir leads and conducts a special creative writing session for adults on the theme of “Same Difference – what makes us alike and what makes us different?”
Terra Nova Productions 24 September, 12.00pm–12.45pm 028 9050 9202 • Ardoyne Library The cast from Terra Nova productions will perform rehearsed reading extracts from Joyriders by Christina Reid and Beautiful Thing by Jonathan Harvey. Self-Portrait Exhibition, Rainbow Project On display September 2016, 028 7122 9990 • Derry Central Library A creative writing and art work exhibition using the theme of self-portrait, showing identities inextricably woven together with our experiences of race, culture, sexuality, language, religion, family, place and other.
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JOHN BAUCHER at cre e H
nging. elf and belo s , y t i t n de es of i m e h t lores p x e at k th r ou have previously shown a smaller o es w
John Baucher is a photographer
artist from Tandragee, Co Armagh. He creates work that explores themes of identity, self and belonging. and
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collection of similar works at the Imagine! Festival for Ideas and Politics in March, what makes this exhibition different, or is it simply a further exploration of the subject to a wider audience?
The response from the works shown at Imagine! was so positive, it seemed like a good idea to take the theme forward. Thanks go to Eva Grossman at the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building and Keith Acheson at the Crescent Arts Centre for their support. I’ve really asked the people I’m photographing to think of items that represent them and their journeys that might not be as literal as simply a family photograph or a piece of jewellery. ... The main thing I wanted to carry through from the previous exhibit to this one and any further explorations of this theme is the idea that purity is disillusioned, we are all mongrels, we’re all nomads who have arrived here from around the world, we’re all ‘immigrants’ of some sort or another. I want to break it down and strip back the constructs that we’ve put up around these issues in a benign way. What I think is really important and what I’m trying my best to do with this exhibit is to ask the viewer to question not only the journeys of the subjects, but also their own journeys. It’s become so common to hold these negative opinions of immigration but there are so many reasons for it - love, work, family, ambition. We really are more than capable of dealing with the influx of immigrants here, and, especially in Northern Ireland, we’re used to these damaging polarised opinions, we’re no strangers to separation.
Do you ever find it hard to deal with the stories of your subjects, or does the fact the subjects are so comfortable with exposing their stories to you help drive your work forward?
Do you feel a responsibility to bring these sorts of stories to an audience that would otherwise only be exposed to this issue through (an often) right wing media source?
I’m not often exposing many tales of heartbreak or trauma. Whilst I am very much hearing more than you’re actually seeing in the works, I’m not pushing for any really dramatic content from the people I photograph; this (exhibit) isn’t about that kind of blatant media sympathy that almost distracts from the fact that these are real people. I don’t want to stage a scene in which the viewer walks away full of pity, feeling detached from the subject rather, I want to guide people with the subject matter. It’s collaboration between me and the subjects.
It’s such a dense subject matter; it’s something with so much weight and so much obvious conversation around it that it seemed very worthwhile exploring in a much less weighty way. I didn’t want to make props of the subjects by simply sticking them onto a conveyor belt of shots in a photography studio; that would remove all of the familiarity and warmth of the images. I wanted to make sure that the images a) hid the identity of the person and b) felt normal and raw to the viewer. My work has always been about stripping back what I can offer and just making it as transparent and present as possible. I’m not interested in trying to drive big concepts or leave the viewer confused or dumbfounded, rather I just want to get their brains ticking and perhaps engage them in something they may not necessarily already have been engaged with. The whole message I want the viewer to take away from the works is one of inclusion, understanding and to make it clear that diversity is what makes us human. It’s what we thrive on, it’s where every single strain of every single culture derives from and without it we would be people living in a very deprived, dry and bland society. (Im)migration happens; accept it, embrace it, because it isn’t going anywhere.
The angle I take the photographs from means there is a level of trust and intimacy between myself, the camera and the person, and therefore that intimacy and trust is passed on to the viewer. … Every collaboration is approached with an open view to see what happens and where it takes us. I spent about an hour to an hour and a half with each person; most of that time is spent talking. I’m only supplementing the images with location, but there’s a lot unsaid in the images, that I invite the audience or the viewer to explore. ‘IT IS NOTHING NEW’ - PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION - JOHN BAUCHER
By Gemma McSherry John Baucher Photo by Michael Barbour Exhibition photos courtesy of John Baucher
‘IT IS NOTHING NEW’ - PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION - JOHN BAUCHER
Sri Lanka, France & NI (Moved here to study Unionism and transgender issues)
‘IT IS NOTHING NEW’ - PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBITION - JOHN BAUCHER
It Is Nothing New: Exhibition Crescent Arts Centre 20 September - 09 October To be involved in an expanded exhibition in February, Contact @JohnJBaucher
Interview with Actress, Playwright & September Cover Girl By James-Alexander Johnson / Photo: Tremaine Gregg
H
ow was your experience of being CultureHUB’s September cover girl? I’m absolutely thrilled. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
A most notorious, raspy laugh rises from Maggie Cronin’s throat. An actress, a director, a writer. A woman of punks, pirates, an Oscar-winning film and now working with Martin Lynch on the large scale community project at The MAC for this November. Tell me about 1932: The People of Gallagher Street? We’re rehearsing Martin Lynch and Gary Mitchell’s play about the people of Gallagher Street, when Catholic and Protestants were united and fought for their rights. There were riots and people got what they wanted. It can happen. How is it working with a large community cast? Daunting and exciting. It’ll happen on The MAC's Main Stage. The cast have a lot to do. They’re from all over Belfast and already they’re keen, committed; it’s going to be good. How are you finding working with Martin and Gary? I’ll let you know when I put my foot down. It’s great watching the community cast interrogating and engaging with the characters. It’s a shocking piece of work.
What do you get out of directing? I really enjoy it. Bigger headaches though. You get a real sense of the whole play. I really enjoy watching an actor become a character. I like the logistics and problem-solving. You’re very active with Waking the Feminists. Credit has to go to Lian Bell for kick-starting absolute fury over The Abbey’s programming of the 1916 centenary. As an actress you want more than just playing somebody’s girlfriend, somebody’s mother. It’s time to change that. What would be progress for women in the arts? Leading roles in every part of the arts. The number of female Artistic Directors in NI is great; we need to celebrate that but also make women central in these stories we stage. What would you tell a 21-year-old Maggie Cronin? Not be such a bloody big coward. Be brave. Be a cover girl? Yes. There’s going to be a lot of people telling you what you can do; ignore them.
runs at The MAC from 02–13 November 2016
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Ben GloveR
S
ituated in the civil parish of Tickmacrevan and settled in the long past kingdom of Dalriada, Glenarm is the hometown of singer songwriter Ben Glover. In Glenarm, the main street leads directly to the forest; the commanding castle gate keeps a watchful eye on the village. Glover spent his youth with a backdrop of music from Ireland, while at the same time classic songs from the likes of Hank Williams and Johnny Cash were helping to form his musical course. By his early teens, he was performing in the local pub where all those influences started to take shape. He travelled to the States a number of times over subsequent years, and eventually moved to live in Nashville in 2009. Consequently, the last couple of years have been embroiled in the process of gaining his U.S. Green card; a process of assessment that unlocked a self-analysis in Glover, of his own sense of place, of where he has landed on his life-journey and of where the road will lead. “Contemplations like 'what and where is home'?” brought the realities of immigration to this analysis, as he stands connected to two very distinct shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
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Singer songwriter to the core, Glover dealt with this through music. He returned to the traditional music he had grown up with, looking at it now with a very different world view. He also penned songs that laid bare his own personal version of immigration and its accompanying sense of dislocation. The resulting album The Emigrant is released 30 September on Proper Records.
when I started out gathering songs,” he admitted. “Just prior to and during the recording process, it became evident which songs fit best on this album. They had to sit well with the other songs, they had to develop and further the themes on the album and most importantly, I had to believe my performance when I heard myself singing them.”
“This album is more concerned with the emigrant’s journey and the experiences that accompany that, rather than the end point,” Glover told me in a Belfast-Nashville email exchange. “Is there really an end point for any of us though, aside from the ultimate one?” he asked. “I think it’s a dangerous illusion for anyone to believe that they have ever fully arrived at a place.”
Of his own songs, the lovely 'Heart In My Hand' was written as a collaborative effort with long time song writing partner Mary Gauthier (Americana troubadour from New Orleans). “When I close my eyes and go searching for a moment’s peace I usually find myself drifting back to Ireland,” he told me of the song. “That in itself probably reveals the depth of the spiritual connection I feel with it.”
With all this in mind, it was important that his choice of traditional songs portrayed the message of the album, and deciding which songs to include was a labour of love. From 'The Parting Glass' to 'The Green Glens Of Antrim,' Glover carved his own meaning into the words and arranged the music himself. “It was quite overwhelming
The haunting title track, 'The Emigrant' was another collaboration, this time with Gretchen Peters (Grammy nominated Nashville singer songwriter). “The restlessness, the discontent/That’s the curse of the emigrant,” he sings; sparse deep piano underlining the thread that runs ultimately through the course of the album.
With The Emigrant, Glover makes no claims of knowing how it feels to be a refugee, to be displaced, or set adrift so starkly; however, he is fully aware of the times in which he has released this album. “There’s so much fear in the world right now and the consequence is that it’s causing people and society to react in ways that are frighteningly destructive. It seems more than ever we need to be reminded of our responsibility to be compassionate, empathetic and tolerant. I believe that it’s vitally important that we choose connection over division, something that many recent world events seem to be at odds with.” Ben Glover will be touring his new album The Emigrant in October, including two album release shows back home in the old country. “The plan is to perform the new album in sequence, something that I’ve never done with a record before. Rod McVey will be playing keys with me and we’ll be in No Alibis Bookstore in Belfast on the 14th - an intimate venue that I love playing. Then on the 21st I’ll be playing in the Londonderry Arms Hotel in Carnlough which is just a couple of miles from my hometown of Glenarm. That will be a special night.”
