A series of events throughout Northern Ireland in April 2016 Celebrating and strengthening the voice of older people through the arts
April 2016
Message from the Chair
Conference 2016 ‘The Art of Wellbeing’ Riddell Hall, 185 Strandmillis Road, Belfast Wednesday 27th April 2016 10am – 3pm The Arts & Age Conference 2016 will showcase the achievements of the threeyear Arts & Older People Programme and highlight the strong level of partnership working between the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, DCAL, The Baring Foundation and the Public Health Agency.
Bob Collins, Chairman of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland
The conference is aimed at policy makers, health agencies, artists, arts organisations and those working in the fields of arts and older people. It offers an opportunity to promote the benefits of creativity to the health and wellbeing of our older citizens. Contributors to the event include Irish author, broadcaster, playwright and journalist, Mary Kenny and Dr Una Lynch, public health specialist and co-author
Welcome to the Arts & Age Festival Events throughout the month of April 2016
This short brochure provides an overview of the main events taking place during April as part of Arts & Age Festival 2016. All of the events are supported by the Arts Council’s Arts & Older People Programme.
arts. The programme, which has been running successfully since 2010, is all about challenging perceptions of what it means to be an older person and it covers the full range of creative activities, from storytelling to learning circus skills. It is in this spirit of challenge and innovation that we now look forward to joining our partners in the month ahead to focus on exploring fresh new ways of thinking, inspirational approaches to the issues affecting older people and celebratory showcase exhibitions at the Arts & Age Festival 2016. Please join us.
The programme was established in partnership with the Public Health Agency, The Baring Foundation and DCAL, to increase opportunities for older people to actively engage in the
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Attendance is FREE but by application only. The closing date for application is Friday 1st April 2016. For further details, please contact Lorraine Calderwood on Tel: 028 9262 3555 or email: lcalderwood@artscouncil-ni.org
Cover photo: Streetwise Community Circus, Age-ility Circus
The Arts Council and our partners working in the fields of arts, age and the health and care professions, are hosting the Arts & Age Festival - a month-long series of events throughout Northern Ireland to celebrate and explore the impact that the arts make on the social and health issues affecting older people. Key issues include poverty, isolation and loneliness, and the promotion of positive mental health.
of ‘Not So Cut Off’, an exploration of the impact of the arts on alleviating isolation and loneliness for older people.
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Workshops & Events To date, over 9,100 older people have participated in 97 creative arts projects funded through the Arts & Older People Programme, with activities taking place across Northern Ireland in a variety of settings. The projects outlined have workshops and events occurring during April 2016 and reflect the range and breadth of arts activities taking place on a year-round basis.
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Grow
Arts for All
An Creagán, Creggan, Omagh
Harmony Community Trust, Glebe House, Strangford
Located between Omagh and Cookstown and situated at the foothills of the Sperrin Mountains, An Creagán offers innovative arts events and workshops which are open and accessible to all. Influenced by the local landscape and environment, An Creagán’s older people’s arts project, Grow enables participants to come together to create artworks for An Creagán’s Arts Garden. Art workshops taking place during the Arts & Age Festival include:
Ceramic Sculpture Workshops Beginning Saturday 2nd April 2016, 10am – 2pm and running for 5 weeks. Artwork will be displayed in An Creagán’s Art Garden.
Situated four miles outside Strangford village, Harmony Community Trust is a cross-community organisation promoting community relations and social inclusion. Directly targeting isolation and loneliness, the Arts for All older people’s project engages with participants from the surrounding rural community, providing transport to workshops and events. Art workshops taking place during the Arts & Age Festival include:
Music, Song and Dance Tuesdays 5th, 12th and 19th April, 11am – 1pm
Photography and Creative Writing Wednesdays 6th and 13th April, 11am – 1pm
Storytelling Thursday 7th April, 10.30am – 3pm
Woodcarving Wednesday 20th April, 11am – 1pm
Cross-Cultural Dancing (Irish and English) Thursday 21st April, 10.30am – 3pm For further information, contact the Harmony Community Trust on Tel: 028 4488 1374, www.glebehouseni.com
Ceramic Mural Workshops Beginning Tuesday 12th April 2016 from 10am – 2pm for 6 weeks and culminating in an exhibition of participants’ work. Workshops are FREE and will take place at An Creagán and Hillbank Fold, James Street, Omagh. For further information, contact An Creagán on Tel: 028 8076 1112, www.an-creagan.com
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Young at HeART
Music to Your Ears
Beam Creative Network, Donaghmore
The Alley Arts & Conference Centre, Strabane
A creative hub in the heart of Donaghmore, BEAM Creative Network has provided workshops for older people in photography, textiles, painting and drawing through the Arts & Older People Programme.
