Belfast International Arts Festival 2017 by Nerve Centre

6â&#x20AC;&#x201C;28 OCTOBER

2017

CONTENTS PR INCIPAL FU NDER

FE S T I VA L SU P P O R TE R S

THEATRE & DANCE

CLASSICAL

MUSIC

SPECIAL EVENTS 45

FESTIVAL FU NDER S AND SPONSOR S

FESTIVAL EVENT FUNDER S

VISUAL ARTS

TALKS & IDEAS

FILM

70 BOX OFFICE

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works from Hughie O’Donoghue; Gardens Speak from Lebanese artist Tania El Khoury and Fashion and Freedom with original designs by Holly Fulton, Roksanda, J JS Lee, Vivienne Westwood, Emilia Wickstead and Sadie Williams, new film from SHOWstudio and Luke Snellin, and works by the next generation of fashion talent – all influenced by the new fashions and freedoms worn and won by women in 1914-18.

Welcome to the 2017 edition of The Belfast International Arts Festival. Our aim is a simple one; to create a genuinely civic event of contemporary arts and ideas of international appeal and stature. A sense of uncertainty seems to pervade our everyday lives and whilst there are no easy solutions, the artistic and creative world can help us explore and perhaps better understand the implications of this. Yoann Bourgeois,astonishing and daring, acrobatic spectacle, Celui Qui Tombe asks who did we retain a sense of balance and perspective in our lives when the world is spinning out of control around us? The Schaubühne Theatre from Berlin return to the Festival with a new and controversial work from renowned German-Swiss author and director Milo Rau. The exciting, pseudodocumentary theatre of Compassion. The History of the Machine Gun shifts the focus from the on-going refugee crisis itself to one of its causes – atrocities in African civil wars, which arguably we in the West must bear some responsibility. Behind the often moving pictures of the victims of this crisis lie uncomfortable questions about what forces refugees to leave their homes and take such

INTRO

Inspiring and uplifting music from across the globe includes the world famous Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev; the critically acclaimed Donny McCaslin and band (the backing band on David Bowie’s final album, Blackstar); R & B legend, Paul Carrack; soul sensations, The Excitements; Scotland’s Karine Polwart in a new music/ theatre work called Wind Resistance and a very special double bill featuring Donal Lunny’s The Atlantic Arc Orchestra and Fado icon, Lula Pena.

risks for a better life overseas. Brexit Stage Right explores the uncertain impact on both our cultural life and working artists in a special event at the Grand Opera House. The uncertainty of the present can also be viewed through the prism of the past and the lessons of history. This 55th edition of Festival picks up on the creative and public discourse we started in 2016 examining the many legacies of the Great War. In a programme of over 100 events across the city, the highlight for many will be the ceramic installation, Poppies: Weeping Window at the Ulster Museum supported by a special supporting programme of talks, music and literature that addresses questions of identity and memory. In a major joint initiative with Belfast City Council to support their joint bid with Derry and Strabane for the designation of European Capital of Culture in 2023, the Festival is hosting three major international art installations including The Tempest - Ireland: Memory: Identity, an exhibition of large scale

The Festival prides itself in commissioning and presenting premieres of exceptional, new and contemporary artworks. We are delighted and honoured that this year’s programme will feature new plays from local artists, Owen McCafferty (Fire Below, a joint Lyric – Festival commission) and Rosemary Jenkinson (Lives in Translation produced by Kabosh), new dance works from Oona Doherty (Hard to be Soft, a joint commission between Festival, Prime Cut Productions and Dublin Dance Festival with music by David Holmes) and the Irish premiere of Rachid Ouramdane’s beautiful and haunting duet, Tordre from the Centre Choréographique National de Grenoble. Meanwhile, our joint Artists in Residence – Maria McManus and Deirdre Cartmill – will curate contributions to a special Poetry Jukebox at The Crescent Arts Centre. Once again, Belfast is the place to be this October if you want to experience and enjoy the world’s best and most innovative artists. Richard Wakely, Director, Belfast International Arts Festival

The arts play a critical role in healthy societies and vibrant economies, encouraging us to step outside our comfort zone, challenge stereotypes and embrace difference. Belfast International Arts Festival gives us all the opportunity to do just that, and as Chair of the Festival, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to this year’s inspiring programme of events including major world premieres in theatre, music, dance and exhibitions. A major highlight of the 2017 Festival is the Poppies: Weeping Window installation, which sees thousands of handmade ceramic poppies cascade from the iconic Ulster Museum to the grounds of the Botanic Gardens. There was stiff competition from cities across the UK and Northern Ireland to host this spectacular exhibition, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners from the National Museums Northern Ireland who helped us secure the Poppies exhibition for Northern Ireland. Home to the next generation of fashion designers, Ulster University has opened the doors of its Belfast campus for Festival’s Fashion and Freedom exhibition. Exploring the impact of war on women and their role in society as reflected through fashion, this collection features the work of world-renowned female designers including Vivienne Westwood. It is also one of the many free events that the Festival is bringing to the people of Belfast and beyond. This year’s Festival, and in particular our programming partnership with Belfast City Council, is also a clear demonstration of our support for the city’s ambitious joint bid with Derry-Strabane District Council for European Capital of Culture status in 2023. As always, we are grateful to our stakeholders for their generous support; the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council, the British Council, the Government of Ireland, Institut Francais, and Tourism NI. Art and culture is for everyone and every October the Festival brings Belfast alive with creativity, wonder and an influx of visitors – be sure not to miss out! Professor Jackie McCoy, Chairman, Belfast International Arts Festival

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a balanced programme that reflects our increasingly multi-cultural society. The Arts Council, as principal funder, is proud to be associated with the Belfast International Arts Festival which is creating a genuinely civic event, based on contemporary arts.

Northern Ireland enjoys many arts and cultural festivals, all of which contribute something unique and special to the richness of our creative landscape. The Belfast International Arts Festival is no exception, bringing us top quality acts from around the world and using its international profile to promote our home-grown talent, strengthening Northern Ireland’s creative reputation in the process. Matched only by its commitment to excellence is a commitment to access. It is a festival that is increasingly responsive to our changing times and the broadening expectations placed upon the arts in society. You will see in this year’s festival an emphasis on community engagement, on reaching out to the young and the old, on marketing and ticketing incentives, on providing

FESTIVAL BOARD FESTIVAL TEAM

Company Number: NI 631354 Charity Number: NIC 103560

INTRO

The Council’s EMBRACE section of the programme, includes free and accessible events of remarkable quality, including the interactive sound installation, Gardens Speak by Tanya El Khoury and the exceptional Poppies: Weeping Window installation that will grace the Ulster Museum.

Deirdre Cartmill and Maria McManus

Outstanding international highlights include the world renowned Mariinsky Orchestra, performing an allRussian programme. The pressing themes of our times are examined by the amazing Schaubühne Berlin in Compassion. A History of the Machine Gun, challenging theatre that contemplates the fate of refugees across continents. Local Choreographer and Major Individual Artist awardee Oona Doherty, will present Hard to be Soft: A Belfast Prayer with David Holmes providing the soundscape to what will be an unforgettable dance premier. There are so many highlights to enjoy, I hope you take the opportunity to be part of it.

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

2017 FESTIVAL

Roisin McDonough Chief Executive, Arts Council of Northern Ireland

Professor Jackie McCoy SFHEA FCMI - Chairman Professor Ken O’Neill Louise Johnston Jimmy Fay Sandra Kelso-Robb MBE Director: Richard Wakely Administrator: Naomi Conway Technical Director: Phil McCandlish Programme & Operations Manager: Georgia Simpson Marketing Manager/PR Manager: Kirsty Atkinson (Downey Birch) Marketing Officer: Andrew Moore Project Manager: Becky Turnock Programme & Operations Assistant: Rebecca Boyd Development Manager: Esther McLaughlin Literary Consultant: Hugh Odling-Smee Box Office Supervisor: Clare McQuillan (The MAC) Design: ASG and Partners Web Design: Charlie Craig (LadyGeekGeek)

Since 2013, the Festival has appointed a variety of local and international artists to be its annual artist in residence and in doing so help them further develop their practice and career. Previous Artists in Residence have included Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada (2013), Claire Cunningham (2014), Amanda Coogan (2015) and Leonie McDonagh and Oona Doherty (2016). This year, we are delighted to announce that our Artists In Residence for 2017 are two accomplished local writers Deirdre Cartmill and Maria McManus. Poet Deirdre Cartmill has published two poetry collections The Return of the Buffalo and Midnight Solo (Lagan Press) and is also an award-winning screenwriter and playwright. Her collaborative Corners project Bridging The Silence, which gives a voice to survivors of abuse and political violence, featured in our 2015 edition. Maria McManus is the author of We are Bone, The Cello Suites and Reading the Dog (Lagan Press) and has written extensively for local theatre companies including Kabosh and Big Telly. Her next collection, Available Light, (Arlen House) is due in 2017. As part of their 2017 Festival residency Deirdre and Maria will curate a very special interactive installation outside the Crescent Arts Centre called The Poetry Jukebox (see Page 65 for details).

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EMBRACE Embrace is Festival’s programme of participatory and creative learning activities, which includes workshops, performance opportunities, artist talks and hosted visits to selected festival events. It’s aimed at engaging communities and groups throughout the city at a wide range of venues and events across the festival programme. The events in Embrace are designed to both enhance audience enjoyment and understanding of the productions and events presented, and to encourage active participation in the arts.

THEATRE & DANCE

At the centre of this year’s Embrace programme are a series of events that illuminate and sometimes question the issues and legacies of the Great War. The vast majority are free and open to the public and are taking place at the Ulster Museum, adjacent to the Poppies: Weeping Window installation (Pages 33-44). In addition, the Grand Opera House is the venue for two key international events; a panel discussion on the potential impact of Brexit on NI’s arts and cultural life and a free acrobatic and movement workshop from leading French choreographer Yoann Bourgeois. (Pages 52-53) We are also offering the opportunity to meet Tanya El Khoury, the artist behind the interactive sound installation, Gardens Speak (Page 47). Emmy award winning Professor Jay Winter, Charles J. Stille Professor of History Emeritus at Yale University, will also take part in a post-show discussion following the Tuesday 17 October performances of Soldier Still (Page 13). An invitation to the public from Belfast Open Studios – come along and see how artists work, take a glimpse into the creative processes and meet 150 artists working in the city (Page 61) . More information on each of the above Embrace events is available on the Festival website. Please note, places must be pre-booked in advance.