Cara Gibney
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TONGUED
A Comedy/Horror written & directed by Cormac McDiarmadá
WHEN THREE LADS FROM A LOYALIST ESTATE ARE FORCIBLY SENT TO A REMOTE ISLAND OFF THE NORTH COAST OF IRELAND TO LEARN IRISH, THEY EXPECT TO BE OUTCASTS, BUT THEY NEVER PLANNED TO BE STRAIGHT UP TONGUED, AND NOT IN THE GOOD WAY.
M
echanic Colin, Boxer George and DJ Jack face a tough ultimatum after hospitalising their epileptic teacher - expulsion or join a new class. Their future career prospects will be brutally severed if they don’t agree. The problem is the only class with any space is the Irish class.
They are hunted and hounded by the ‘Cult of the Dead Tongue’. Falling into their clutches results in a torturous testing. Get a single word wrong and they rip out your heretic tongue! With whatever weapons they can salvage, the three lads lead the survivors in this lethal and linguistic battle. Bonfires are built, hurls shattered and tongues will roll.
Thrown on to a boat heading off to the Gaeltacht (an Irish only speaking area) they must integrate with some Irish language elitists, come face to face with the island's sinister history, and try to make the most of their holiday. Off the boat and on to solid ground, the class discovers something far nastier than their bus driver’s taste in tunes, the corpse of a tourist, his tongue nailed to a nearby post.
TONGUED isn’t about Protestant/Catholic, Irish/English, it’s not about the old jokes trotted out on BBC Northern Ireland since time began. It’s about showing that the Irish language belongs to everyone on this island, from a GAA club in Kerry to a Ranger supporters' club off the Woodstock Road in East Belfast. It’s about accessibility and inclusivity. There are those who attempt to learn the language who aren’t afraid for their own culture because of that. And then there’s the elitists who demonize any who are less fluent than themselves.
A fanatical Irish language cult have taken over the island. Everyone else has either been murdered or converted. They are intent on only one thing ripping out the tongues of anyone who cannot speak the perfect form of Irish! With no way off the island, the students must band together and use the only thing that can keep them safe grammatically perfect Irish.
Three lads are forced to a Gaeltacht on an island overrun by murderous monks. Their only hope - a dead tongue that won’t die.
Illustrations: Mark Reihill
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INTERVIEW
SHIRLEY-ANNE MCMILLAN AUTHOR OF ‘A GOOD HIDING’
R
espectable woman from Lisburn meets her alter-ego with panache and wit, and with teen/adolescent her vibe, Shirley-Anne McMillan gives half an hour to chat with CultureHUB. Her new book, her debut to most but her second to knowing fans, has claimed awards and smashing reviews since its launch. So many questions to ask, so much to touch upon the life of a writer, a youth worker and a mum, how the hell does she cope with it? “I tend to write in the evenings,” she reveals,
“... as a mother of two it’s not possible
to sit down to a routine.”
When did she start writing, I ask. “From when I can remember” quips the author of her newest novel, A Good Hiding. There is a twist of the tongue and message with the title. Betwixt and between the title are the unforgettable words ‘Some secrets keep you safe, others hold you hostage’.
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On writing and the base of characters, Shirley tells of the amalgamation of people she’s known or knows:
“I’m not a gay boy, I’ve never been a teenage single mum-to-be,
I just imagine characters
and their feelings.” McMillan’s twist on life is defined by her day job. She supports youths, some of whom are in trouble, gay, bi or transsexual, and from this she draws her far from picturesque yet stark moments of melancholy yet jolly spectrum of teen life. As to why she chose teen-fiction, Shirley answers: “When I was growing up there was little for me to read. I read young adult fiction, so I enjoy writing it.” And boy does she do it well. On when she became a proper writer in the true sense of the word, Shirley says: “I started taking it seriously when I was about twenty. I done a Masters on creative writing at 'uni' and haven’t stopped since.” Her first novel was self-published, the second she sent excerpts to a writing competition called Undiscovered Voices and won it. “After that I had a few agents interested in my work. I was lined up with a publisher and the last couple of years have been mad.” So what’s next for Shirley-Anne McMillan? A Good Hiding getting great reviews, her name on the literature map, will there be a sequel? “People keep on asking me that. They want to know what happens to Nolliag and Stephen after the story ends, but the next one is again set in Belfast and is at the publishers now. It’s about a teenage free-climber who scales Harland and Wolffs’ cranes and gets involved with an anarchic group.” More of which McMillan won’t reveal, but you can bank your dropping Euro it’ll be another cracker. A pleasure to talk to, laughter always just a breath away and oozing enthusiasm, there’s a writer bold enough to take serious matters with a light heart, first person intrigue and characters too close to home to be fictional. Really, we all still remember our teens with a fish-eye microscopic lens. And really, really, really this novel should see the stage.
Conor O’Neill 17
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Photagraphy Portarit: Brian Freil
BELUM.W2016.20.230Photograph © National Museums Northern Ireland Collection Ulster Museum
Those of you who lived through The Troubles here in Northern Ireland no doubt remember just how unstable a time it was, not to mention how difficult it made everyday life; even a simple trip into town was fraught with both danger and inconvenience. But what was it like to grow up in times of such division?
U
sing objects from the Ulster Museum's contemporary collection, a new project entitled 'Collecting The Troubles and Beyond’ attempts to answer that question and more. The project will run for three years and aims to widen the scope of the museum's collection by calling on the public to donate to and interact with it. For Community Relations & Cultural Awareness Week, the project is putting on a specific exhibit in Belfast Central Library, Alternative Ulster: In Touch With History. The exhibition explores, “changing youth cultures in Belfast in terms of music and fashion and examine[s] how alternative trends and fashions transcend traditional barriers and unite communities through common experience”. The onset of The Troubles in the late Sixties coincided with the hippy movements in America, which eventually made its way to the UK. At heart a youth led rebellion against the preceding post-war generation, it eventually branched off to the punk movement in the mid-Seventies, which brought a whole new look, attitude and style of music to disaffected teens. In Belfast, bars such as Lavery’s and the Warzone Centre became popular hangouts for local punks who thought nothing of fraternising with the so-called 'enemy’, with Catholics and Protestants happily sharing pints and 'ciggies' in direct contrast to what was going on throughout Northern Ireland. At around the same time, heavy metal was making huge strides through the disco and pop music of the time: again, both sides of the community stood cheek and jowl at gigs, even combining on one memorable occasion to attack the police who confiscated their precious booze prior to a gig at the Ulster Hall!
The on-going appeal of Eighties nights throughout the North seems to affirm how much music connected people despite the hunger strikes, the turmoil surrounding the Anglo-Irish Agreement and through the '14 dark days' of 1988. How the fashion of the times pervaded both sides of this community remains a mystery. The Nineties saw the emergence of the rave culture throughout the UK. Originating from clubs such as the Hacienda in Manchester, its thumping beats and bright fashion became an overnight sensation in Northern Ireland, with clubs such as Kelly's in Portrush becoming a mecca for fans. Once again, religious identity was irrelevant; it wasn't about who you were, it was simply about the music. Even now, post Good Friday Agreement, music and fashion transcend sectarian barriers; look no further than the emo teens that gather in the grounds of Belfast City Hall for proof. This integration was a hugely important - and safe - part of many young lives during The Troubles, and continues to be so today. For that reason and more, this project should be a fascinating one. Shared interests can bring the most unlikely people together, bound around a common love or passion. Music, in particular, often transcends boundaries of identity and doesn't so much break down barriers as ignore them. Like truth, music can get to the heart of things. “Music doesn't lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music. … Music is my religion” - Jimi Hendrix.
Top Image credit: BELUM.W2015.118.18.21 Photograph © National Museums Northern Ireland Collection Ulster Museum
Alternative Ulster: In Touch With History will be in Belfast Central Library 21 September from 2.30pm-4.30pm. Visit www.nicrc.org.uk for more information. 'Collecting The Troubles and Beyond’ is an ongoing project at the Ulster Museum.
Melanie Brehaut
Top-Middle Image credit: Richard Dormer playing Terri Hooley in film ‘Good Vibrations’ Bottom Middle Image credit: ‘Dancing on Narrow Ground’ documentary (Kelly’s Portrush 1995)
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O
n 05 September 1986 a brand new radio show from BBC Radio Ulster hit the airwaves. Then called The Bottom Line and presented by Mike Edgar, it became a pioneer show for local music, giving first airplay to some of the biggest musical names from our shores. Fast forward 30 years, it is stronger than ever. Now named Across The Line, the Ulster Hall became home for the evening for the programme's milestone celebration. Current presenters Rigsy and Stuart Bailie hosted the evening to a packed out audience of 1,000 lucky ticket holders. “Choosing the acts was a nightmare,” concedes Rigsy. Explaining the dynamics of those choices he continues: “But we tried our best and had acts who were going strong in the early days of Across the Line - The 4 of Us; a couple who’ve dominated our playlists for 20 plus years themselves such as Therapy? and Divine Comedy; the big breakthrough act of recent times - SOAK; Villagers - a southern act we love; and the all important new acts R51 and Saint Sister who weren’t even born when ATL first started! I was really rooting for R51 ... they rocked it and that was another part of them growing into a great band. It was wonderful to share all that with Mike Edgar, who really is a force of nature.”