Based in the heart of Strabane, the Alley Theatre has a well-established older people’s programme, engaging with participants from both urban and rural areas.
Now in its second year, Young at HeART targets older people not involved with any organisation or community group, directly tackling issues of social exclusion for older people. A key contributor to the success and impact of the programme is the provision of transport for participants living in rural areas, breaking down barriers to access to the arts.
Art workshops taking place during the Arts & Age Festival include:
Textiles Workshop Wednesdays 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th April, 11am-1pm For further information, contact BEAM Creative Network on Tel: 028 8776 9157, www.beamcreativenetwork.com
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For further information, contact the Alley Theatre on Tel: 028 7188 4760, www.alleytheatre.com
Streetwise Community Circus
Waterside Theatre Company, Derry-Londonderry
Telling Tales is a visual arts project, taking place in both participant communities and the Waterside Theatre. The project aims to support older men in participating in meaningful activity, learning new skills, meeting new people and gaining from the benefits that the arts can offer.
Participants will showcase their music in a performance event at the Alley Theatre on Tuesday 19th April at 7.30pm.
Age-ility Circus
Telling Tales Targeting older men in Irish Street and Top of the Hill in Derry-Londonderry, Telling Tales is an important part of the Waterside Theatre’s education and community outreach programme.
Music to Your Ears is the Alley Theatre’s second Arts & Older People project, engaging older men in music making and song writing.
Music to your Ears Performance
Telling Tales Art Exhibition The Telling Tales art work will be exhibited in the Cascade Gallery at the Waterside Theatre from Monday 18th April to Friday 29th April 2016 For further information, contact the Waterside Theatre on Tel: 028 7131 4004, email: aj@watersidetheatre.com.
Streetwise Community Circus aims to make circus skills open and accessible to all people regardless of age, gender, disability, economic, religious or cultural background. The Streetwise Age-ility programme targets older people aged 60+ and is funded through the Arts & Older People Programme to deliver workshops in the Belfast, Derry and Whitehead areas.
Age-ility Performance Participants in the Age-ility project will showcase their circus skills (to include plate spinning, vanishing acts and a guillotining) alongside leading circus acts, in the MAC Studio Theatre on Saturday 23rd April, 7pm–10pm. For further information, contact Streetwise Community Circus on Tel: 028 9068 7828, email: streetwisecircus@gmail.com
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Larger than Life! Open Arts Based in Belfast, Open Arts aims to engage with disabled people to deliver high quality activities and events across a range of art forms.
Larger than Life! Publication Launch and Exhibition
The Larger than Life! Arts & Older People project is engaging with 60 older people from five groups in a series of drama and illustration workshops, exploring the memorable stories and people from their lives. The participants, along with professional illustrators and a designer, aim to create an illustrated novel, representing the stories and characters that have been developed during the workshops. In addition, each group will produce a larger, collective piece of artwork depicting a story or character that has particularly resonated with them during the process.
The launch of Larger than Life! and accompanying exhibition will take place on Thursday 28th April at 11am in the Duncairn Centre for Culture and Arts, Belfast. For further information, contact Open Arts on Tel: 028 9024 0765, www.openartsni.org
Funny Bones Play Resource Warehouse Based in Belfast, Play Resource Warehouse is a centre of creativity using waste materials from industry to create artworks with community and voluntary groups across Northern Ireland. Working in partnership with the Ulster Museum, the Funny Bones Arts & Older People project targeted older participants from across Belfast, creating artworks that have drawn inspiration from the artefacts and specimens in the museum. These have been interpreted in materials such as felt, wood, plaster and clay and reflect aspects of everyday life – place, social structures, work life, memories, humour and celebration.
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Funny Bones … there’s life in the old bones yet! Exhibition The artwork created will be exhibited in the Discover Art Zone, Ulster Museum from Thursday 28th April to Friday 27th May. The launch event will take place on Thursday 28th April, 11.30am-12.30pm. For further information, contact the Play Resource Warehouse on Tel: 028 9035 7540, email: admin@playresource.org
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Men’s Shed Art
Generation Art
Action Mental Health
Beth Johnston Foundation / Linking Generations NI
The Men’s Shed is a place for men to meet and discuss issues, share skills and explore new interests, with the aim of promoting their own health and development and contributing to the community. The Men’s Shed Art project, supported by Action Mental Health, involves men aged 60+ from sheds in the Antrim, Downpatrick and Fermanagh areas. Each Men’s Shed has been working with artists and AMH staff to develop their ideas and reflect life stories through music, photography, arts and craft.