EMBRACE

COMPASSION. THE HISTORY OF THE MACHINE GUN by Milo Rau, Schaubühne, Berlin GERMANY - UK AND IRISH PREMIERE

OPENING EVENT

Fri 6 & Sat 7 Oct Lyric Theatre 7.45pm

£20 / £18

DOES COMPASSION HAVE LIMITS? In German and French with English subtitles

In Compassion. The History of the Machine Gun, Rau and his team journey to the political hot spots of our time: the Mediterranean routes of refugees from the Middle East and the Congolese civil war zones. The semi-documentary doublemonologue, based on interviews with NGO workers, clerics and war victims in Africa and

THEATRE & DANCE

Europe, deliberately ventures into contradictory terrain: how do we endure the misery of others and why do we watch it? Why does one dead person at the gates of Europe outweigh thousand dead people in the Congolese civil war zones? Compassion. The History of the Machine Gun not only contemplates the limits of our compassion but also on the limits of European humanism. Please note the performance is 1 hr 45 mins with no interval

Photo: Daniel Seiffert

In recent months, the fate of refugees has overwhelmed the whole of Europe and countless intellectuals and politicians declared their solidarity with the suffering of people from the Middle East and Africa. Images of the drowned on Mediterranean beaches or victims of civil war and disease in Central Africa: the crises and disasters of our time are ubiquitous in our Facebook timelines, on television and in the press.

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WIND RESISTANCE by Karine Polwart A Royal Lyceum Production UK - IRISH PREMIERE Tues 10 & Wed 11 Oct The MAC 7.45pm

£16 / £14

POIGNANT PAEAN TO THE PEATBOGS OF SCOTLAND Every autumn, two and a half thousand pinkfooted geese fly from Greenland to winter at Fala Flow, a protected peatbog southeast of Edinburgh. From this windy plateau, Karine Polwart surveys the surrounding landscape through history, song, bird-lore and personal memoir. Ideas of sanctuary, maternity, goose skeins, Scottish football legend and medieval medicine all take flight, in this compelling combination of story and song. Best Music & Sound Award Critic’s Awards for Theatre in Scotland 2017

Photo: Daniel Seiffert

Karine Polwart is a Scottish songwriter and musician, as well as a theatre maker, storyteller and published essayist. She is a four-time winner of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

FIRE BELOW (A WAR OF WORDS) by Owen McCafferty directed by Jimmy Fay The Lyric Theatre & The Abbey Theatre, in association with the Belfast International Arts Festival NI - WORLD PREMIERE Thurs 12 - Sun 29 Oct Lyric Theatre £24.50 / £15 Tues - Sun 7.45pm / Sat & Sun at 2.30pm

THE MISSING TRUTH? What happens to reconciliation when there is no one specific act of violence to reconcile? Fire Below (A War of Words) is a companion piece to McCafferty’s hugely successful play Quietly (2012).

‘This is a poignant, unflinching and beautiful show about healing, protection, the fragility of human life and the world around us. Its music will resonate for a long time’

‘A thing of beauty and understanding’

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✪✪✪✪✪ THE LIST

THEATRE & DANCE

Gerry & Rosemary and Tom & Maggie are neighbouring couples who have lived through conflict from a distance. Now, nearly 20 years on from the Belfast Peace Agreement, they sit on Gerry and Rosemary’s deck having a glass of wine on a nice summer’s evening, putting the world to rights while waiting for the 11th night bonfire to be lit in the estate below. Yet there is something missing – the truth. What they actually think about each other is only ever one unguarded comment away. And who knows when and from where that comment will come.

✪✪✪✪✪ THE STAGE

‘One of the true delights of this year’s festival’

DANCING AT THE DISCO AT THE END OF THE WORLD Replay Theatre Company NI - WORLD PREMIERE Fri 13 - Fri 27 Oct Riddel’s Warehouse 7.30pm (No show Sun 22)

£15

THE APOCALYPSE IS VIRAL Part Lord of the Flies, part Animal Farm, part rave, Dancing at the Disco at the End of The World propels audiences into a post-virus future where the survivors are young, but the rules are old: Don’t Question. Don’t Challenge. Don’t Dare. Audience members leave their seats behind and join the characters in a search for the truth...But you should only seek if you’re ready to find. Written by John McCann Please note this event involves walking round a derelict building - wrap up warm and wear comfortable footwear. Accessibility may be a problem. Please call box office to discuss. Age Guidance 14+ Book Now belfastinternationalartsfestival.com

TORDRE (WROUGHT) Rachid Ouramdane Centre Choreographique National de Grenoble FRANCE - UK AND IRISH PREMIERE Fri 13 & Sat 14 Oct The MAC 7.45pm

£14 / £12

A HAUNTING HYPNOTIC DUET Rachid Ouramdane is at the forefront of dance innovation, extending definitions of performer and choreographer and blurring the line between dance and documentary. TORDRE is the story of Lithuanian dancer Lora Juodkaite who, spinning dizzyingly on the spot, has developed her own way of moving which has supported and comforted her ever since she was a child. It is also the story of the British dancer Annie Hanauer, moving with an articulated prosthetic arm which is at the same time both an extension and an integral part of her body. In a haunting duet, two dancers perform lonely, intensely physical solos. Through hypnotic, whirling gestures, each woman’s body paints a raw, captivating self-portrait. Supported by Institut Français du Royaume Uni as part of its En Scène! Programme.

‘A fascinating dance piece… From the sweet childish rounds to the dervish’s whirls, Rachid Ouramdane’s dancers take us on a haunting voyage’ TÉLÉRAMA

creative team to explore the viciousness, the vulnerability and the trauma of violence.

Junk Ensemble In association with the MAC

Previous Artists-in-Residence at Tate Britain, award-winning Junk Ensemble have built a reputation in Ireland as dance innovators.

IRELAND Tues 17 – Wed 18 Oct 7.45pm The MAC

£12 - £25

A TALE OF BEAUTY AND BRUTALITY Soldier Still is about violence. A new dance theatre work that blends movement, text, music, real stories and real people, creating a harrowing tale of beauty and brutality. A cast of Irish and international dancers and former soldiers, from the Irish Defence Forces and British Army, collaborate with an exceptional

Photo: Patrick Imbert

THEATRE & DANCE

SOLDIER STILL

Funded by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon. A co-production with Mermaid Arts Centre and Project Arts Centre. Supported by Dance Ireland and Dance Base Edinburgh. Junk Ensemble are Project Artists at Project Arts Centre.

‘Junk Ensemble has created some of the most impressive contemporary dance in Ireland … Enthralling and exact.’’ THE SUNDAY TIMES Book Now belfastinternationalartsfestival.com

NÍ THIG LINN ÍOC! NÍ ÍOCFAIDH MUID!

NEW PLAYWRIGHTS SHOWCASE

Can’t Pay Won’t Pay An Irish Language stage adaptation by Don McCamphill

Lyric Theatre

Sat 21 & Sat 28 Oct 8pm / Sun 22 & 29 Oct 2.45pm

IRELAND Wed 11th - Sat 14th 8pm / Sun 15th 3pm Lyric Theatre

Wed, Thur & Sun £10/£12 Fri & Sat £13/£15

Aisling Ghéar

AUSTERITY VS PROSPERITY In their 20th Anniversary year, Aisling Ghéar return with this new adaptation from award-winning writer Don McCamphill. Set in present day West Belfast, austerity drives two women to shoplifting! Pair Dario Fo’s razor sharp wit with Belfast’s famous ‘black humour’, add a generous portion of ‘the strong women of Belfast’ and wrap it all up in farce and you have the makings of a good night of theatre! I mbliain seo a 20ú breithlá, tá Aisling Ghéar ar ais leis an chóiriú úrnua seo, suite in iarthar Bhéal Feirste sa lá inniu, leis an scríbhneoir ardiomrá, Don McCamphill. Feiceann muid mar a chuireann an déine ar bheirt bhan tabhairt faoin ghadaíocht siopa. Greann géar Dario Fo, ‘greann dubh’ Bhéal Feirste, mná láidre Bhéal Feirste is fronsa den scoth – is ionann an cumasc sin agus oíche mhaith dhrámaíochta! We’re delighted to welcome the support of The Foyle Foundation Ábhar áthais dúinn fáilte a chur roimh urra nua chuig an chompántas In Gaelic with English translation 16+

Lyric Theatre

£10

EXCITING IRISH VOICES

by Rosemary Jenkinson Kabosh

be, and ultimately how time is controlled most by those it affects least.

NI - WORLD PREMIERE

The Lyric warmly invites you to a special performed reading showcasing four of the most exciting new voices in Irish theatre. Andy Doherty, Erica Murray, Seamus Collins and Vittoria Cafolla were selected to take part in the Lyric’s inaugural New Playwrights Programme, developing new work with the support of the Theatre’s Literary Manager Rebecca Mairs. Audiences will have a chance to see these new works for the first time, presented as a dynamic double-bill performed reading. This event will feature outstanding directors Emma Jordan (Artistic Director of Prime Cut Productions) and Des Kennedy (Once The Musical, Gulliver’s Travels & Harry Potter & The Cursed Child), who will each direct one double bill showcase. Showcase 1 on Sat 21 & Sun 22 Directed by Des Kennedy Showcase 2 on Sat 28 & Sun 29 Directed by Emma Jordan

THEATRE & DANCE

LIVES IN TRANSLATION

Wed 25 – Sat 28 Oct 7.30pm / Sat 28 Oct 3pm S13, Boucher Road (Old B&Q Building)

£15 / £12 Matinee £10

Kabosh’s newest production celebrates the human survival instinct through the story of one woman; who in fleeing the conflict of her home becomes trapped in a different struggle. She is trapped within the suffocating bureaucracy surrounding asylum seeking.

Directed by Paula McFetridge, the performance follows a ten-year journey through Mogadishu, Dublin, Belfast and London, as one-woman fights for a life free from constant fear and a place to make home. Designed by Liz Cullinane and Stuart Marshall with video design by Conan McIvor and original music by Dónal O’Connor. Cast: Tony Flynn, Julie Maxwell and Raquel McKee Suitable for 16+

Written by Rosemary Jenkinson and based on interviews with a female Somali refugees, local support workers and community organisations, this poignant new drama explores how recent asylum seekers are forced to navigate support systems through translation. It highlights how disempowering and frustrating this system can

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CLOSING EVENT

HARD TO BE SOFT: A BELFAST PRAYER by Oona Doherty featuring a soundscape by David Holmes Prime Cut Productions, Dublin Dance Festival and the Belfast International Arts Festival in association with the MAC NI - WORLD PREMIERE Thurs 26 - Sat 28 Oct The MAC 7.45pm

£12 - £18

ALTERNATIVE REALITY BELFAST

The show brings together an ensemble of Northern Ireland’s top artists, Choreographer Oona Doherty, internationally renowned Belfast DJ and Composer David Holmes and Ajendance Dance Company, Ryan O’Neill, Bryan Quinn, John Scott. It incorporates interviews with people from across Belfast, and young offenders from Hydebank Wood. Hard To Be Soft: A Belfast Prayer in four parts is supported by National Lottery funding through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. This ambitious new work forms part of Oona’s Major Individual Artist award, a prestigious accolade presented to the choreographer by the Arts Council in 2016. Age Guidance 14+ (parental discretion for 12+)

Hard to be Soft: A Belfast Prayer is a Stanley Kubrick style bright white limbo. Four Episodes, like sci-fi Stations of the Cross, take you through an alternative reality Belfast.