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Stuart added: “A great feeling of love in the build up to the gig, even more of it inside the Ulster Hall; a series of musical generations all coming together. SOAK talking about Stevie Martin / Rainy Boy Sleep was quietly stunning. Bridie is so wise and so eloquent,” observed Stuart, noting SOAK's special cover tribute to the late Stevie Martin. “We first did the radio show when Mike Edgar was presenting. He was instrumental in raising our profile at the very start of our career. We owe him and the show a lot,” said Brendan Murphy of The 4 Of Us. One of the newer ATL regulars, Conor O’Brien of Villagers said: “I felt honoured and excited to be performing. I'd never been inside the Ulster Hall which is bizarre, so it was sweet to be able to play to a room full of people in a celebratory mood.” “The evening was magical for me - mainly because it became all about the bands,” said Rigsy. “Over the last few weeks we’d celebrated the show's history and had great fun inviting former presenters back on air, but on Monday it really was just seven acts being incredible.” Radio and Event Producer Jimmy Devlin and the ATL team’s mission for the birthday event was simple. “To go some way to recognising the incredible wealth of musical talent that has been featured on Across the Line,” declares Jimmy continuing, “... to try and do justice to a programme that is bigger than anyone who has worked on it but entirely there because of them, their passion and creativity. To remind the people who had forgotten that we’re here and this is what we do; broadcast brilliant music from this island – and the music we carry is genuinely great.” Jimmy has been involved with Across The Line for 16 years in various roles, initially sending in his own music demos as a teenager to now being Producer of the show. “I sent demos to Mike [Edgar] and Rory [McConnell]. I remember clearly them playing our demo and talking positively about it; it meant the world to me. Every now and again I spot that demo in the ATL CD drawers and I am proud that we made it in there.”
Therapy? bass player M i c h a e l McKeegan asserted, “ATL have been big supporters pretty much since the start of the band and, I'm sure for lots of other NI bands; that play and support from ATL is almost like a rite of passage. They've been in there at the ground level with so many scenes and genres, it's pretty obvious they are completely dedicated to music which means it’s a pleasure working with the presenters, producers and crew. If only every music radio or media outlet was as focused!” Conor O’Brien tells it like it is. “ATL has been so important to me as a writer and singer. We live on a tiny island, so it's always been important to me that I get to sing from the top to the bottom and ATL was always so supportive and welcoming to me in this regard. When you walk into a radio show, sometimes you can smell the shit. Not so with ATL. It's the real deal.” Morgan MacIntyre of Saint Sister said, “We were absolutely thrilled to be asked to take part in ATL's 30th Birthday bash. It was a real honour to perform in the Ulster Hall alongside such incredible acts. The venue is beautiful and covering The Divine Comedy's, 'Songs of Love', just before Neil Hannon took to the stage was a particularly special moment for us.” Summing up the Across The Line experience, Stuart affirms: “Sometimes great things are taken for granted. Happily, ATL got a proper birthday party and it was a joy to be part of it and to see the huge BBC squad turning it into a mighty production.” Rigsy adds: “Across the Line is bigger than any of its presenters, so it really just feels like we just happen to be facilitating at the moment which sort of takes the pressure off, in a way. But given I grew up as a listener, it’s a privilege to be involved.” Producer Jimmy proudly concludes: “I’m proud of how we pick the music to play on the show. We listen to everything we get sent and discuss it as a team, there is no favouritism. If we think it’s right for the show it goes in. I am hugely proud of our team, the attention to detail, the love of the music, the desire to make as good a show as possible.” Across The Line is broadcast live
Stacy FitzpatricK Photography: Carrie Davenport Photography: Gavin Connolly
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OF SH AKE F T HE
H
A RT I S T S SU MMER BLUES
The magnitude of talent from our shores is clearly evident this season as our homegrown performers come out in force to shake off the post-Summer blues.
V
Wookalily, the all female quintet invade the Down Arts Centre, Downpatrick on Friday 07 October. Fronted by the sultry, rich voice of Lyndsay Crothers they combine harmonies with a multitude of instruments including flute, mandolin, percussion and bass. Wookalily are a refreshing sound, effortlessly balancing relaxing melodies with bursts of energy; worth checking out!
Psychedelic pop outfit The Vals will be at The Barge in Belfast on 24 September. Quirky, upbeat and delightfully unconventional, they will play with The Couth and Matt Helders O’Reilly. Also on the 24th, if you’re in Armagh, catch pianist Ruth McGinley as part of her NI tour at the Market Place Theatre in Armagh.
Dance fans and Twitch regulars will be able to help celebrate ‘10 years of Twitch’ with a mighty event 08 October. 10 artists featuring names including Antal, Pangaea, Steffi and Timmy Stewart will bring down the house over the 10 hours of party at Mandela Hall in Queen's University. Ciaran Lavery heads to the Flowerfield Arts Centre in Portstewart on Thursday 13 October. North Coast dwellers can catch him again however, as he plays in Ballymena’s Braid Arts Centre on the 15th.
September 30 brings a very bitter sweet gig, as The Clameens play their farewell show. The Derry indie foursome, with stacks of talent, originality and energy are putting away their guitars, but before that they will rock Sandinos Bar for one last time to thank fans and friends for their support over the years. This will surely be intense and very emotional. Lisburn's rising star Michael Mormecha will be at the Island Arts Centre in Lisburn on 30 September. Mormecha, front man of Mojo Fury, is notching up acclaimed praise following his debut solo album LOFi-LiFE - attitude laced with trashy, rock, pop and sharp-as-a-blade riffs.
A truly special night is in store at The Playhouse in Derry on 15 October as Luka Bloom and Anne Rynne will be showcasing their new albums. Bloom, brother of legendary Christy Moore surely comes out into his own with his original compositions. Donegal’s In Their Thousands will be at Sandinos Bar Derry on 20 October. The quartet consists of two brothers, a cousin and an old friend from each of the three peninsulas, all singers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists. Nostalgic, relatable lyrics and vocal sound reflecting the band’s North coast roots with a modern edge will draw you in and strike a chord; surely not to be missed.
an Morrison plays a trio of gigs at the Culloden Estate and Spa in Holywood in September as part of his tour, ‘Lit Up Inside’ a night of music and words from Van the Man. Friday 23 September brings the return of Duke Special to the Nerve Centre in Derry along with traditional music impresarios Ulaid. Ulaid consists of renowned fiddle player Donal O’Connor, master of the pipes John McSherry and multi instrumentalist Sean Og Graham, also of Irish folk quartet Beoga.
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All Tvvins, the Dublin duo with their smooth bass, and airy riffs perform at Limelight 2 on 30 October. New album IIVV is out now. These boys as well as being easy on they eye, deliver immersive, vibrating rhythms! Catch the mighty voiced Bronagh Gallagher for a rare appearance at the Market Place Theatre, Armagh on 03 November. On the same night if you are Belfast bound, multi-instrumentalist, singer songwriter and trad-folk musician Andy Irvine will be at the Black Box. Bell X1 ... aaah Bell X1. With their straight-from-a-movie-soundtrack tunes that will penetrate your heart and give you that shivery feeling with their emotive ballads, whilst reviving you with their assertive tracks are a definite must see. They will be at the Mandela Hall on 04 November. ‘Blue lights on the runway, love the colour of it all … you’re the chocolate at the end of my cornetto.’ Simple but delivered in a perfectly teasing way. If you miss them in Belfast, you can catch them in Derry the following evening on the 5th at The Guildhall. If you are in the North West 04 November, Derry’s favourite sons The Undertones will be at the Millennium Forum. Always bringing a spectacular show, when they are in their home city, it will be even more so. Just up the road in Limavady Newry rockers The 4 Of Us will be at the Roe Valley Arts Centre. Elsewhere, Malojian launch their new album at The MAC in Belfast, and Wookalily head to Strabane's Alley Cat Theatre. Robyn G. Shiels, winner of the 2014 Northern Ireland Music Prize for his album The Blood Of The Innocents will be at The Belfast Empire along with Waldorf & Cannon, Junk Drawer and Hatchet Field on Wednesday 09 November. Waldorf & Cannon, the duo from Derry, make brilliant music delivered in their own authentic way with big personalities to match. November the 11th brings the most celebrated night of the year for homegrown music to Mandela Hall with the annual Northern Ireland Music Prize Awards. This year will see Belfast’s Ash receiving the Oh Yeah Legend Award, acknowledging exceptional contribution to the Northern Ireland music scene. Other awards, including Album Of The Year, will be revealed on the night. Ballymena folk are being very treated this season as Amanda St John will be at the Braid Arts Centre on 19 November. Big voiced Amanda never fails to leave listeners in awe, and she will be joined by Ted Ponsonby and Errol Walsh making this an unmissable gig. And finally, the beautiful soothing tones of Cara Dillon will be in the late Autumn air at Belfast’s Lyric Theatre on 20 November - a delight for the pre-Christmas build up.
Stacy Fitzpatrick
In visual art, Maybe She’s Born with It is an exhibition at the Naughton Gallery in Queen's University running from 13 October until the end of the festival. 24
The festival really does offer something for everyone and is an incredible opportunity to see some work that would otherwise bypass Belfast, so it is worth taking advantage of whilst it’s here. With ticket prices rarely exceeding £10, it’s an affordable and welcoming environment in which the arts are appreciated, respected and shared through and by like-minded people in a city so well renowned for artistic individuality. For the full programme and tickets visit www.belfastinternationalartsfestival.com or pick up one of their packed programmes from the tourism office or from venues dotted around the city. Gemma McSherry
www.belfastinternationalartsfestival.com
11 - 29 October 2016
Maybe She’s Born with It
If talks and lectures are your thing, the festival offers an incredibly diverse range of content to whet the appetite of any eager attendees. ‘Negroland’ a talk by Margo Jefferson on 29 October in the Linen Hall Library brings Margo’s critically acclaimed memoir of the same name to life through the discussion of privilege, civil rights and feminism.