Men’s Shed Art Exhibition An exhibition of the work created through the Men’s Shed Art project will take place on Friday 29th April, 11.30am–1.30pm at the Duncairn Centre for Culture and Arts, Belfast. The exhibition will run for two weeks. For further information, contact Action Mental Health on Tel: 028 9182 8494, email: www.amh.org.uk
Co-ordinated by Linking Generations NI and targeting social isolation and loneliness, Generation Art aims to engage older people in intergenerational arts projects in the Ards Peninsula, supporting improved understanding and increasing mutual respect. This visual arts project links older people’s groups from Ballywalter and Portavogie with pupils from the local primary schools and aims to engage participants in creating art that is both personal for individuals and reflects a more age-friendly community.
Generation Art Exhibition Various exhibitions and events to take place on the European Day of Solidarity between Generations, Friday 29th April 2016. For further information, contact Linking Generations NI on Tel: 028 9181 3022, email: infolgni@bjf.org.uk
Killyclogher Arts Project Killyclogher Senior Citizens Group, Omagh Killyclogher Senior Citizens Group is an older people’s group of 78 members located on the outskirts of Omagh, County Tyrone. The Killyclogher Arts & Older People project supported a number of taster arts workshops during February 2016, bringing older members together to participate in weaving, mosaic and textiles workshops. There followed a more intensive workshop programme for participants to create artworks for permanent display.
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Killyclogher Arts Project The work produced by older people during this project will be on permanent display in the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital in Omagh. For further information, contact the Killyclogher Senior Citizens Group on Tel: 028 8224 5162.
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Void Engage Night Falls, Day Breaks
Re:Vision Prime Cut Productions Based in Belfast, Prime Cut Productions is an independent theatre company committed to providing audiences with challenging and thought-provoking work. Re:Vision is a partnership project, with the Oh Yeah Music Centre and Creative Exchange Artist Studios, linking with care centres across Belfast including Bruce House, Hemsworth House, Mullan Mews and Sydenham Court. Re:Vision explores dementia through music, visual art and theatre, engaging with older people, carers and families.
Re:Vision Showcase Event The project will culminate in a showcase event, with limited access, during the Arts & Age Festival 2016. For further information, contact Prime Cut Productions on Tel: 028 9024 4004, www.primecutproductions.co.uk
Dance the Memories Craigavon Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council An alternative dance project for men and women aged 60+ and under the creative direction of dancer and choreographer Anthea McWilliams, Dance the Memories Craigavon provides weekly dance and drama workshops exploring themes relevant to participants. The work created will tour to venues in the Craigavon and Armagh areas, in community, health and arts venues.
Dance the Memories Craigavon Dance workshops will take place every Thursday during the Arts & Age Festival, 10.30am-12.30pm, in the Brownlow Community Hub, Craigavon. For further information on the project, contact Emma Drury, Arts Development Officer on Tel: 028 3831 1680, email: emma.drury@craigavon.gov.uk
Void Arts Centre, Derry-Londonderry As part of Void’s exhibition programme, the work of German-born artist Anne Wenzel is being shown for the first time in the UK and Ireland, in a solo exhibition entitled Night Falls, Day Breaks. Wenzel explores art historical and political themes. Her work resonates with events taking place in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland during the centenaries of The Battle of the Somme and The Easter Rising.
Night Falls, Day Breaks Tours, Talks and Workshop Programme
Targeting isolated older groups and individuals, Void Engage will create an outreach and education programme focusing on delivering high-quality contemporary art experiences relevant to the exhibition.
This programme is free and will take place within the gallery as well as in off-site locations.
Throughout the Arts & Age Festival, Void Engage will deliver a series of workshops, talks and tours in conjunction with the exhibition and aimed specifically at older people.
For further information on the project, contact Sally Murphy, Tel: 028 7130 8080, email: sally@derryvoid.com.
The Disappearing Farmhouses and Landmarks of Termonamongan Border Arts, Castlederg A creative arts hub based in West Tyrone, Border Arts has embarked on an innovative and thought-provoking Arts & Older People project focusing on the derelict farm buildings in this rural area and the often forgotten stories they may hold. Through visual art and storytelling workshops, artists will engage with older men, capturing their stories from the 1950s and 60s.
The Disappearing Farmhouses and Landmarks - Showcase Event Creative arts workshops will take place throughout April 2016 with a showcase event at the end of April. For further information on the project, contact Gordon Speers, Tel: 028 8167 0636 or email: borderarts@tinyonline.co.uk
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The Arts & Older People Programme is supported by:
For further information on the Arts & Older People Programme, please contact Lorraine Calderwood, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Tel: 028 9262 3555 or email: lcalderwood@artscouncil-ni.org Published by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland: March 2016 This publication may be available in alternative formats upon request