THEATRE & DANCE

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Photo: Hugo Glendinning

CLASSICAL

FIDELIO TRIO

DOREEN CURRAN

Belfast Music Society

NI / IRELAND / ISRAEL

Sun 8 Oct Harty Room, Queen’s University 3pm

Tues 10 Oct £15 Concession £10

First Presbyterian Church, Rosemary Street £15 7.30pm Concession £10

NORTHERN LIGHTS MINI-FEST

Shortlisted for the 2016 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards, the Fidelio Trio are enthusiastic champions of the piano trio genre, performing the widest possible range of repertoire on concert stages across the world. They are broadcast regularly on BBC Radio 3, RTÉ Lyric FM, WNYC, NPR and have featured on Sky Arts documentaries. They have an impressive list of commissions and first performances from the leading and newest composers; and have a large discography of highly acclaimed recordings – their recent release of Ravel and Saint-Saëns Trios was Gramophone Magazine Critic’s Choice.

Mezzo soprano Doreen Curran, originally from Derry, studied at the DIT College of Music, Dublin, the Royal Northern College of Music, and the prestigious National Opera Studio in London. A multiple prize winner at competitions both in Ireland and internationally, she is no stranger to Northern Ireland audiences both in recital and on the opera stage – though this is her first recital for BMS.

The Trio’s strong Irish connections make them regular visitors to the island, although they last performed for Belfast Music Society six years ago.

Local audiences will remember Doreen Curran’s two most recent, and thoroughly contrasting, Belfast performances with the Ulster Orchestra in Brian Irvine’s groundbreaking Anything but Bland, and singing the title role in Northern Ireland Opera’s production of Radamisto.

With Darragh Morgan on violin, Adi Tal on cello and Mary Dullea on piano.

CLASSICAL

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Photo: V Baranovsky

MARIINSKY ORCHESTRA

SEAMUS HEANEY: WORDS AND MUSIC Members of the Ulster Orchestra NI Tues 10 Oct Duncairn Centre for Culture and Arts 7.30pm

£6 / £4

WORDS AND MUSIC Seamus Heaney both inspired musicians, and was inspired by them. His poem The Given Note is based on a story told by composer Seán Ó Riada about a fiddler who retrieves the mysterious Port na bPucai (Fairies’ Tune) from the wind off the west coast of Ireland, “bits of a tune/ Coming in on loud weather”.

CLASSICAL

This very special programme of readings and Heaney-related music will feature Belfast composer Neil Martin’s new work “The Helping Hand”, inspired by lines from Station Island, as well as works by Irish composers Seán Ó Riada and Rachel Holstead. The ensemble of Ulster Orchestra musicians will be led by violinist Ioana Petcu-Colan, and Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry at Queen’s, Glenn Patterson, will present a sequence of readings.

Conductor: Valery Gergiev

Pushkin, and includes Rimsky-Korsakov’s famous ‘Flight of the Bumble Bee’ from the opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan.

RUSSIA Wed 11 Oct Ulster Hall 7.30pm

£20 - £30

THE ICONIC RUSSIAN INSTITUTION We are proud to present one of the world’s great symphony orchestras under its Artistic Director, Valery Gergiev. The Mariinsky Orchestra performs an all-Russian programme culminating in Shostakovich’s epic Symphony No.11, whose almost film-like score describes the momentous events of 1905 in St Petersburg. The first half of the programme is dedicated to Russia’s national poet, Alexander

The Mariinsky Orchestra was named as one of the top orchestras in the world by Gramophone Magazine. Programme: Tchaikovsky Waltz and Polonaise from Eugene Onegin Rimsky-Korsakov Suite from The Tale of Tsar Saltan Shostakovich Symphony No.11 The Year 1905

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Photo: Sven German

STRAVINSKY’S FIREBIRD

ELIZABETH COONEY(violin) RUTH MCGINLEY (piano)

Ulster Orchestra

Belfast Music Society

NI / IRELAND

Fri 13 Oct Ulster Hall 7.45pm

SWITZERLAND / RUSSIA

Sun 15 Oct £10 - £29

Harty Room, Queen’s University 3pm

£15 Concession £10

FIERY FESTIVAL FRIDAY

NORTHERN LIGHTS MINI-FEST

A dazzling aviary of bird-themed music awaits in this concert!

Derry-born Ruth McGinley quickly became a young star of classical music when she won the piano final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 1994. She went on to perform as a concerto soloist and recitalist, before becoming uncomfortable with the pressures of life as a concert pianist, returning to Derry in 2004. Ruth began performing in public again as a solo pianist in 2013, part of Derry’s City of Culture year, and has gradually rediscovered her love of the piano and all its possibilities.

Opening with Kodály’s Variations on a Hungarian Folksong (The Peacock), the centrepiece of this concert is Stravinsky’s glorious suite, The Firebird, with music that references both folksong melodies and Stravinsky’s trademark exotic rhythms and chromaticism. Conductor for the evening Gergely Madaras also conducts Steven Osborne in Britten’s Piano Concerto - full of confidence and extravagance, it makes perfect virtuoso material. Free pre-concert talk with Gergely Madaras at 7pm. For full programme please visit our website.

CLASSICAL

SWISS AMBASSADOR’S BBC Radio 3 Presents AWARD CONCERT THE FOUR SEASONS Christoph Croisé, (cello) IN SONG accompanied by Alexander Panfilov (piano)

Elizabeth Cooney performs internationally as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader. Now London based, she has been invited as guest principal to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Northern Sinfonia, and has performed with many other leading orchestras and performed at many major festivals.

Thurs 19 Oct Duncairn Centre for Culture and Arts £10 7.30pm (includes a programme and a complimentary glass of sparkling Swiss wine during the interval)

SWISS STAR OF TOMORROW Christoph Croisé, is a young cellist from Switzerland, whose virtuosity delights audiences and critics alike and places him amongst the ‘stars of tomorrow’. He has won many prestigious awards including a Gold Medal with Honours at the First Berlin International Music Competition in April 2017. He has performed as a soloist with several distinguished orchestras. Christoph plays a Goffriller violoncello made in Venice in 1712 and is accompanied by Alexander Panfilov, an acclaimed young Russian-born pianist. For full programme please visit website.

EGYPT / UK Fri 20 & Sat 21 Oct 7.30pm/ Sat 21 Oct 12pm Sun 22 Oct 3pm The MAC

Free

BBC RADIO 3 NEW GENERATION ARTISTS Curated by internationally-acclaimed pianist and chamber musician, Joseph Middleton. BBC Music Magazine has described him as ‘one of the brightest stars in the world of song and Lieder’; he’s been labelled ‘the cream of the new generation’ by The Times; and ‘a perfect accompanist’ by Opera Now. Joseph will be joined by four of the UK’s finest singers, one of each voice type. They will include BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists, soprano Fatma Said with Summer, and baritone Ashley Riches who will present Winter. For free tickets and full information, visit www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/ Tickets will be available from Monday 18 September.

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Photo: Felix Broede

Photo: Lube Saveski

FROM COUNTRYSIDE TO CITYSCAPE

RHAPSODY WITH RACHMANINOV

Ulster Orchestra Lunchtime Concert

Ulster Orchestra

Tues 24 Oct Ulster Hall 1.05pm

#BACKOURBID2023

Belfast City Council and Derry City and Strabane District Council are working together to develop a joint bid to become the UK’s nominated host city for the European Capital of Culture in 2023.

Fri 27 Oct £7.50

AN OUTING TO THE COUNTRY This lunchtime, take a trip to the countryside without leaving the city! Our concert starts in the peaceful calm of a forest with Mendelssohn’s overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream and continues in Anna Clyne’s beautiful elegy, Within Her Arms. A quick trip to the American Mid-West with Copland before Bernstein’s bustling Three Dance Episodes: On the Town brings us back to central Belfast with a bang! For full programme please visit our website.

Ulster Hall 7.45pm

£10 - £29

Music from Northern Europe, conducted by Norwegian conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen and featuring international star, Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski. At this concert’s heart is Rachmaninov’s showstopping Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini – a concerto in all but name, its variations on Paganini’s Caprice No.24 full of scintillating and imaginative detail. Nielsen’s two-movement Symphony No.5 completes the evening; a work full of drama and tension, composed in the aftermath of the First World War. Free pre-concert talk with Eivind Gullberg Jensen at 7pm. For full programme please visit our website.

Supported by

CLASSICAL

If successful, we’ll host a year-long programme of events that will showcase both cities and the region resulting in huge benefits. Previous Capital of Culture cities have seen significant cultural, social and economic returns and the title has acted as a catalyst for other positive change as well as raising international profile. In October 2017, the councils will submit a joint bid to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. A European Commission panel will then assess all the UK submissions and agree a shortlist of cities to go on to the second stage. If chosen, a more detailed bid is submitted, with a final decision being made in the winter of 2018. The bid team are seeking support from organisations across both cities and the general public to feed into the submission. They’re encouraging everyone to get involved, engage and back the bid! For more information or to find out how you can get involved, please contact the Belfast bid team on 028 9027 0426 or ecoc2023@belfastcity.gov.uk Find out more at www.belfastcity.gov.uk/ecoc or www.derrystrabane.com/ecoc

MUSIC

Photo: Sergio Martin

THE EXCITEMENTS SPAIN - NI PREMIERE Wed 11 Oct The Empire Music Hall 8pm (Doors 7.30pm)

£14 / £12

HOT, HOT, HOT RHYTHM AND SOUL Hailing from Spain, The Excitements provide a heady cocktail of old school soul and authentic, gritty R&B delivered straight from the hip with a whole lot of style and attitude. The Excitements continue where Etta James, Ike and Tina Turner and James Brown left off in the 1960’s, with an instantly classic sound and a rare vintage sensibility.

Of all the bands of the last decade to come out of the so-called Soul and R&B revival wave, few – if any – reach the energy level and authenticity that The Excitements deliver on stage. Known as a fast and greasy Rhythm & Blues machine, they also take care of the soul end of things, and their energetic show offers a mix of furious pace and spine-chilling slow moments alike.

‘The Excitements have provided a straight-to-the-point antidote of full-pelt soul and R&B… attacking their work with a spirit recalling the UK soul circuit circa 1965.’ MOJO ‘Classy performers who know their history’ THE GUARDIAN

Book Now belfastinternationalartsfestival.com

Photo: Louis Decarlo

ATLANTIC ARC ORCHESTRA/LULA PENA Ireland / NI / UK / France / Portugal Mon 16 Oct Grand Opera House 7.30pm

£16 / £14

A SPECIAL DOUBLE BILL Atlantic Arc Orchestra is a new collaboration, bringing together some of the world’s most respected traditional musicians, under the musical direction of Dónal Lunny. Having come together for a series of special shows such as Celtic Connections, they discovered a shared interest in exploring and cultivating contemporary expressions of traditional music. The group creates a powerful fusion that pushes the tradition to the edge of its boundaries in an organic collaboration of Irish, Scottish and Breton musical ancestry. The creative process is an improvisational journey of Celtic synergies, its rhythms, melodies and songs. Together these figureheads of the tradition form an extraordinary ensemble for a musically charged experience that redefines brilliance.