The Suppliant Women
The Suppliant Women on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 October at the GOH is a play about fifty women leaving everything behind to board a boat in North Africa to flee across the Mediterranean. A production by the Actors Touring Company and the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, it is sure to be a stand out offering of theatre at the festival and one that will open up conversation and provoke thought around an all too relevant topic.
Maybe She’s Born with It explores what it means to be a woman and a Muslim in 21st Century Britain. It was a winner of the Saatchi Gallery’s ‘4 New Sensations’ award and promises to be a compelling and engaging exhibit.
‘Negroland’ Margo Jefferson
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ith a schedule including Community Relations & Cultural Awareness Week, Culture Night, Monthly Late Night Art and the Belfast International Arts Festival, it makes the absence of lazy evenings at a BBQ or summer walks on the beach much easier to deal with. The highlight of festival season has to be the Belfast International Arts Festival (BIAF) offering 100+ events from the 11 to 29 October. BIAF is an opportunity to witness a diverse range of dance, visual art, theatre, performance as well as vibrant debates and talks. This year’s festival has a special focus on the migration crisis.
Just as the summer comes to an end and the nights begin to shorten, Belfast comes alive as another festival season takes over. Whilst summer is awash with quirky outdoor musical festivals around the province, autumn brings the best of national and international art to town.
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The King of Collaboration
I
’m giving international recording artist Duke Special a lift up a tree in Ballyhackamore, as you do. We don’t quite get that photograph for the article and are barked at by a resident for trying to blag photos of Duke splayed dreamily in some woman’s garden. Finally, we mimic chopping off those famous locks with lethally sharp scissors in a local salon. Wearing gristles of grey facial hair these days, Peter Wilson is still a risk-taker, a song-writer, and with his Residency at The Lyric, he is also a theatre-maker. This quiet, charming enigma is in his eleventh year in the spotlight, inspired and busier than ever. So let’s have a caffeine-heavy conversation with someone Special.
Duke Special, what is your first memory of music? My house. My sisters all played and sang. Music was always around.
What was the first record you ever bought? I’m Still Standing by Elton John.
Favourite word to sing? Medicine.
Favourite sound? I love the sound of coffee percolating. The anticipation; it’s very indulgent.
What’s your favourite venue to play in NI? I do think The Empire. The long history of it. From playing to not very many people and building up an audience; that’s been lovely. The layout and that Music Hall feel.
Tell us about your Lyric Residency.
What drew you back to the theatre? You’re drawn to a reason, whether it’s something that chimes with you or a story you feel needs to be told, exploring why that connects with you.
With Huckleberry Finn, you started from a batch of Kurt Weill songs, is that right? A friend introduced me to one of Kurt Weill’s songs, 'Applejack', which I read about and I saw about this unfinished musical. He died in 1950, and I wondered what other songs there are. There was five in total and I recorded those songs and I didn’t realise they were the first ever recordings of those songs ever. So we sent that to the Kurt Weill foundation in New York and they loved it and I met up with them and expressed my desire to do something with it. They were reserved with the idea of me completing it. It seemed a bit arrogant. So we started from scratch. Being inspired by Kurt Weill’s unfinished Huckleberry Finn. We’ve a First Act and eight songs as we speak.
How is that process working? Do you have a direct influence on the production itself? I’m working with a writer, Andrew Doyle, who’s the bookwriter and lyricist. We worked together on Gulliver’s Travels last year. Huckleberry Finn is a bit of a minefield. Mark Twain, while being an abolitionist was also a big fan of Minstrel shows. But there is the thrill of making something from another place and time relevant today.
What influences you today? Less and less pop music. I’m going to work on the poems of Michael Longley - being inspired by them or reacting to them. Also collaborating with a trad Irish band, The Olives. I love being out of my depth and having to throw myself into something (photographs, visual art, literature) and respond to that some way and building on my history of music to interpret that.
It came at a really good time for me. I’d been touring relentlessly for fifteen years. I wanted to change how I was doing things, and when you have children, and they are here and you are in London, you know.
How do you see yourself from the artist you were starting out?
People say, ‘The way you perform, there are elements of theatre in that.’ With the collaboration of art forms, you can write about anything! I wanted to get off the road and base myself in Belfast.
Has your process changed?
How are you spending that time? I have been commissioned by The Lyric for one piece of musical theatre, Huckleberry Finn, and the rest of the time is my own to be an artist.
I feel like a different person. You learn from your past, but you wouldn’t be who you are if you hadn’t walked through it.
I think where I want to go has changed. It was, 'get songs on the radio and sell records'. I want to be an artist and I want to do that until the day I die. I trust my own instincts more. Sometimes I didn’t. Projects are snapshots of time and then you move on.
James-Alexander Johnson
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Photography: Tremaine Gregg 27
BOOK REVIEW REVIEW
A Good Hiding Author: Shirley-Ann McMillan Publisher: Atom books
Luna: New Moon Author: Ian McDonald Publisher: Gollancz
Lisburn born Shirley-Ann McMillan has delivered a cracker of a novel. Teenage pregnancy, domestic violence, homophobia and a tell-a-tale pink bra all feature in this story of friendship, blackmail, runaways and prayers to the Lord from a morally strangled-by-nature vicar, making A Good Hiding a damn good reading.
Harsh, hostile environments are a staple of much sci-fi, but McDonald's moon isn't far, far away in location, familiarity or time. The moon is our first, logical step into space colonisation. Economic and cultural themes are to the fore which is a big plus for me. McDonald's imagination flows into creating a new world on the satellite we look up to most nights.
Plot - simple. A teenage girl, namely Nollaig, is trouble and her gay best friend Stephen share chapter to chapter of first person active voice introspection. Reverend Brian gets caught in the crossfire against his will, but will he survive? This novel is deliciously stark yet written with Northern Irish humour with the Pound Shop, the Spar, Goths in front of City Hall; this book has it all. The pace is frantic; suspense hangs on every opening sentence of every chapter, the end of which has you licking your finger as your hand turns the page with anticipation.
There are nods to classic sci-fi as the physical and gravitational implications of 'Moon-life' are explored. McDonald visualises his new moon of the near future incredibly well. The detail is tremendous; some of his description is breathtaking.
A Good Hiding is under the genre of teen/adolescence. Normally, as adults, we walk past that section in bookstores. Never again. Paraphrasing Aristotle, ‘Everything must be categorised’. Such a shame. McMillan’s dialogue, characters, subject matter and tickling little moments of child-like -tee nage wonder such as games of scoring celebs’ looks out of 10 and seeing who can put the most marshmallows in their gob, bring enthralling characters to life. Conor O’Neill
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The real heartbeat of this novel, though, lies in the multiple character arcs of the various protagonists. The main characters, with the exception of some villains, are not black and white. They are nicely shaded with flaws and surprising depths of hidden qualities and deadly rivalry. Business intrigue plus the mystery element within the plot mean that characters are closed off or distant from the reader at times. This can be a problem for me, but is mitigated by the strength of some of the characterisation. I grew strongly attached to quite a few. Lastly, McDonald has a gift of deftly juxtaposing extremes such as astonishing luxury beside cruel poverty, sublime beauty next to the ugly reality at the edge of survival. On Luna: New Moon you can soar, but in a heartbeat you could be snuffed out. Chris Disley at Blackwell's
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VISITING
ARTISTS
F
The Summer festivals are over but the music certainly is not. This period has a gigantic horde of musical visitors to Northern Ireland.
or the younger music lovers, USA pop rock favourites Against The Current play an over 14’s show at the Mandela Hall, Belfast on 26 September. Jamie T brings his catchy, stuck in your head tunes to Limelight 1 on 28 September. His instantly recognisable tunes including ‘Zombie’ and ‘Rabbit Hole’, promise indie-rock with just a little hint of punk from his strong English accent.
US Rapper Obie Trice also takes on Limelight 2 on 30 September for an early show (doors 7pm). After leaving Shady Records, Trice now is coming into his own with his own label, Black Market Entertainment - a must see gig for rap fans. The generation of the 80’s will be in for a trip back through the decade as Level 42 perform at the Waterfront Hall 01 October. Most famed for ‘Lessons In Love’ this will be a night of nostalgia from those school disco days! Saturday the 1st brings esteemed DJ and Producer Alan Fitzpatrick to Shine at QUBSU. Fitzpatrick is noted as one of the most influential electronic artists around, making a stamp globally. Joining him will be BBC Radio One’s B. Traits and Schmutz, but that’s not all for this mammoth Shine night. In Room 2 comes Ultramajic head Jimmy Edgar and Belfast’s own Space Dimension Controller amping up the stellar beats, and not forgetting the exciting collaboration from DSNT and upcoming new kid on the block HAPPA. Jamie ‘Wasn’t Expecting That’ Lawson, makes an appearance at the Waterfront Hall on 05 October. Famed for that sweet, playful track, he will be serenading us with much more from his repertoire. Folk and Blues and Roots lovers will not want to miss out on slide guitar master Martin Harley performing two NI dates as part of his Irish tour,
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the first being at Island Arts Centre in Lisburn 07 October, followed by a visit to Bennigans Bar in Derry on the 8th. A cultural performance from South African Jeremy Loops will bring a taste of ethnic, breezy music to Limelight 2 on 09 October. Upbeat, tropical influenced melodies blended with rap and a subtle folk vibe can be expected, bringing metaphorical sunshine to Belfast. Canadian Rockers Nickleback hit the SSE Arena on 10 October. What better way to shake off Monday with some rocking out to these 90’s favourites. For a soothing evening of entertainment, check out Ralph McTell at the Ulster Hall on the 15th. McTell, an acoustic singer songwriter for almost 6 decades, has a wealth of experience and stories to tell. Those epic Welsh rockers Feeder whose anthem ‘Buck Rogers’ never fails to get you rocking take on Belfast at Limelight 1 on Monday 17 October. We challenge you not to know the words to their infectious, enthusiastic tracks. Also native Welsh via the USA comes quirky songstress Cate Le Bon to The Black Box on Wednesday 19 October. Truly unique, anything goes with her endearingly eccentric lyrics and sound, “I wanna be a motion picture film. Oh yeah. I wanna be a ten pin ball…”. A performance unlike any other! Changing the tone the following night on the 20th, also at The Black Box, are Le Butcherettes, bringing garage-rock all the way from Mexico. Now if you like your music with attitude and on the edge of controversy with realistic humour, Sleaford Mods are the ones for you. Drum ‘n’ Bass and punk with gritty, realism of working class life and political rants, but if you are offended by swearing this is not the gig for you! They are at Mandela Hall on 21 October.
Simone Felice, all the way from New York, visits 101 Donegall Street on the 22nd. Earthy voiced, Simone is master of arts between being an accomplished musician and celebrated author. His seductive vocals will captivate as he draws on his life experiences, in which in his 40 years he has been through more than most. Furnace Mountain are another welcome treat to Belfast this October on the 22nd. The Ethno-Appalachian Roots quartet will be something unlike you have ever heard before at the Duncairn Centre for Culture & Arts. The ultimate legends of rock Status Quo will be at the SSE Arena on 28 October. Now in their fifth decade of music, they are showing that they still are ‘Rocking All Over The World.’ Tom Odell fans can catch him at Limelight 1 on 02 November, whilst also on the 2nd, legendary folk singer Loudon Wainwright III is warmly welcomed to the Mandela Hall for the first time. The Grammy winner has released his 26th album, Haven’t Got The Blues (Yet) in which he tackles a range of subjects, such as gun control, heartbreak and depression. Harmonies. Soul touching lyrics. Eye catching stage presence. In their own words, this is what Underhill Rose promise to deliver. At the Island Arts Centre in Lisburn on 04 November, you can see for yourself what this trio of beautiful vintage country roses all the way from the US exude with their bluegrass, Americana and folk offerings. Hayseed Dixie, most recently seen on our shores at Stendhal Festival, will be in Belfast on 06 November at The Belfast Empire bringing their lively unique hash of Bluegrass. Montreal based composer and violinist Sarah Neufeld, known from Arcade Fire, will be showcasing her new album The Ridge at The MAC on 07 November and country crooner Kenny Rogers is visiting the SSE on November 8th. A lot going on on Wednesday the 9th in Belfast, with 90’s favourites Deacon Blue appearing at The Waterfront Hall with Lewis & Leigh. Thomas Rhett, son of Country singer songwriter Rhett Akins will be delivering his country compositions to Mandela Hall. British Alt-Rockers Bastille head to the SSE Arena the very same evening. Spoilt for choice! On 13 November you have the opportunity to see The Cadillac Three at the The Belfast Empire. The band from Nashville are known for high energy shows and are becoming increasingly respected on the Rock scene since being named Best New Band in 2014’s Classic Rock n Roll of Honour. Rod Stewart at the SSE on 14 and 15 November will put you in your parents' good books in time for Christmas if you are thinking of an early gift! And finally for this period, The Belfast Empire welcomes back The Low Anthem all the way from Rhode Island on the 21st. The alt-folk group have just released new album Eyelands to the delight of their loyal fans.
Stacy Fitzpatrick
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M AV E R IC K DAV ID BALFO U R INTE RVIE W Ahead of their barnstorming album launch in the Limelight, we sat down with Maverick frontman David Balfour to talk about Big Red.
T
he band has only been around for a short time, around four years. Are you surprised at how fast it's gone?
To be honest, yeah! In the early days we never even envisaged coming this far; we were like “let's play some covers and have some fun”. But people just enjoyed us, I guess: obviously back in the day we had a lot to learn, but people knew that, they could just tell that it was just a bunch of idiots having fun! But then I guess we just fell in love with writing our own music; I love writing songs. So yeah, I guess we are surprised.
It must be pretty magical to see something go from a scribble on a piece of paper to an actual song! Very much so! It's like, I love the movie Sin City, and on this album there's a song called 'Mademoiselle' which is about two characters in [the movie]. And up until this point we never realised that we had the freedom to do something like that; we can say “I want to do that” and just do it! On our EP (Talk's Cheap), every song was about women and sex which is grand, rock and roll needs that, but now we're thinking 'we can write songs about anything, so let's just write about random things!'
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You've a couple of special guests on the album (Kane Roberts and Jakob Samuelsson). How did that come about?
Your voice definitely sounds less strained and much fuller on this album. Is that just from those tips from Jakob?
With Jakob, obviously touring with him (Maverick toured Europe with Samuelsson's band, The Poodles) was great for us, and we just built up a friendship with the guy. … he also gave me some vocal tips which I still use today that actually made me quite a lot better than I was before.
I think it's a combination of three things: Jakob's tips were great … and then my girlfriend Shonagh (Lyons, from symphonic metal band Selene) is an opera singer, and it's been great to hear her input. And I think also the fuller voice comes from wear and tear! … I've realised its strengths and realised its weaknesses. And less screaming! I'll scream the odd time but not too much (laughs).
And with Kane Roberts, my brother (Ryan) had been friends on the internet for awhile; … so when we asked him, we thought he would say “I'll check it out first and see” but actually he was like “I've been hoping you'd ask me for awhile!”. So he was happy to be asked and I think he really wanted to do it. So they were just two genuinely nice guys; we got very lucky with who we've met.
And there's actually a ballad on this album. It's a beautiful song, but also seems to be a very personal one. Can I ask...? Ten years ago this January past I had a friend who died called Mehaul; he was my brother's guitar teacher – well, he was the same age as me but he taught my brother guitar. He was such a great guy and he never got to experience life. So we just thought, with it being the tenth anniversary of his death, it was a nice thing to do a ballad about.
It's a hard thing these days, to make a living off music. It really is. I mean, if every night was like the launch night we could make a job of it. But the realistic thing is, you can’t launch an album every week (laughs). And the cost of doing albums ... I mean, we could release a home recorded album, but to be honest, the songs would still be good but they wouldn't be represented properly. Some people criticise us for going to Neal's (Calderwood, Manor Park Studio) but I think if anything's worth doing, it's worth doing it right. I mean, if you don't take the music seriously enough to put a wee bit of money into it, no one else is going to take it seriously.
Melanie Brehaut Photography: Liam Kielt
Born and Reared An escape from the past into the light
T
his year’s Community Relations & Cultural Awareness Week will focus heavily around how all members of our society can shape and build our future into a positive and accepting space in which our diversity is celebrated. The week will focus on stigmas, sectarianism and racism and how we, as a community, can tackle these issues to achieve a better future. To link in with the inspiring messages and drive of the Week, the Centre for Democracy and Peace Building will host a series of community screenings of the gripping and moving documentary, Born and Reared across Northern Ireland. Filmmakers Hen Norton and Dan Dennison have skillfully captured the lives of four men living in the aftermath of violent conflict, captured through the lenses of a contemporary Northern Ireland. With the turbulent past of conflict still echoing, the documentary explores a population struggling to come to terms with the sacrifices and brutal violence of its past. The four men try to take a path into a more positive future, fueled by their hope and trying not to let the past horrors drag them down.
“This is a sensitive observation of what it was like growing up in the Troubles, or being a part of them. It captures the regrets and the fears of thoughtful people to this day. The concerns for the future are powerful. It deserves a wide audience”. – Alastair Stewart OBE, ITV News Public screening: Monday 19 September at 6.30pm Queen’s Film Theatre, Belfast Tickets £4 34
To book tickets: www.queensfilmtheatre.ticketsolve.com
The documentary was filmed over a year, with the four men living and trying to move on in their communities. It gives a rare insight into the struggles and the hope once the cameras had left. Born and Reared is a truly inspiring must see, and a credit to everyone involved. We really get to know these men, the personal stories about their loved ones, their inner struggles and their positivity. This documentary has core, soul and heart and I personally hope that events of Community Relations & Cultural Awareness Week will help share this film with a wide range of people. Everyone can take something from this outstanding piece of cinema.
Meave O’Reilly
ALBUM REVIEW
Michael Mormecha LOFi LiFE
Ben Glover The Emigrant
Maverick Big Red
Michael Mormecha has been a mainstay of the local alternative scene for many years now, through such projects as Mojo Fury and Malojian. LOFi LiFE will ensure this continues, thanks to a dizzying genre-hopping array of treats, with a staggering amount of ground covered in little over half an hour.
The Emigrant is fraught with feelings of being in limbo, doubt and the unknowing that surges with shifting life to a new country - something Irish people have long been accustomed to, but still aren’t wholly comfortable with.
Maverick have consolidated both their sound and their reputation on their second album Big Red. This new release is packed to the brim with Eighties retro rock in all its unabashed glory. From lead single 'Asylum' which features former Alice Cooper guitarist Kane Roberts as well as Poodles vocalist Jakob Samuelsson, to toe-tapping marvels like 'Mademoiselle' and 'Free', to – at long last! - a pure and heartfelt ballad, they can do no wrong as they glide, seemingly effortlessly, through the album.