The revered Portuguese singer, composer, guitarist and poet Lula Pena appears at Festival following the January release of her third Crammed album, Archivo Pittoresco. Lula’s voice is haunting, her guitar style unique and her approach to her music deeply emotional and intense, taking in folk blues, flamenco, Latin, French chanson, orna hues fado and bossa nova. Archivo Pittoresco consists of thirteen beautiful tracks, with lyrics and poems by herself and others, from Manos Hadjidakis, Vileta Parra to Belgian surrealist Scutenaire. She sings in Portuguese, French, English, Spanish, Greek and Italian and takes us on an extraordinary journey – as the last track on the album suggests - ‘Come Wander with Me’.

‘Songs are suffused with a bleak loveliness; over graceful acoustic guitar, strummed and tapped, she fashions bittersweet tales. This is music of a deep, raw intensity.’ ✪✪✪✪ THE TIMES (ON LULA PENA)

Featuring: Dónal Lunny, Pauline Scanlon, Pádraig Rynne, Jarlath Henderson, Aidan O’Rourke, Sylvain Barou, Ewen Vernal, and John Blease.

MUSIC

DAVID LYTTLE TRIO NI Thurs 19 Oct The MAC 8pm

£12 / £10

JOURNEYS IN JAZZ It’s been an ambitious year for Co. Armaghborn David Lyttle, the MOBO Award and Urban Music Award nominated jazz drummer and producer described by Rolling Stone as ‘one of the best listening experiences you’re likely to have this year’. He’s performed in twenty countries and collaborated with a range of music stars, from jazz icon Joe Lovano to hip hop star Talib Kweli, who both appear on

his latest album Faces. In April Lyttle carried out a month-long artist residency in the U.S. performing for UFO tourists, bikers, cowboys and the suspecting general public, traveling 5000 miles in a Cadillac DeVille in an attempt to understand what people really think of jazz. Funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s prestigious Major Individual Award, the tour will be followed by an equally ambitious artist residency in China in September with the British Council and PRSF. Featuring rising star British alto saxophonist Tom Harrison and iconic U.S. bassist John Goldsby, Lyttle’s trio will perform music inspired by his experiences during both residencies.

Book Now belfastinternationalartsfestival.com

Photo: Jimmy King

PAUL CARRACK

DONNY MCCASLIN GROUP

USA - NI PREMIERE

Sat 21 Oct Grand Opera House 8pm

Wed 25 Oct £32 / £27

The Limelight 8pm

FROM BOWIE TO BEYOND

MUCH LOVED SOUL SENSATION Ranked among the most successful UK solo artists, Paul Carrack is the stunning soulful voice behind many significant British pop songs of the past few decades. As one the UK’s great singer songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, there are very few artists with a voice as distinctive as Carrack’s and even if you can’t quite place the name, we guarantee you will know a lot of his hits. Carrack has sung with Mike & The Mechanics, Roxy Music, Ace and Squeeze, making him one of the most distinctive UK vocalists for the past few decades. He has written such classics as ‘How Long’, co-written ‘Love Will Keep Us Alive’ for the Eagles and ‘Over My Shoulder’ with Mike Rutherford.

MUSIC

£18

Balancing his career between his solo work and guesting on the current Eric Clapton album / tour, Carrack has recorded 18 solo albums and the latest, Soul Shadows is his highest chart entry to date. His many sold-out shows have created a fan base who love his incredible live performances. As you would expect from someone who has played with so many top names in music, Carrack has a few tales to tell. He is utterly engaging as a front man, always with a story to tell between songs. This much-loved blue-eyed soul singer and firm favourite continues to stride forward on a hot streak of creativity that shows no signs of slowing down.

Saxophonist Donny McCaslin and his band were David Bowie‘s Blackstar band. In this concert, they play music from Beyond Now, a highly anticipated album dedicated to David Bowie. The project is deeply influenced by their extraordinary experience collaborating with one of the greatest artists of all-time on his final album. “It was like a dream except it was something I never could have dreamed of” reflects McCaslin on working hand-in-hand with Bowie on Blackstar. “David Bowie was a visionary artist whose generosity, creative spirit, and fearlessness will stay with me the rest of my days. Beyond Now is dedicated to him and to all who loved him.” With three GRAMMY® nominations and 11 albums to his name, McCaslin’s path to Bowie and Beyond

Now can be traced back to 2011 with the release of his album Perpetual Motion, taking on an electric direction for the first time, in contrast to his previous acoustic projects. Two subsequent albums Casting for Gravity and Fast Future were directly influenced by electronica artists (covering groups such as Aphex Twin), which netted McCaslin a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Improvised Jazz Solo. The once in a lifetime opportunity to work with David Bowie came when McCaslin featured as a soloist on the track Sue (Or in a Season of Crime). Subsequently, Bowie visited McCaslin and company at the 55 Bar in Greenwich Village, resulting in a new collaboration and friendship that transpired through the recording of Blackstar until Bowie’s passing. The result is Beyond Now, which documents “David Bowie’s Last Band” as they were processing both their grief and Bowie’s distinctive impact. The Donny McCaslin Group features McCaslin on saxes, Jason Lindner on keyboards, Nate Wood on drums (both of whom recorded with Bowie in McCaslin’s band) and Jonathan Maron on bass.

Book Now belfastinternationalartsfestival.com

NEW MENU NOW AVAILABLE

7 7 7

TRY OUR LUNCH SPECIAL FROM 12PM–4PM

CONTESTED LEGACIES

7 dishes for £7, 7 days of the week!

GET THE PARTY STARTED FROM AS LITTLE AS £350!

QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY AND MEMORY

LIVE MUSIC EVERY FRIDAY & SATURDAY 7PM–10PM BOOK NOW

CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR Lunch from £30 per person Dinner from £38 per person Visit www.encorebelfast.co.uk Call us on 02890 261 800 or email reception@encorebelfast.co.uk Saint Anne’s Square, 20 Talbot Street, Belfast, BT1 2LD

Saturday 14 October — Sunday 3 December 2017

Ulster Museum as part of Belfast International Arts Festival Book Now belfastinternationalartsfestival.com

POPPIES

The Belfast International Arts Festival and National Museums NI have partnered to bring Poppies: Weeping Window to Belfast, for people from Northern Ireland and across the island of Ireland to experience this unique, powerful and deeply moving sculpture.

BY PAUL CUMMINS ARTIST AND TOM PIPER DESIGNER

The sculpture by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper is one of two touring as part of 14-18 NOW, the UK’s arts programme for the First World War centenary. As with all 14-18 NOW projects, the presentation of this sculpture to new audiences across the UK aims to prompt a new, nationwide dialogue around the legacy of the war.

WEEPING WINDOW

Weeping Window is a cascade comprising several thousand handmade ceramic poppies seen pouring from a high window to the ground below. Together with a second sculptural work, Wave, they formed part of the iconic installation ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’ at the Tower of London in 2014, and were visited by over five-million people.

SATURDAY 14 OCTOBER – SUNDAY 3 DECEMBER 10AM – 4PM ULSTER MUSEUM #PoppiesTour

The Ulster Museum has a strong track record of dealing with contested histories and encouraging engagement and dialogue through sensitive interpretation and through its programme of exhibitions and events.

It is one of the most iconic buildings in Belfast, housing Northern Ireland’s national collections of art, history and natural science. Its unique architecture marries the traditional with the modern, provoking opinions and attracting visitors from across the world. The extraordinary building façade will provide a stunning backdrop for Weeping Window sculpture. Both the Ulster Museum and the city’s Botanic Gardens have long been viewed as shared venues of exploration and discovery for local people. The Museum’s location within Botanic Gardens will enable the public to not only view Weeping Window at a close, intimate range, but also to appreciate the power and spectacle of the sculpture from a distance. Weeping Window is from the installation ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’ – poppies and original concept by artist Paul Cummins and installation designed by Tom Piper – by Paul Cummins Ceramics Limited In conjunction with Historic Royal Palaces, originally at HM Tower of London 2014.

VISUAL

ARTS

Please note while the Ulster Museum is closed on Monday, Poppies: Weeping Window and the cafe and toilet facilities will be open from 10am - 4pm.

THURSDAY 19 OCTOBER 7PM ULSTER MUSEUM £5 LANGUAGES OF REMEMBRANCE What we know of war is always mediated knowledge and feeling. We need lenses to filter out some of its blinding, terrifying light. Winter reveals the ways in which different creative arts have framed our meditations on war, from painting and sculpture to photography, film and poetry, and ultimately to silence, as a language of memory in its own right. He shows how these highly mediated images of war, in turn, circulate through language to constitute our ‘cultural memory’ of war. This is a major contribution to our understanding of the diverse ways in which men and women have wrestled with the intractable task of conveying what twentieth-century wars meant to them and mean to us.

Jay Winter is the recently retired Charles J. Stille Professor of History Emeritus at Yale University, Connecticut. He won an Emmy award as co-producer of the BBC/PBS television series ‘First World War and the Shaping of the Twentieth Century’ (1996), and is a founder of the Historial de la Grande Guerre, an international museum of First World War inaugurated in 1992. He is the author of Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning: First World War in European Cultural History (1995), editor of America and the Armenian Genocide (2008), and editor-in-chief of the three-volume Cambridge History of the First World War (Cambridge, 2014). His latest book War Beyond Words: Languages of Remembrance from First World War to the Present was recently published by Cambridge University Press. Part of the associated programme for Poppies: Weeping Window in Belfast, presented in association with 14-18 NOW, WW1 Centenary Art Commissions.

WAR BEYOND WORDS TALKS AN — IDEAS —D

Professor Jay Winter, Yale USA. Hosted by Kim Mawhinney, Head of Art, National Museums Northern Ireland

Ralph Forbes, CEDaR, Northern Ireland.

THE POPPY: SURVIVAL IN A DEVASTATED BATTLEFIELD LANDSCAPE THURSDAY 26 OCTOBER 1PM ULSTER MUSEUM FREE

AND TALKSEAS — — ID

THE FLOWER OF WAR

symbolic of the blood spilled in prolonged trench warfare. Wearing the red poppy badge showed that people recognised the enormous sacrifice that had been paid by so many.

Shortly after the terrible death and destruction of First World War finally ended, the bright red corn poppy was adopted as the international emblem of war service ‘Remembrance’. Poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders and their brilliant red colour made them

Local botanist, Dr Ralph Forbes talks about the biology of the poppy, its relatives and other colourful cornfield weeds, examining how they reproduce and thrive in disturbed ground. The talk will end with information from the Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR) on how you can identify and record plant life near you.

TALKS AND — IDEAS —

Michael Longley, Northern Ireland.

THEIR SPIRITS’ SHADOW WEDNESDAY 8 NOVEMBER 1PM ULSTER MUSEUM FREE POETRY OF FIRST WORLD WAR

In each of Longley’s eleven poetry collections he has written about First World War and, in particular, his father’s experience of it as a boy-soldier. He will read and talk about those poems as well as work by some of the combatants.

TALKS AND — IDEAS —

Prof. Robert Gerwarth Dr. Marie Coleman Dr. Margaret O’Callaghan Hosted by Ronan McGreevy Germany / Ireland / UK

WHY THE FIRST WORLD WAR FAILED TO END FRIDAY 27 OCTOBER 7PM ULSTER MUSEUM FREE LEGACIES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR Without the First World War, much of Europe’s history in the twentieth century cannot be adequately explained. The rise of fascism and bolshevism, or the escalation of an even more violent conflict between 1939 and 1945 are unthinkable without the First World War. One hundred years after the end of the First World War, the legacies of that conflict still haunt us today, be it in Ireland or - even more strikingly - in the Middle East and in the current conflict between Russia and the Middle East. Here, the First World War raised questions that remain unanswered even today. Robert Gerwarth is Professor of Modern History at UCD and Director

of the Centre for War Studies. He also serves as Vice-Principal for Global Engagement in the College of Arts and Humanities. After studying history and political science in Berlin, he completed his DPhil and a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at Oxford University. Prof. Gerwarth has also held research fellowships or visiting professorships at Harvard University, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and Sciences Po Paris. In 2013-14 he was an Alexander von Humboldt Senior Research Fellow at the Herder Institute in Marburg and a Fernand Braudel Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence. His latest book The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to End was recently published by Allen Lane. Dr. Marie Coleman is a Senior Lecturer in Irish History at Queen’s University Belfast. She is the author of The Irish

Revolution (2013), The Irish Sweep (2009) and County Longford and the Irish Revolution (2002) as well as numerous articles on modern Irish history. She is involved in a number of projects relating to commemoration of the Irish decade of centenaries and is currently working on the experience of revolutionary veterans after independence, with particular reference to women. Margaret O’Callaghan MA (NUI) PhD (Cambridge) is an historian and political analyst at the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at Queen’s University, Belfast. A former Laski Research Scholar at St John’s College Cambridge and a former Fellow of Sidney Sussex, College, she has taught at the Universities of Cambridge and Notre Dame. She is the author of numerous works on aspects of British

high politics and the state apparatus in Ireland from the late nineteenth century to the revolution, on the fringe-fenian press, the careers of Richard Pigott and Tom Kettle. She co-edited with Mary E. Daly 1916 in 1966; Commemorating the Easter Rising (Royal Irish Academy, 2007).Her most recent publications are on Irish government policy on commemorating the Easter Rising of 1916 in the 1970’s, and on Roger Casement and the First World War. She is currently working on Alice Stopford Green, Roger Casement and their circles. Hosted by Ronan McGreevy from The Irish Times. He was educated at NUI Galway. He has previously worked with The Times, the London Evening Standard and The Irish Post. He has also worked as a radio and television producer with the BBC and Sky News.

CUIMHNE / MEMORY

Aisling Ghéar, Ireland.

THEATRE

FRIDAY 3 - SATURDAY 4 NOVEMBER 1PM & 3PM ULSTER MUSEUM FREE BUT PLEASE BOOK AT RECEPTION ON THE DAY IRISH MEMORIES A specially commissioned, multidisciplinary performance, celebrating Irish language arts and art practitioners and reflecting on the themes of remembrance and memory, lost memories and lost stories. Cuimhne/Memory incorporates a visual installation designed by acclaimed video artist Oisín O’Brien, a specially commissioned poem by award winning performance poet, Gearóid MacLochlainn, contemporary music from singer songwriter J.J. Ó Dochartaigh and traditional music from Dónall O’Connor. Also included will be a segment from new young writer and Tyrone woman, Susannah McKenna’s one woman show, Alice Milligan – A Girl of Genius. Milligan a poet, journalist and Republican was of Presbyterian background whose brother fought in the First World War. This event will be promenade style and is bi-lingual.

Léiriú ildisciplíneach, ag ceiliúradh ealaíona na Gaeilge agus cleachtóirí ealaíne. Rinneadh ealaíontóirí a choimisiúnú le píosaí a chruthú a dhéanann machnamh ar théamaí cuimhneacháin agus meabhrach, cuimhneacháin chaillte agus scéalta chaillte. Mar chuid den léiriú beidh suiteáil radharcach deartha ag an ealaíontóir cáiliúil físe Oisín Ó Briain, dán sainchoimisiúnaithe le file taibhealaíonta agus go leor duaiseanna buaite aige Gearóid Mac Lochlainn, ceoltóir agus scríbhneoir ceoil comhaimseartha J.J. Ó Dochartaigh agus ceol traidisiúnta uaidh Dónall O’Connor. Chomh maith leis sin, beidh píosa beag ón bhanscríbhneoir nua as Tír Eoghain, Susannh McKenna agus a seó aonair, Alice Milligan – A Girl of Genius. Ba fhile, iriseoir agus phoblachtach í Milligan as cúlra Preispitéireach ar throid a deartháir sa Chéad Chogadh Domhanda. Déanfar an seó seo i stíl promanáid agus go dátheangach.

Part of the associated programme for Poppies: Weeping Window in Belfast, presented in association with 14-18 NOW, WW1 Centenary Art Commissions.

IRISH PREMIERE SUN 22 OCTOBER 1PM BELFAST ROOM, ULSTER MUSEUM FREE A MUSICAL JOURNEY THROUGH THE BATTLEFIELDS All along the Western Front there is serenity and a tragic beauty that preserves the memories and secrets of a lost generation of young men from all over Ireland. They had different backgrounds and different faiths but on those battlefields of France and Flanders, they fought and died together, all boys of the island. Award winning musicians and composers Richard Laird and Tracey McRory have been composing music and songs since they first visited the battlefields in 2002. Their song ‘John Condon’ written along with the late Sam Starrett has been recorded by many artists around the world. Tracey’s own Granduncle was a chaplain during the First World War and wounded on the 21st October 1917 during the Battle of Passchendaele.

This special concert will highlight the stories of soldiers from the island of Ireland who fought and died during the First World War using film, imagery, music and narrative. Their stories will weave their way throughout the concert creating a musical journey of remembrance and reconciliation. Joined by renowned and champion musicians Darren Milligan and Tom Byrne this concert will take you on a musical journey through the battlefields of the First World War and will feature the Irish Premiere of ‘The Messines Suite’, which reflects both musical cultures on the island of Ireland. The final piece within the suite called ‘The Long Road’ expresses the synergy between both these divisions leading up to the capture of the village of Wytschaete on 7th June 1917. This piece was originally specially commissioned by The Irish and Northern Ireland Governments to commemorate the Battle of Messines and performed with The Royal Navy Orchestra at The Island of Ireland Peace Tower, Belgium on the 7th June 2017 in the presence of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Princess Astrid of Belgium and An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny.

Richard Laird and Tracey McRory, Northern Ireland.

BOYS OF THE ISLAND

MUSIC

SIGNS OF THE TIMES FRIDAY 10 NOVEMBER 10AM - 1PM ULSTER MUSEUM FREE SYMBOLS AND THEIR MANY MEANINGS We are surrounded by many symbols during our lives, representing belief, identity or ideology. They evoke emotional reactions and can reassure or threaten when used in certain contexts. We have given diverse meaning to flags and colours, to the shamrock, the poppy and the Red Hand and to historical events such as the Somme and the Easter Rising. People act as symbols too,

TALKS AND — IDEAS —

such as King William III, the Maid of Erin and Henry Joy McCracken as well as places such as the Boyne or Free Derry Corner. All of these symbols have meanings which are developed, refined, amended and sometimes completely changed over time, and in particular contexts. Hear from historians and commentators as we explore how powerful the use of symbols has become in shaping our history. Talks and discussions will include a keynote by Glenn Patterson, the Belfast-born writer and commentator.

PIONEERS TO PROFESSIONALS: WOMEN AND THE ROYAL NAVY TUESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 1PM – 2PM ULSTER MUSEUM FREE “Go forth pioneers” instructed the first Director of the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) to her recruits. The establishment of the WRNS, one hundred years ago today, was a

TALKS AN — IDEAS —D

watershed moment which ultimately led to the integrated service we have today. Highlighting the impact of women from the First World War to the present, Victoria Ingles, from the National Museum of the Royal Navy, also reveals stories of women’s involvement with the Navy from the age of sail.

There will be many events throughout the period when Poppies: Weeping Window is in place at the Ulster Museum. Cinemagic International Film & Television Festival for Young People will programme a series of screenings and workshops thematically linked to the installation as part of their 2017 Belfast Festival. Information to follow in the Cinemagic Programme in Autumn.

Throughout time we have used symbols to communicate messages, attitudes and identities. Follow the special symbols trail to trace symbols through the Ulster Museum’s collections of art, history and science.

The Ulster Museum’s discovery areas, Discover Art, Discover Nature and Discover History will use the Poppies as inspiration for learning and creativity.

Decade of Centenaries Tours will continue throughout this period as usual.

#PoppiesTour

SPECIAL EVENTS

MOTOSIKAI Racing Horse Presented by Crying Out Loud FINLAND - IRISH PREMIERE Sat 7 Oct Sun 8 Oct

Surprise pop-up performance, watch Festival website for details C.S. Lewis Square

12pm & 3pm

FREE

MADCAP MAYHEM FOR FAMILIES Motosikai (moto-seek-eye) is a unique, outdoor show performed around a transit van by Race Horse Company, the renowned Finnish circus artists with a reputation for madcap brilliance.

GARDENS SPEAK

Three daredevil acrobats appear and disappear from the vehicle to perform increasingly absurd and reckless tricks. With great skill and humour they fly off a huge seesaw, tumble with giant bouncing balls, juggle on skis, pogo, throw weights and push themselves to their physical limits.

Tania El Khoury

Wed 11 – Sun 22 Oct (Except Mon 16)

With its boyish clowning, exuberance and daring, Motosikai is a fun street stunt show that leaves its audiences exhilarated.

12 - 13 Shaftesbury Square 2pm, 3pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm

Suitability: For all ages. Duration 40 minutes

£5 (Booking Essential)

INTERACTIVE SOUND INSTALLATION

There will be circus activities taking place between the shows. Come along and join us!