‘Restless’ is an unrepresentative opener with its acoustic stylings, but even here the electronics are bubbling away. ‘Happily Lost’ is where the bubbles thrillingly boil over. Low-register buzzsaw riffs get married to drums like doors being kicked in. ‘I Know What You’re Looking For’ recalls former cult favourites Late of the Pier in its electro-rock meets brass band splendour. ‘Mixtapes’ is the perfect chill-out song, and that leads into ‘The Opera House’, which is spooky and claustrophobic in the verses but with hooks aplenty and a chorus for pumping fists to. There is even room for a Beatles-inspired victory lap at the close of LOFi LiFE. ‘Kaleidoscope’ is perhaps the crowning glory with its lilting piano balladry ascending to a Hey Jude-style barnstormer of a finish. Albums like this are as good an advert as any for Michael’s Millbank Studios terrific stuff. Gerard Walton
Ben Glover, dealing with these sentiments, summons poignant traditional songs and original compositions to direct us through the album. 'Heart In My Hand' and the hauntingly uplifting title-track redress anything Glover has gleaned from Irish music. Adding to the tradition and giving this project a consistent theme, he digs through ideas of home for the body and for the mind. 'The Parting Glass' and 'Moonshiner' are as welcome on this album as they would be on Bruce Springsteen’s The Seeger Sessions.
Album highlight 'The One' flirts with a rockabilly sound, which they meld seamlessly with their Eighties vibe. It sounds like it shouldn't work, but it really does! Special mention must go to singer David Balfour, whose voice is magnificent throughout. David has revealed three factors that have added power, nuance and depth to his vocals - Jakob Samuelsson’s vocal tips, listening to his opera singing girlfriend Shonagh Lyons and using the wear and tear in his voice to add resonance.
Purposeful yet minimal production permits Ben’s voice to effect the listener, granting time to consider the lyrics and the emotions. Ben renders his songs through arising heartbreak and hope associated with separation from a land and a life. “May they wander/ May they ramble/ May they never be lost,” he implores on 'Dreamers, Pilgrims, Strangers' as a prayer for the many others facing the same emigration predicament.
On every track the terrific production and sheer talent of the lads shine through; With every release they get better and better; at this rate the sky really is the limit for our beloved Maverick boys.
Stephen McGurk
Melanie Brehaut 35
SARAH MAPLE YOU AND ME
EXHIBITION
Internationally acclaimed, London based artist Sarah Maple will have her You and Me art exhibition displayed in Ormeau Library from 19 September to 31 October as part of a collaboration with Golden Thread Gallery. This is in conjunction with three other art projects in libraries across Northern Ireland, all part of Community Relations & Cultural Awareness Week.
I
nspired by her British/Muslim identity, Maple's work is a unique, insightful and at times shocking exploration of identity, feminism and religion. Sarah's mother is an Iranian Muslim, her father is white and British, and Sarah attended a Catholic secondary school. Although often seen as controversial, Maple's work is often infused with humour while focused on issues of justice and alerting people to some of their subconscious perceptions.
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You and Me showcases Maple dressed up as Disney princesses whilst working in environments that would be considered stereotypically 'male' jobs. Maple's work is clever with her portraying herself as oblivious to anything being out of the ordinary, simply doing her job, rising above gender stereotypes. Alice Jones from The Independent describes how, “There’s Sleeping Beauty performing open-heart surgery in a pink tiara. There’s the Little Mermaid, running a boardroom meeting in tangerine wig and
glistening fishtail. And there’s Belle, in a gold, ruffled ball-gown, screaming at the ref from the dugout – self-portrait as fairytale football manager.”
Selected works from Maple's Disney Princesses was exhibited once before with the Golden Thread Gallery in Shankill Library in 2014.
The jarring, confrontational effect of Maple's work provokes us to consider our own ingrained societal ideals of femininity and masculinity and the self-manufactured, self-perpetuated divide between gender stereotypes and the expectations they carry in the workplace and beyond. Maple has stated how “It’s funny because people call them Disney princesses doing male jobs – they just assume those are male jobs. I never said that. To me, they’re empowering jobs”.
Complementing the exhibition, a series of workshops were also carried out by Sara Morrison in which boys and girls could explore positive female role models. Following on from previous success, Maple's societal examination of gender stereotypes through art is in line with the Community Relations Council's work in promoting a shared society. The exhibition is a unique opportunity to connect with community relations on gender lines.
Alongside the exhibition will be two workshops on 19 and 26 September with artist Sara Morrison at Shankill Library. The idea behind her workshops is to expand upon and further explore Maple's work with younger people in an attempt to put her insights into practice. Young people from the Shankill Road and surrounding areas have attended art workshops at Shankill Library responding to posters of Sarah Maple’s work. Following these sessions, the young people’s work will be shown with some of Sarah Maple’s photographs in a unique exhibition at Shankill Library.
By Kaity Hall With thanks to Mark Knowles, Shankill Library Manager
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Rio Olympics 2016 introduced a ground-breaking new team this year. The Refugee Olympic Team garnered the hearts and minds of the world through their courage, their grit, their stories. They marched directly behind the Olympic Flag at the opening ceremony to deafening roars of support. There was a global outpouring of solidarity for those 10 human beings who have endured pain, terror, loss unimaginable to the vast majority of us.
O
thers do not see themselves as refugees; they would say they are displaced from their home, from their country. Either way though, the number of people who are leaving home to seek sanctuary elsewhere is growing. According to the UNHCR, by the end of 2015, “65.3 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations. This is 5.8 million more than the previous year (59.5 million).”
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To be nominated for the Olympic team, each individual needed their official refugee status to be verified by the United Nations. The granting of refugee status to anyone requires a very robust process of checks and authentication, as applied by the country in which a person seeks sanctuary. Until refugee status is granted, a person is considered an asylum seeker – described by the UNHCR as, ‘someone whose request for sanctuary has yet to be processed.’ Not everyone is granted asylum. This leads to thousands of people across the UK, for example, being detained
in immigration removal centres every year, the reasons for which can vary greatly. Their removal may be imminent, or their status may not be clear. In other cases individuals are found to have false or no papers, or have overstayed their visa. In Northern Ireland, Larne House Short-term Holding Centre holds detainees for up to a week before they are removed, transferred, or released. Before Larne House opened in 2011, immigration detainees in Northern Ireland were held in prisons or police custody cells – a procedure which was eventually deemed inappropriate.
“Incidentally Larne House is situated within Larne Police station and makes use of the former police cells,” Heiko Topp of Larne House Visitor Group explained. A large number of detainees suffer extreme isolation as they know no-one in the UK and know little of the law or their rights and entitlements. Because of their experiences at home, many are already traumatised and now find themselves detained, “with no release date and with the prospect of being forcibly returned.” Larne House Visitor Group is an independent volunteer group that visits immigration detainees in the holding centre. “Immigration detention means being locked up in a strange place indefinitely without family, friends or a connection to the outside world,” Heiko explained. “Understandably this de-humanising situation makes people feel frightened, isolated and depressed. They have no idea what is going to happen to them.” The group offers, “non-judgemental support, understanding and a vital life-line to the outside world when people feel the most isolated, distressed and hopeless. We cannot contact government agencies, such as the Immigration Service on behalf of the detainees. Only their legal representatives can do so. We can however contact other NGOs or groups we think might be able to help, and speak to them on their behalf after securing prior agreement from the detainee.” “And because we are absolutely independent, the detainee often trusts us with information they may not have revealed to anyone else.” This then enables volunteers to pick up issues, like signs that the detainee may have been trafficked, or has mental health concerns. “Our volunteer visitors are frequently the only friendly faces people see who are not connected to the immigration service. They are therefore a vital source of reassurance, comfort and help.” Before any visits take place, volunteer training is given which provides, “information on procedures, legal issues, and raises awareness of the more challenging elements our volunteers could face (i.e. victims of torture, people trafficking and mental health issues).”