Gardens Speak is an interactive sound installation containing the oral histories of ten ordinary people who were buried in Syrian gardens. Each narrative has been carefully constructed with the friends and family members of the deceased to retell their stories as they themselves may have recounted it. They are compiled with found audio that evidences their final moments. Across Syria, many gardens conceal the dead bodies of activists and protesters who adorned the streets during the early periods of the uprising. These domestic burials play out a continuing collaboration between the living and the dead. The dead protect the living by not exposing them to further danger at the hands

SPECIAL EVENTS

of the regime. The living protect the dead by conserving their identities, telling their stories, and not allowing their deaths to become instruments to the regime. All performances must be booked online. Latecomers may be refused entry. Age Guidance 14+ Meet the Artist: Tania El Khoury Wed 11 Oct 6pm

‘A stark, moving theater piece by Tania El Khoury, brings us into painful intimacy with the human cost of the war.’ THE NEW YORK TIMES

Book Now belfastinternationalartsfestival.com

Photo: Jesse Hunniford

LEBANON/UK – IRISH PREMIERE

FASHION & FREEDOM UK Mon 9 Oct – Sat 28 Oct Ulster University, Belfast Campus, York Street Monday – Saturday 10am – 5pm

FREE

Design by Sadie Williams, image © Jez Tozer

FASHION AND FILM INSPIRED BY WOMEN DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR

SPECIAL EVENTS

One of the most radical changes at home during the war was the huge change in women’s lives and work. With the men away fighting, more than one million women went to work for the first time during the war years – in munitions factories and on the buses, driving ambulances and even ‘manning’ the London Underground. These new responsibilities gave women new freedoms – and they also led to a new look, as tight corsets and heavy skirts were replaced by more natural and fluid silhouettes. A century later, this era has inspired Fashion & Freedom, an ambitious, multi-faceted exhibition that examines the fashion legacy of the First World War for the 21st century.

Holly Fulton and Sadie Williams are also on display. These exclusive designs are presented in an exhibition alongside new designs from students at the Belfast School of Art at Ulster University that reflect our own local cultural, political and historical contexts.

From the doyenne of British fashion, Vivienne Westwood, to Belgrade-born, London-based designer Roksanda Ilincic and rising star J.JS Lee, leading female designers created contemporary pieces inspired by the profound changes in women’s dress that occurred during the First World War. Exquisite craftsmanship courtesy of fashion stalwarts Emilia Wickstead,

Co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW and Manchester Art Gallery, supported by the British Fashion Council and Ulster University.

A series of specially commissioned original short films complement the garments on display, including films by directors from Nick Knight’s award-winning SHOWstudio, who pioneered fashion film online. Luke Snellin wrote and directed first, which reimagined a young woman’s first day at work as a bus conductor, with uniforms designed by Manchester fashion label Private White V.C.

Book Now belfastinternationalartsfestival.com

EAST WEST STREET: ON THE ORIGINS OF ‘GENOCIDE’ AND ‘CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY’

MATT FORDE: EAT. SLEEP. POLITICAL PARTY. REPEAT UK Sun 15 Oct The MAC 7.45pm

£15

Philippe Sands, with Guillaume de Chassy (piano)

COMIC CURRENT AFFAIRS

FRANCE / UK

Find the funny side of the worldwide shitstorm with the UK’s leading political comedian and star of Dave’s Unspun.

Thurs 19 Oct First Presbyterian Church, Rosemary St. 7.30pm

Now with added Trump. As seen on The Royal Variety Performance 2015 (ITV), Have I Got News For You (BBC One), Mock the Week (BBC Two) and Question Time (BBC One).

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ANNUAL LECTURE Philippe Sands’ A Song of Good and Evil offers new insights into the conflict and connections between three men at the heart of the Nuremberg trial – Cambridge academic Hersch Lauterpacht, Polish prosecutor Raphael Lemkin, and Hitler’s lawyer Hans Frank – who had a shared passion for music.

Age Guidance 16+

‘Possibly the best political comedy show on the Fringe.’ THE TELEGRAPH

A personal exploration by Philippe Sands of the origins of modern justice and the fate of individuals and groups, in images, narrative and excerpts of music by Bach, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Misraki and Leonard Cohen.

‘Forde is a first-class comic.’ THE GUARDIAN

‘Singlehandedly fulfilling comedy’s brief of taking our political masters to task. Combining spot-on impressions with up-to-the-minute observations’ ✪✪✪✪ MAIL ON SUNDAY

SPECIAL EVENTS

£8 / £6

Philippe Sands is one of the world’s leading human rights lawyers and winner of the 2016 Baillie Gifford prize for non-fiction.

Book Now belfastinternationalartsfestival.com

CELUI QUI TOMBE (HE WHO FALLS) Compagnie Yoann Bourgeois FRANCE - IRISH PREMIERE Thurs 19 - Fri 20 Oct Grand Opera House 7.30pm

£10 - £18

PERILOUS GRAVITY DEFYING SPECTACLE A 2016 Olivier Award Nominee, this thrilling circus-influenced physical theatre piece features six performers on a dramatic tilting stage, appearing to defy the laws of gravity. When the imposing, suspended podium begins to spin, pivot, swing and elevate, the only way to withstand its forces is through agile movement. Faced by such instability, bodies lean, climb, hang and fall in this perilous dance of survival. A French artist equally dedicated to the circus arts and contemporary dance, Yoann Bourgeois has long been fascinated by ideas of weightlessness and the physics of suspension. For this ingenious show, he challenges performers from both disciplines to meet the physical demands of his intriguing staging, each scenario choreographed to rousing tracks from Beethoven and Frank Sinatra.

ADDED VALUE. POST INTERVAL PANEL DISCUSSIONS

Presented by Compagnie Yoann Bourgeois and supported by Institut Français du Royaume Uni as part of its En Scène! Programme.

‘A poetic creation … it’s impossible not to fall for its charm.’ TIME OUT PARIS

Fri 20 Oct LIFE AND ART: A QUESTION OF BALANCE

FIGARO

SPECIAL EVENTS

Photo: Geraldine Aresteanu

‘Yoann Bourgeois creates performances that are exquisite, with an intense poetry, and impossible to forget.’

Thurs 19 Oct - BREXIT STAGE RIGHT In June 2016, Britain voted to leave the European Union without an account of what that would involve in practice. What might this mean for arts and cultural organisations across these islands? Join us for this special panel discussion chaired by Dr Victoria Durrer, Queen’s University, Belfast (see page 54 for details).

Book Now belfastinternationalartsfestival.com

BREXIT STAGE RIGHT… Post Interval Panel Discussion after Celui Qui Tombe Thurs 19 Oct Grand Opera House 9pm

Free

British and to a large extent, Irish politics are in a state of turbulence with Brexit its primary source. In June 2016, Britain voted to leave the European Union without an account of what that would involve in practice. As the terms of separation become clear different sectors of the economy and society, including artists and cultural organisations, are desperately trying to work out what the future means for them. Will the Treasury boldly step up to invest in arts institutions that once relied upon capital grants from the EU? Will the government bravely continue to bankroll free entry into major museums? And will the low value of the pound actually attract fresh foreign investment and visitors? Are claims true that increased administration costs from any

SPECIAL EVENTS

further restrictions on movement are “likely to damage” business models across the arts sector? And will our shared European heritage, nurtured over 70 years of vital cultural networks – both formal and informal – be diminished, thereby impacting upon our ability to attract the best minds to the United Kingdom to contribute to our cultural life? Will cultural relationships across the island of Ireland be harder to maintain if a hard border reappears between north and south? Perhaps though there is no need for all this anxious introspection as our core creativity won’t disappear with Brexit and moreover it doesn’t require any special deals. Join us for this special panel discussion chaired by Dr Victoria Durrer, Queen’s University, Belfast and featuring John Kampfner Chief Executive of the Creative Industries Federation; Maud Rattaggi, Executive Director, Centre Choréographique National De Grenoble and Noel Kelly, Director, Visual Artsts Ireland.

VISUAL ARTS

136TH ANNUAL EXHIBITION Royal Ulster Academy NI Fri 6 Oct – Sun 7 Jan Ulster Museum Open: Tuesday - Sunday

FREE

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE This year’s exhibition will showcase original works across the disciplines of the visual arts by emerging and established artists. With over 300 artworks on show there is something to inspire all ages and interests.

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Rachel Maclean – Bedwyr Williams

Belfast Print Workshop

Fri 6 Oct – Sat 18 Nov

Exhibitors include: Barbara Allen ARUA, Margaret Arthur, RUA, Betty Brown RUA, David Crone RUA, Rita Duffy RUA,

Golden Thread Gallery Open: Tuesday - Saturday

Denise Ferran PRUA, Graham Gingles RUA, Rosie McGurran RUA, Paul Seawright RUA, Dermot Seymour RUA, Arthur Watson PRSA, Colin Watson RUA, Mark Shields RUA, Victor Sloan RUA and John Sherlock RUA.

Sun 8 Oct – Sun 29 Oct FREE

CONTEMPORARY SHORT FILMS This group exhibition brings together The Lion and The Unicorn by Rachel Maclean and The Starry Messenger by Bedwyr Williams Image: Rosie McGurran, ‘When the tide turned’ Pastel on Paper, 2016

A series of talks, tours and workshops is scheduled to complement the exhibition including lunchtime talks on Wednesdays at 1pm in the Lecture Theatre of the Ulster Museum, ‘Artist Spotlight’ sessions on Friday afternoons (two artists will initiate informal gallery discussions in front of their work) and introductory guided tours (duration 40 mins) on Saturdays. For further information please visit: www.royalulsteracademy.org

VISUAL ARTS

VIDEO ENCOUNTERS

In The Starry Messenger, Williams ponders the connection between the microcosmos in a terrazzo floor and the infinite space around us. The viewer is asked to imagine themselves as a small, trapped piece of stone within a complex system. The Lion and The Unicorn is a short film inspired by the heraldic symbols found on the Royal Coat of Arms of The United Kingdom, the lion (representing England) and the unicorn (representing Scotland). Both works on loan from the British Council Collection.

FREE Crescent Arts Centre Open: 10am – 7pm daily / Launch Sun 8 Oct 3pm

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF BELFAST PRINT WORKSHOP A comprehensive exhibition and series of participatory events: highlighting the extraordinary range of technique, imagery and vision of both past and current printmaking community. 40 Years, 40 Prints, 40 Printmakers is a testament to BPW’s printmaking facilities, showcasing the legacy and spirit of a thriving network of artists. Please see www.bpw.org.uk for details of participatory events. The 403 exhibition and programme of events is gratefully funded by Belfast City Council, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the British Council.

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UK / IRELAND

THE TEMPEST: IRELAND MEMORY IDENTITY Hughie O’Donoghue

VISUAL ARTS

Tues 10 Oct – Sat 28 Oct Carlisle Memorial Methodist Church, Carlisle Circus Open: Tuesday – Sunday 10am - 5pm

FREE

AN EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS, PAINTED CONSTRUCTIONS AND SCULPTURE This exhibition of paintings, painted constructions and sculpture draw on the artist’s own experience and connections, people and places that he knew or knew of. In this exhibition for Belfast International Arts Festival, O’Donoghue has expanded on the themes explored in the body of work One Hundred Years and Four Quarters commissioned by Galway International Arts Festival in 2016. Foregrounded are three new major works, some over six meters in length and an extended version of the moving sculpture A Distant Thunder. Cinema and cinematic scale are one of the motifs of the new tarpaulin paintings exhibited in Belfast which draw their inspiration from (the) early silent cinema, in particular the work of F. W. Murnau, himself a soldier, pilot and survivor of the First World War. The ghostly image of the departing ship (actually the wreck of The Plassy on Inis Oirr) evokes The Demeter of Bram Stoker’s Dracula as envisioned by Murnau in his 1922 masterpiece of German Expressionist cinema, Nosferatu. The storm that was the last one hundred years is the starting point. Looked at from the perspective of various events O’Donoghue likens the works to the four differing accounts of a murder in Kurosawa’s 1951 film Rashomon. In the film the murder of a Samurai is recounted by four characters; a bandit, the Samurai’s wife, his own ghost and a woodcutter. Their stories are mutually contradictory and self-serving. The four characters O’Donoghue has evoked are the revolutionary, the soldier, the sailor and the rural farmer. Through their differing perspectives the events that have shaped the century are alluded to in an attempt to explore the subjective and fugitive nature of truth. Hughie O’Donoghue is one of Ireland’s leading international artists. He was elected as a member of the Royal Academy, London in 2009 and to Aosdána in 2013.

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BELFAST OPEN STUDIOS

PHLOX

Visual Artists Ireland NI

Thurs 12 Oct – Sun 26 Nov Naughton Gallery, Queen’s University Open: Tues – Sun 11am – 4pm

FREE

Sat 21 Oct Studios across Belfast 11am – 5pm

ALL FEMALE SHOWCASE

FREE

ART AND TEA TRAIL

Featuring a stimulating mix of established and emerging talent from around the world – including Laura Callaghan (UK), Anna DeFlorian (Italy), Cécile Gariépy (Canada), Fiona McDonnell (UK), Penelope Gazin (USA), and more – Phlox showcases some of the most vital work being made by female illustrators today.

Just how does an artist get from an idea to a finished exhibition? Belfast Open Studios is an invitation to the public to come and see how artists work, take a glimpse into the creative processes and meet 150 artists working in the city. You will discover new work being made and gain insight into the creative processes that lead to the work you see in galleries around the world.

Exploring identity, race and sexuality through varied techniques and approaches, the exhibition presents depictions of women as diverse as those who created them.

Enjoy a Belfast Brew on arrival, sponsored by local artisan tea makers Suki Tea.

Photo: Laura Callaghan

Photo: Malachy McCrudden

Please visit the Festival website for full details of all studios.

VISUAL ARTS

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IN PRAISE OF NASTY WOMEN Sim Bajwa, Laura Waddell & Alice Tarbuck UK Sat 7 Oct Sunflower Bar 4pm

£5

PEOPLE, POLITICS, PRESSURE, PUNK

TALKS & IDEAS

One of the most talked-about British publishing projects of the year so far, Nasty Women is a crowdfunded book of essays published by 404 Ink.

Sim Bajwa

With tolerance and inequality increasingly normalised by the day, it is more important than ever for women to share their experiences. We must hold the truth to account in the midst of sensationalism and international political turmoil. Nasty Women is a collection of essays, interviews and accounts on what it is to be a women in the 21st century. In this event, three of the contributors Sim Bajwa, Laura Waddell and Alice Tarbuck discuss their work and ideas. Chaired by Finn Kennedy, playwright, theatre maker and member of Waking the Feminists NI. We will be joined by Laura Jones, from 404 Ink, to talk about how a project like Nasty Women becomes reality.

Laura Waddell

With thanks to Hilary Copeland.

‘An essential window into many of the hazard-strewn worlds younger women are living in right now.’ MARGARET ATWOOD

Alice Tarbuck

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WOUNDS: A MEMOIR OF WAR AND LOVE Fergal Keane UK Tues 10 Oct Black Box 7pm

£5

WHAT IS A TERRORIST? Wounds: A Memoir of War and Love is a family story of a murder, blood and betrayal that tore an Irish town apart and causes men to be silent still. Trying to relate the kindly men and women of his childhood with the deeds made public long years after they died, Fergal Keane’s devastating history of a local murder asks, what is a terrorist? And how do people live with the act of killing?

winning broadcaster and author. He has reported from Northern Ireland, South Africa, Asia and the Balkans. He has been awarded a BAFTA, been named reporter of the year on television and radio, winning honours from the Royal Television Society and the Sony Radio Awards. Keane has won the George Orwell prize for literature, the James Cameron Prize and the Edward R. Murrow Award from the US Overseas Press Association.

Fergal Keane is one of the BBC’s most distinguished correspondents and an award-

Wounds: A Memoir of War and Love will be published in September 2017 by Harper Collins.

JOE BOYLE’S ADVENTURES IN THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

THE POETRY JUKEBOX The Quotidian Project – Poetry in Public Space NI - IRISH PREMIERE

Professor Geoffrey Swain, University of Glasgow

Thurs 12 Oct

Crescent Arts Centre 7pm

Wed 11 Oct Ulster Museum 1pm

FREE

Presented by Living Legacies

RUSSIAN REVOLUTION CENTENARY When the Tsar was overthrown by Kerensky in February 1917 and Kerensky was overthrown in turn by Lenin in October in the midst of World War 1, the world was changed utterly. Presented by Geoffrey Swain, Professor of History at the University of Glasgow, this fascinating talk will focus on Armagh native, Lieutenant-Colonel Joe Boyle’s key role in these events which eventually lead to him flying a biplane between Russia and Romania as he negotiated the text of the Treaty of Odessa.

TALKS & IDEAS

FREE

THE POETRY JUKEBOX This special launch brings a new and funky landmark to the island of Ireland for the first time - The Poetry Jukebox. Come and listen to one of the most eclectic contemporary on-street sound installations featuring the finest poetry from Ireland and other places. This innovative project from Belfast based poets Deirdre Cartmill and Maria McManus is part of the Qoutidian – Word on the Street project which seeks to put poetry into public space, to surprise and delight the unsuspecting. The Poetry Jukebox is brought to you in collaboration with Piana na ulici, Prague.

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HOYFM.BT.533 © Belfast Telegraph CollectionUlster Folk & Transport Museum

WOMEN AT WORK UK/ NI Sat 14 Oct £5 Ulster University, Belfast Campus, (includes tea, York Street coffee and biscuits) 4pm

PANEL DISCUSSION Join Jenna Rossi Camus, Curator of Fashion and Freedom, Dr. Vivienne Pollock, Curator of History at NMNI, Jo Egan, Co-Artistic Director of MACHA Productions and Festival Artists in Residence Deirdre Cartmill and Maria McManus as they discuss the changing nature of the workplace for women over the past 100 years. Hosted by Marie-Louise Muir. The First World War changed women’s lives but after the war, many were surplus to requirements and were forced back home. In contemporary society, women still fight against a gender pay gap, for maternity rights and equality at work. Women are judged not only by the quality of their work, but by what they wear. Join this all female panel to discuss the progress of women in society throughout the long 20th century, and what work is still needed to reach equality.

TALKS & IDEAS

MY FATHER’S WAKE: HOW THE IRISH TEACH US TO LIVE, LOVE AND DIE Kevin Toolis UK

ART HUGHES

Bernie McGill in Conversation with Jan Carson

‘Art’ in New York an Irishman’s Sketch Diary Dr. Art Hughes

IRELAND

Tues 17 Oct No Alibis Bookshop, Botanic Ave 6pm

£5

RATHLIN ISLAND MYSTERIES

Sat 14 Oct Linenhall Library 1pm

THE WATCH HOUSE

£6 / £4 (Ticket price includes tea/coffee and a sandwich)

Presented by Living Legacies

HISTORY OF THE IRISH WAKE For twenty years, writer and filmmaker Kevin Toolis saw death in famine, war and plague across the world before finding the answer to his quest on the island of his forebears. In this beautifully written and highly original memoir, he gives an intimate, eye-witness account of the death and wake of his father, and explores the wider history of the Irish Wake. Kevin Toolis is a writer and BAFTA winning filmmaker. He has written for the New York Times magazine and The Guardian and reported on conflicts across the world. Hosted by Hugh Odling-Smee.

Join author Bernie McGill as she discusses her new novel The Watch House published in August 2017 by Tinder Press. The Watch House is a story of infidelity, secrets and murder in the small Rathlin Island community, inspired by Marconi’s experiments in wireless telegraphy in the late nineteenth century. Bernie is also the author of The Butterfly Cabinet, Sleepwalkers and a contributor to The Long Gaze Back, an the acclaimed anthology of Irish women writers spanning four centuries. She has numerous theatre credits to her name.

‘McGill has the ability to enter into the brain and heart of her characters and so to make us sympathise with people who commit acts we abhor.’ JULIAN FELLOWES

Wed 18 Oct Áras Mhic Reachtain 7pm

FREE

IRISHMAN IN NEW YORK Art Hughes will discuss his travel diary and exhibition of his sketches from the year he spent in New York as a Fulbright Scholar, in 2009-2010. As Visiting Professor and Senior Fulbright Scholar, Glucksman Ireland House, at New York University, Art spent a year in the metropolis although his art and travelogue formed part of his daily routine. Dr Art Hughes is currently Reader in Irish at Ulster University and has published many books and articles on Celtic linguistics and literature. Labharfaidh Art Hughes ar a dhialann taisitil agus ar thaispeántas sceitseanna atá á chur le chéile aige ón bhliain a chaith sé i Nua-Eabharc mar Scoláire Fulbright 2009-2010. Ba mar Ollamh Cuarta agus mar Scolaire Sinsreach Fulbright a chaith Art bliain sa cheannchathair i dTeach Glucksman Ollscoil Nua-Eabhraic ach chaith sé súil laethúil ar an ealaín agus ar a dhialann. Is Léitheoir sa Ghaeilge in Ollscoil Uladh an Dr Art Hughes faoi láthair agus is iomaí leabhar agus alt i gcló aige ar theanga agus litríocht na gcultúr Ceilteach. This talk will be delivered primarily in Irish. Produced in partnership with Áras Mhic Reachtain

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JANE HARRIS AND SALLY ROONEY IN CONVERSATION WITH JOHN SELF

JOHN HEWITT BIRTHDAY READING

IN PRAISE OF FORGETTING

Sasha Dugdale, Vona Groarke and Stephen Sexton

David Rieff

Tues 24 Oct No Alibis Bookshop, Botanic Ave 7pm

£5

Jane Harris was born in Belfast and grew up in Scotland before moving to England in her 20s. Her first book The Observations was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2007. Her second novel Gillespie and I was shortlisted for the National Book Awards in 2011 and the Scottish Book Awards in 2012. She brings to Belfast her latest novel, Sugar Money, a bawdy and thrilling account of Martinique in 1765. Sally Rooney was born in the west of Ireland

Thurs 26 Oct

Wed 25 Oct The John Hewitt Bar 8pm

NOVELISTS IN CONVERSATION We are delighted to welcome to Belfast two exciting voices in literature today.