CARA GIBNEY
Larne House Visitor Group needs more volunteers. Special skills, such as a legal or mental health background, are very welcome; however, they are not essential. “If you feel compassion and/or believe that detaining people who come to seek refuge is questionable and would like to help, then we would like to hear from you.” For more information visit www.larnehousevisitorgroup.org.uk or email info@larnehousevisitorgroup.org.uk
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M FOR
SCREA
NI
ME
I ROCK OUR GUIDE TO BELFAST’S
GIGS
&METAL
SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER
SEPTEMBER 17 Saturday
09 Sunday •You Me At Six w/Vant – Limelight 1
• Distortion Project Fundraiser Part 2 feat. Bad Boat, Shrouded, Fuckhammer, Neamhni and Skypilot Limelight 2
10 Monday
• Safire w/Stage B, Rusty Taste of Sweetness and S.L.U.T.S Ivy Bar, Newtownards
• Pentagram w/The Atomic Bitchwax – Limelight 2
18 Sunday • Raging Speedhorn w/By Any Means and Dead Label Voodoo, Belfast
• Nickelback w/Monster Truck - SSE Arena
11 Tuesday 12 Wednesday • Deathgrips w/guests - Limelight 1 • Buckcherry w/guests - Limelight 2
22 Thursday
15 Saturday
• Pocket Billiards w/guests - Mandela Hall
• Maverick w/Selene - Diamond Rock Bar, Ahoghill
23 Friday • Diamond Head w/Terminus - Voodoo, Belfast
24 Saturday • Acid Age w/Deathbus, Korvid and Neamhni Pavilion Bar
26 Monday • Against the Current w/As It Is and Beach Weather Mandela Hall
OCTOBER 01 Saturday
•Slomatics w/Hornets - Voodoo, Belfast
17 Monday • Feeder w/guests – Limelight 1
21 Friday • Alien Ant Farm w/(Hed) P.E and Sumo Cyco The Belfast Empire • Sleaford Mods w/guests - Mandela Hall
22 Saturday • Attica Rage w/Donum Dei and Conjuring Fate Limelight 2
• Sinocence 15th Anniversary w/Two Tales of Woe, Gasoline Outlaws and S.L.U.T.S – Limelight 2
23 Sunday
• Level 42 w/guests – Waterfront Hall
27 Thursday
02 Sunday •The Mission 30th Anniversary w/guests – Limelight 2
• Lord Volture w/Rabid Bitch of the North, Erosion and Thunderwolf – O'Reilly's, Banbridge
06 Thursday
28 Friday
•Safire 'Under My Skin' EP Launch w/Safire, Vultures, Rusty Taste of Sweetness & S.L.U.T.S – McHugh's Bar, Belfast
• Hotter Than Hell Kiss Tribute w/guests - Limelight 2
•The Rising w/guests - The Belfast Empire
08 Saturday •The Devil Wants Her Swagger Back. 'Malice' EP Launch w/Symptoms of Silence, Heel of Achilles and Towers Limelight 2 40
hope everyone has had a most rockin' summer, got to some festivals, got rained on, drank plenty of (insert favourite tipple) and saw as many bands as humanly possible! But don't go thinking you can hang up your comfy shoes and earplugs just yet, oh no! This season sees a veritable onslaught of rock, metal and punk gigs all over Northern Ireland, so hang on to your hats and check it out:
• Smokie w/guests - Waterfront Hall
• Status Quo w/guests - SSE Arena
29 Saturday •Distortion Project Presents Distortionfest 2016 feat. Warrior Soul, Lord Volture, Rabid Bitch of the North, Zlatanera, Bloodway, Valborg and more - Limelight 2
30 Sunday •Saxon w/Fastway and Girlschool - Limelight 1 • All Tvvins w/guests - Limelight 2
31 Monday •Killing Joke w/guests - Limelight 1
NOVEMBER 03 Thursday • Kadavar w/Erosion – Voodoo, Belfast
04 Friday •Buzzcocks 40th Anniversary Tour w/Blood of Whiskey Limelight 1
Conjuring Fate
05 Saturday • Dan Reed w/guests - Diamond Rock Bar, Ahoghill
06 Sunday • Hayseed Dixie w/guests – The Belfast Empire Onslaught '30th Anniversary of The Force' Tour w/Anihi lated, Beholder and Scimitar - Limelight 2
09 Wednesday • Bastille w/guests – Voodoo, Belfast
Zlat
• Deacon Blue w/guests – Waterfront Hall
10 Thursday
Dead Label
• Walking On Cars w/guests - Limelight 1
11 Friday • Alabama 3 '20 Years of Alabama 3' Tour w/Hardwicke Circus – - Limelight 1 • The NI Music Prize feat. Ash – Mandela Hall
Selene
12 Saturday • Ugly Kid Joe w/guests - Limelight 1
13 Sunday • The Cadillac Three w/guests - The Belfast Empire
14 Monday • Rod Stewart w/guests - SSE Arena
shrouded
The Irontown Diehard
15 Tuesday •Rod Stewart w/guests - SSE Arena
17 Thursday • The Complete Stone Roses - Limelight 2
19 Saturday
What a couple of months coming up, eh? Almost enough to go to a different gig every night, should you feel that way inclined! From old time rockers to the best that the NI underground metal scene has to offer, it's going to be an action packed time; fill your boots, ladies and gents.
• Graham Bonnet Band w/guests - Limelight 2
Melanie Brehaut Photography: Liam Kielt
Until next time, keep ‘er lit Rockers! 41
Complete Works … will open at The MAC on 13 September and runs until 22 September
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NI/ROI Tour Dates: Garage Theatre, Monaghan 23/09 • Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire - 24/09 The Braid, Ballymena 28/09 • Riverside Theatre, Coleraine 29/09 • Theatre at the Mill, Newtonabbey - 30/09 Droichead, Drogheda - 01/10 • Town Hall, Claremorris - 04/10 • Ballina Arts Centre, Ballina - 05/10 Marketplace, Armagh - 06/09 • Waterside Theatre, Derry - 07/10 • Old Courthouse, Antrim - 08/09
Bruiser Rattle Up The Bard Irreverent, immoderate lung-busters Bruiser Theatre Company return to our stages with a fast, frenetic romp through The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. This 97-minute blitzkrieg of The Bard is set to be a heart-shaking evening of lunacy, coming off the back of a 9-year sell-out West End run. CultureHUB catches up with Lisa May, the inimitable boyar of NI physical theatre and her cast as they brace us for this bedlam in Belfast.
Lisa May, why were you drawn to CWWS? “It’s the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death and we’ve joined the party with our three stooges in Keith, Michael and Gerard squeezing 37 plays in 97 minutes. Keith is the so-called scholar, having read his one book on Shakespeare. Gerard plays every single female (it’s a running gag of, 'I’ll get the wig!'), and Michael stage-manages the whole chaos. It’s a great taster for The Bard”. Michael Patrick – “It’s a fun show, having the craic with Shakespeare but at the same time celebrating it. It takes the piss out of Shakespeare while rejoicing in it”.
Would Deirdre from Dungannon without a word of Shakespeare enjoy it? Gerard McCabe – “I don’t know a word of Shakespeare and I still enjoy it. That’s the best compliment to make. If you come to a show like this where they put it in layman’s terms; it’s a great way of introducing yourself to Shakespeare”.
Michael and Keith, this is your first show with Bruiser… Keith Lynch – “It’s aptly named as you can see from my knees. It’s manic, physical fun and that comes across with the style of writing. The physical, clowning aspect makes Shakespeare more accessible to a modern audience”. Michael – “I’ve never worked harder on 43 seconds of a show, which we ran for 2 hours yesterday. It’s very high-energy. I’m knackered after every single day but it’s great craic”.
Lisa, are you pleased Bruiser continue to be a persistent platform for emerging actors in NI? “Absolutely. It’s integral to audition extensively or you’re not going to find something new. You become staid if you don’t open it up and become inspired. We found Michael and Keith during our 39 Steps auditions and they were fantastic and I knew I wanted to work with them. Keith recently told me he’d got another audition with The Lyric through 39 Steps auditions. So it’s fantastic we can foster great actors getting out there and getting seen”.
Gerard, your character list reads Gertrude, Juliet, Ophelia. Has CWWS let you get in touch with your feminine side? “It’s one of the reasons I got the part. In my audition, I did my bottom speech (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). I was told not to show my bottom, but I did it as Dame Judi Dench with a twist to show that feminine side which won me the part”.
Are you looking forward to any particular venue on the upcoming tour? Michael – “I’ve never done a tour before. I’m just really excited to see all the amazing theatres around the country”.
Favourite scene in the play? Keith – “I have a daily breakdown, the exhaustion and madness really helps in getting into Hamlet”. Michael – “Do you bite your thumb at me, Sir? It’s this polite fight which makes me laugh every time”. Gerard – “Titus Andronicus is done as a cookery show. I play the daughter; she’s had her hands and tongue chopped off. It’s very funny”.
What should we expect from you three in the coming weeks? Keith – “If you know your Shakespeare, it’s a parody. If you don’t, it’s a funny segue”. Michael – “Three guys sweating the most you’ve ever seen”. Gerard – “I called it. I think this will be me getting a live heart attack on stage”.
James-Alexander Johnson 43
GlobalCitizenship Conference
Building our Future Together
T
he relationship between national and global identity is one of the things that have defined 2016. With the Brexit vote shaking our political landscape, in addition to the West’s ever-present security threats, there is much to ponder for us all, which makes this year’s Community Relations & Cultural Awareness Week all the more important.
In Derry’s Holywell Trust on Thursday 22 September at 11am and Enniskillen’s Killyhevlin Hotel on Friday 23 September from 10am to 4pm, the ‘Building Our Future Together: Embracing and Celebrating Our Global Citizenship’ conference is aiming to provide a forum for local people, from across the racial, social and religious divides, to come together to pave a way forward.
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As many as 60 are expected at both days, which are as a result of a partnership between the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and the Fermanagh Churches' Forum. Dr Johnston McMaster is speaking at the Derry event, and gave us a background of the conference’s inception and a preview of what to expect. “The idea within the conference title was born after the Community Relations Week theme was known in July and was the result of continuing reflection with Derry and Enniskillen colleagues on social and geopolitical trends and challenges. The implications for building relationships, challenges of pooled sovereignty, greater interdependencies and interrelationships will also be explored. The diverse cultural identities in Northern Ireland will be pushed well beyond Belfast, Derry and/or Enniskillen. Participants will be invited to widen the horizons, think globally and imagine without boundaries, which are always socially constructed to control.”
“
We need to move
beyond the ‘our wee country’
“
syndrome. The Brexit vote was a dividing line across many regions of the UK, and Northern Ireland reflected that - 55.8% supported Remain and 44.2% voted to Leave. With Northern Ireland no stranger to questions over sovereignty and national identity, this is just one of many issues to be discussed at the conference, as locals get a chance to pick apart what “Brexit means Brexit” actually means. Dr McMaster adds, “There is no Brexit strategy. Uncharted waters mean uncertainty. The shape of Euro relationships may change, but the relational and cultural map of Europe will remain. The conferences will enable participants to become aware of the moral foundations of the Union which the UK has decided to leave.” The conference is expected to delve into 'Easternisation' as a growing reality in our increasingly globalised world. Dr McMaster sees this trend as only deepening over time, regardless of the Brexit effect. “Brexit is not the game changer but one of the symptoms of a Europe which is no longer a world power, shaping the politics and economics of the planet, and of a US no longer sure of its place in the world, a superpower on the way down. For the West, it is a disturbing time with neo-nationalism and narrow ethnocentrism on the increase, and the desire for hard borders and building of walls. Power and economic wealth are moving east and the future powers will be China, India, Japan and Russia, the latter now facing East rather than West.” Northern Ireland has its own murky past, and this is something the conference will touch on, but there will be a conscious attempt to re-frame the issue of community
relations into a universal and outward-facing debate. “With the European Union under question, there will be an exploration of the moral foundations of the EU, to curb excessive nationalism, outlaw war, a social justice basis and a peace and reconciliation praxis.” This focus on peace and reconciliation will inevitably draw on our own peace agreements, but Dr McMaster is quick to point out that we still have a lot to learn from other countries, citing Colombia as a new example of a society that is trying to set aside differences for the common good. “Northern Ireland has insights and good practice to share but also much to still learn from elsewhere. Our propensity for introversion has to be overcome and we need to move beyond the “our wee country” syndrome. We are not the centre of the universe, which is why awareness of and education for global citizenship is crucially important. We are still working on it locally. But let's stretch the horizons and share this positive insight globally. Without the totality of relationships and the radical inclusivity implied, global peace will elude the human and eco family.” Both events in Enniskillen and Derry promise to be worth a visit. With so many changes in today’s world, both locally and internationally, such conferences and workshops are vital additions to the Community Relations & Cultural Awareness Week's programme.
Gerard Walton
My World
Alzheimer’s Society Men’s Friendship Group
Photographic Exhibition
A
Men’s Friendship Group organised by the Alzheimer’s Society created an exhibition of their photographic work called My World. The five men, who are all living with dementia, have worked with a volunteer photographer to depict their ‘good days and their bad days' living with dementia. The exhibition includes the thoughts and experiences of the Antrim and Ballymena friendship group; there are approximately 20,000 people living with the condition in the Northern Ireland. The exhibition is part of the Alzheimer’s Society Dementia Friendly Communities programme, which challenges stigma and supports people with dementia to continue living independently in their community for as long as possible. A dementia friendly community is a city, town or village where people with dementia are understood, respected, supported and confident they can contribute to community life.
Speaking on behalf of the group, John McErlane, said, “A major problem with this condition is communication. We often find it difficult to tell others of our problems or feelings, wants and needs. As a picture is supposed to be worth a thousand words, we have created this photography exhibition as a way to explain how this condition affects us and our carers.” Heather Lundy, Dementia Friendly Communities Manager for the Alzheimer’s Society, said that the group had three main aims. “The men in this friendship group wanted to demonstrate that someone who has been diagnosed with dementia has still got creative abilities but may need a little more help in expressing them. Secondly, they wanted to say to those who have dementia diagnosis, 'don’t give up, or hide yourself away'. And lastly, the exhibition was a way of saying thank you to all the people who help them on a daily basis”.
Adam Henry Magee
‘My World’ –Alzheimer’s Society Exhibition Holywood Arches Library On display September 2016 During opening hours 028 9050 9216 www.librariesni.org.uk This exhibition is produced by men living with dementia who wanted to tell of their experiences through a series of photographs 46
Jerome Mullen Honorary Consul for Poland
T
here are no embassies in Northern Ireland, two Consulates General (China and the United States) and thirty-five Honorary Consuls. An Honorary Consul is an official representative of one county in the territory of another who is either a member of a country's foreign service or a local resident. Countries appoint Honorary Consuls based on age, experience, political and business connections, integrity, political views and charisma. Interestingly, their office and residence is an inviolable territory of the country they represent and may not be entered by officials or police of the host country; they enjoy diplomatic immunity based on the Vienna Convention of Consular Relations, 1963. Jerome Mullen is the Honorary Consul for Poland who had only a small amount of involvement with Poles prior to taking up his role eight years ago, which involves: “... phone calls from Polish citizens on a variety of issues, passport applications, employment and housing issues and many other matters. I also have dealt with many deaths over the years and arranging the repatriation of the bodies back to Poland. ... I get contacted on a
regular basis from the media, radio, TV, newspapers, especially around incidents of hate crime. I have constant contact with our Consul General in Edinburgh who has responsibility for N Ireland, and also our Ambassador in London. I visit most of the Polish Saturday schools … and meet several times a year with a group of Polish leaders in conjunction with our Consul General's regular visits to Belfast”. According to Jerome, for many Polish people here, “The biggest challenge is language and cultural difference, understanding our laws and regulations and knowing what their rights are. Living within certain community areas has been difficult for some and adjusting to the education system for children who have moved in the middle of their education in Poland”. From his considerable experience, Jerome believes that, “They have brought a hardworking ethic and reliability to wherever they are employed and this is the reason they are much sought after by employers. They have also brought many valuable skills that are badly needed here, engineering, joinery, medical and many more. I believe they have enriched our society with their warm and enthusiastic attitude to life”.
www.polishconsulateni.org • www.ca-ni.org 47
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he majority of Northern Ireland voted to Remain in the EU Referendum last June; however, the result was to Leave and the cold snap of reality of that democratic dice role, has led us into an uncertain and unnerving divorce from the reassuring bosom of a European Union. Between 2000 and 2012, 122,000 international long-term migrants arrived in Northern Ireland, and 97,000 left. The vast majority of migrants are well-educated, underemployed in their own countries, arrive with English or learn it quickly and are seeking or are in work. 48
u e
It seems impossible to avoid the racist veneer of a successful Brexit campaign with its fear-inducing imagery and misleading promises. The fallout from this has led, in some cases, to a perverse rationalisation of racist attacks on the streets and in the workplaces in many parts of the UK. Trademark Belfast host ‘Migrant workers, precarious work and the rise of racist incidents since the Brexit vote’, a seminar with guest speakers and an open forum for migrant workers in NI. The purpose is to allow migrants to voice their own stories, to document the experiences of those that suffer racism and to detail the fight against it.
MIGRANT WORKERS, PRECARIOUS WORK AND THE RISE OF RACIST INCIDENTS SINCE THE BREXIT VOTE CultureHUB spoke with Mel Corry, Trademark’s Trade Union Co-ordinator about the motives and aims for the event
“We are an organisation with very close links with the Trade Union movement and in the wake of the Referendum there has been a lot of anecdotal evidence that racism is becoming more common. Migrants disproportionately suffer from companies moving away from fixed-term contracts to zero-hours contracts and all the precariousness that brings with it”. Will this seminar bring this to light as a social as well as an occupational issue in NI? “Absolutely, we don’t believe the two can be separated. Migrant workers come here to work and the workplace must be free from intimidation and harassment. We have to deal with the issue of local unemployment and that migrants unfairly get the blame for much of this”. There is an assumption that migrants are afforded greater financial assistance than local citizens. Will this be something that is broached? “There are a lot of myths about what migrants are entitled to or what they get when they come here. The majority of migrants are looking for work. When you’re working here, you’re making a contribution; you’re not a drain to society”. Migrants do not receive any additional benefits because they are migrants. What measures would you like to see adopted to improve life and work for migrants coming to NI? “There should be dignity in work. When people come home after a week’s work they shouldn’t be short of money to subsist. The workplace needs to be equalised and equality-proofed in the eradication of zero-hours contracts and short term contracts – precarious work – with legalised bullying and harassment. When we equalise this we remove the suspicion from local people of how everyone is being treated. We want to see people provided with jobs that give them enough income and security for their lives”.
Are there any other national models that NI could be influenced by to improve attitudes and conditions for migrant workers? “These are international struggles with migrant workers. They shouldn’t be confused with asylum seekers or refugees from another country. It’s an economic decision that people make to come here for work. The model I am aware of that holds on to an old social democratic model would be Scandinavian countries, like Norway and Sweden. People get higher taxes to pay for decent public services and everyone is treated equally”. What do you hope to achieve from the Seminar? “We’re not sure of the impact of the Referendum for foreign nationals here. We hope the Seminar will bring up enough details of people's experiences here. How are they finding it? We want to know are they treated differently. To hear examples from people both before the Referendum and after, to highlight the plight of the precarious contract as well; that’s an important socio-economic, political issue”. Are there groups or organisations they could contact if migrant workers or employers are concerned or would like to engage in these issues? “People can engage with us at Trademark Belfast. We’re an anti-racist organisation with a whole range of training programmes around these themes - Human Rights, Equality, Anti-Racism, Sectarianism, Post-Conflict Economics. I would also suggest for migrant workers that are not sure of their legal status or employment rights to contact the Irish Congress Trade Union Migrant Worker Unit”. ‘Migrant workers, precarious work and the rise of racist incidents since the Brexit vote’ will be hosted at Unite Offices, Antrim Road, Belfast, 21 September 12.30pm–2.30pm.
JAMES- ALEXANDER JOHNSON
49
The United Nations International Day of Peace
Y Amazing The Space 21 September
Eikon Exhibition Centre
Maze /Long Kesh 50
oung people across Northern Ireland will be joining the rest of the world on 21 September acknowledging the United Nations International Day of Peace. The youth led Peace Building Initiative will bring together over 3,500 young people from schools across Northern Ireland with Amazing The Space, to assert and celebrate their role in peace-building. The main event held at the Eikon Exhibition Centre, Balmoral Park (Maze /Long Kesh) will be broadcast live at numerous venues across Northern Ireland, bringing a further 1,500 young people together to celebrate their roles as ambassadors for peace and cultivate a peaceful future globally. Regardless of religion they will express their visions and aspirations of peace. During the event, there will be a range of performances from local talent, the reading of peace pledges (406 of which have been created by schools from across the North) as well as contributions from across the globe, through a range of international partners including
Generation Global, The Global Peace Foundation and The United Nations. It will be an opportunity for youth to share their vision for a peaceful society with other young people living in other conflict areas around the world. All of the peace pledges will be available in a specially designed e-book. There will be a live radio broadcast of the event on the Q-radio network and it will be streamed live. Venues across the country taking part include: St Mary’s College, Derry; The Playhouse, Derry; Erne Integrated College, Enniskillen; Slemish College, Ballymena; Bessbook, Armagh; St Mary’s Grammar School, Magherafelt. The event, which is youth-led is the brainchild of Rev David Latimer, Minister at Derry First Presbyterian Church. On 24 June, it was officially launched by Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and Jnr. Minister Alastair Ross. It is being supported by the Education Authority and the Executive Office and a number of local authorities.
Stacy Fitzpatrick
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