USA

in 1991. She studied English at Trinity College, Dublin, and her writing has been featured in The Dublin Review, The Stinging Fly, and Granta. Her debut novel, Conversations with Friends was published by Hogarth in July 2017 and is a sharply intelligent novel about friendship, lust, jealousy, and the unexpected complications of adulthood in the 21st century John Self is one of NI’s leading book critics, writing for a number of publications including The Guardian, Times Literary Supplement, and The Independent. His work can be found at the Asylum Blog, www.theasylum.wordpress.com

£8 / £7

THREE POETS The John Hewitt Society presents three awardwinning poets in the annual reading to mark the birth date of Belfast-born poet John Hewitt in the pub named after him. Sasha Dugdale is a poet, translator and editor who has published three collections of poetry, the most recent being Red House (Carcanet, 2011). Vona Groarke has published six collections including X, a Poetry Book Society Recommendation in 2014, and Selected Poems (2016). She currently teaches poetry at the University of Manchester. Belfast-born Stephen Sexton was the winner of the Poetry Society’s 2016 National Poetry Competition and recipient of an ACES award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Canada Room, Queen’s University 6pm

FREE

HISTORICAL MEMORY AND ITS IRONIES The conventional wisdom about historical memory is summed up in George Santayana’s celebrated phrase, ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.’ And yet is this right? David Rieff, an independent writer who has reported on bloody conflicts in Africa, the Balkans, and Central Asia, insists that things are not so simple. Ranging widely across some of the defining conflicts of modern times, Rieff presents a pellucid examination of the uses and abuses of historical memory. His contentious, brilliant, and elegant essay is an indispensable work of moral philosophy.

Presented in association with Poetry Ireland.

TALKS & IDEAS

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HILLSBOROUGH

FILM

THE BALLAD OF SHIRLEY COLLINS

Thurs 19 Oct Queen’s Film Theatre 6pm

£6.70 / £5

96 men, women and children died as a consequence of a foreseeable fatal crush on the terraces of the Hillsborough football stadium on 15 April 1989. What followed was one of the longest and most painful fights for justice in British legal history. Daniel Gordon’s BAFTAwinning film meticulously and powerfully presents the true story of how families and campaigners fought for the final vindication of those who had suffered on that day. Followed by a Q&A with Queen’s University Professor Phil Scraton, factual consultant for the film and primary author of the Hillsborough Independent Panel’s ground-breaking 2012 Report. DIR: DANIEL GORDON • UK • 2016 • 2 HRS 1 MINS

Tues 24 – Thurs 26 Oct Queen’s Film Theatre 6.20pm

£6.70 / £5

One of the 20th century’s most important singers, Shirley Collins stood at the epicentre of the folk music scene during the 1960s and 1970s. However, she lost her voice in mysterious circumstances, and retired from musical life. This documentary explores the story behind the icon, and chronicles Shirley’s battle, at the grand old age of 80, to rediscover that voice she lost so many years previously. Here is a film about loss and redemption; a film about sacrifice, healing and rebirth. A film which suggests that, during these turbulent, untethered times, we might just need Shirley Collins now more than ever. Tuesday 24 October screening will be followed by a Q&A with the film’s directors and producer. DIR: ROB CURRY & TIM PLESTER UK • 2017 • 1 HR 34 MINS

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SERGEI M. EISENSTEIN: THE LANGUAGE OF CINEMA. Born in 1898 in Riga, Latvia, Sergei Eisenstein became one of the most world-renowned filmmakers and film theorists of the 20th century bringing a revolutionary spirit to the art of film, in particular his ideas around montage.

Coinciding with the 100th Anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917, portrayed in Eisenstein’s film October (1928), this season of films pays tribute to one of cinema’s most influential figures, a leading architect of the language of cinema. All films in this season are presented at QFT in 35mm format.

Queen’s Film Theatre 6.20pm

£6.70 / £5

One of the first major films of the Soviet Montage movement, Strike is a highly political

Tues 17 Oct Queen’s Film Theatre 7.50pm

STRIKE Thurs 12 Oct

OCTOBER: TEN DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD

propaganda film with strong statements about collectivism. The film depicts a strike in the year 1903 by the workers of a factory in pre-revolutionary Russia, and explores the labourers’ tension and hardship under the ruling class.

£6.70 / £5

Co-directed with Grigori Aleksandrov, Eisenstein’s October is an epic recreation of the events that led to the storming of the Winter Palace in October 1917. A stunning achievement in cinema, October is powerful, personal and controversial – initially banned, with its first British screenings only taking place in 1935. SOVIET UNION • 1928 • 1 HR 43 MINS • SILENT

SOVIET UNION • 1925 • 1 HR 22 MINS • SILENT

WHAT SHOULD A SOVIET FILM BE? A talk by Ian Christie Tues 17 Oct Queen’s Film Theatre 6.20pm

£5 / £4

Lenin famously declared that ‘film was the most important art’ for the Bolsheviks, but died before the new Soviet cinema got started. As the tenth anniversary of the October revolution approached, there was competition and controversy over how it should be marked on screen. Film historian Ian Christie contributed to London’s two major art exhibitions marking the centenary of 1917, and here offers a guide to what was happening on the kino Front before October appeared.

FILM

Sergei Eisenstein

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BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN

DOUBLE BILL: IVAN THE TERRIBLE, PARTS I & II

Wed 18 Oct Queen’s Film Theatre 6.20pm

£6.70 / £5

Battleship Potemkin is a must-see for anyone interested in the history of cinema. Portraying the true story of a sailors’ revolt on board the Battleship Potemkin and the subsequent massacre of the Odessa citizens who have supported them, the film is truly a landmark of cinema. CERT PG•SOVIET UNION • 1925 • 1 HR 14 MINS • SILENT

Sat 21 Oct Queen’s Film Theatre 6.20pm

£10 / £8

Regularly cited on ‘Greatest Films’ lists, the two parts of Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible are epic in scope and awesome in visuals. The first film, released in 1945, was much admired by Stalin, for whom Ivan was a personal hero. Part II however was suppressed by the censors and a third planned film was unfinished at the time of Eisenstein’s death in 1948. CERT PG•SOVIET UNION • 1945/46 • 3 HR 20 MINS INC. INTERVAL • SUBTITLED

FILM

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AT A GLANCE Friday 6 October Compassion: The History of the Machine Gun Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters Saturday 7 October Compassion: The History of the Machine Gun Motosikai Photography Symposium Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters In Praise of Nasty Women (Sim Bajwa, Laura Waddell & Alice Tarbuck)

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Sunday 8 October Fidelio Trio Motosikai Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition 40³

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Monday 9 October 40³ Fashion and Freedom

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Tuesday 10 October Wind Resistance Doreen Curran Seamus Heaney: Words and Music Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Fergal Keane: Wounds

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Wednesday 11 October Wind Resistance The Mariinsky Orchestra The Excitements Gardens Speak: Meet the Artist Tanya El Khoury Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Joe Boyle’s Adventures in the Russian Revolution

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AT A GLANCE

Thursday 12 October Fire Below Gardens Speak Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox The Poetry Jukebox Strike Friday 13 October Fire Below Dancing at the Disco at the End of the World Opening Night Tordre (Wrought) Stravinsky’s Firebird Gardens Speak Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox Launch The Poetry Jukebox Saturday 14 October Fire Below Dancing at the Disco at the End of the World Tordre (Wrought) Stravinsky’s Firebird Poppies: Weeping Window Gardens Speak Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox The Poetry Jukebox Women and Work Panel My Father’s Wake: How the Irish Teach Us to Live, Love and Die

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Sunday 15 October Fire Below Dancing at the Disco at the End of the World Elizabeth Cooney (violin) & Ruth McGinley (piano)

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Poppies: Weeping Window Gardens Speak Fashion and Freedom Matt Forde Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox The Poetry Jukebox

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Monday 16 October Dancing at the Disco at the End of the World (Schools Matinee) The Atlantic Arc Orchestra / Lula Pena Double Bill

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Poppies: Weeping Window Gardens Speak Fashion and Freedom 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue The Poetry Jukebox

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Tuesday 17 October Fire Below Dancing at the Disco at the End of the World Soldier Still Poppies: Weeping Window Gardens Speak Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox The Poetry Jukebox Bernie Magill: The Watch House What Should A Soviet Film Be? October (Ten Days That Shook the World) (1928)

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Wednesday 18 October Fire Below Dancing at the Disco at the End of the World Can’t Pay Won’t Pay Soldier Still Poppies: Weeping Window Gardens Speak Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox The Poetry Jukebox Art Hughes Battleship Potemkin (1925) Thursday 19 October Fire Below Dancing at the Disco at the End of the World Can’t Pay Won’t Pay Swiss Ambassador’s Concert: Christoph Croisé, Cello David Lyttle Trio Poppies: Weeping Window War Beyond Words: Jay Winter Gardens Speak Fashion and Freedom East West Street: On the Origins of “Genocide” and “Crimes Against Humanity” Celui Qui Tombe (He Who Falls) / Brexit Stage Right Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters / 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox The Poetry Jukebox Jane Harris and Sally Rooney Hillsborough and Phil Scraton talk

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AT A GLANCE Friday 20 October Fire Below Dancing at the Disco at the End of the World Can’t Pay Won’t Pay Four Seasons in Song Poppies: Weeping Window Gardens Speak Fashion and Freedom Celui Qui Tombe (He Who Falls) Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters / 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox The Poetry Jukebox Saturday 21 October Fire Below Dancing at the Disco at the End of the World Can’t Pay Won’t Pay New Playwrights Showcase Four Seasons in Song Paul Carrack Poppies: Weeping Window Gardens Speak Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox Belfast Open Studios Double Bill: Ivan the Terrible (Part 1) (1945) and Ivan The Terrible (Part 2) (1958) The Poetry Jukebox Sunday 22 October Fire Below Can’t Pay Won’t Pay New Playwrights Programme showcase Four Seasons in Song Poppies: Weeping Window / Boys of the Island Gardens Speak Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox The Poetry Jukebox

AT A GLANCE

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Monday 23 October Fire Below Dancing at the Disco at the End of the World Can’t Pay Won’t Pay New Playwrights Showcase Poppies: Weeping Window 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue The Poetry Jukebox Tuesday 24 October Fire Below Dancing at the Disco at the End of the World From Countryside to Cityscape Poppies: Weeping Window Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox The Poetry Jukebox Jane Harris & Sally Rooney The Ballad of Shirley Collins Wednesday 25 October Fire Below Dancing at the Disco at the End of the World Lives in Translation Donny McCaslin Group Poppies: Weeping Window Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox The Poetry Jukebox John Hewitt Birthday Readings The Ballad of Shirley Collins

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Thursday 26 October Fire Below Dancing at the Disco at the End of the World Lives in Translation Hard to Be Soft Poppies: Weeping Window Growth From Destruction Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox The Poetry Jukebox In Praise of Forgetting The Ballad of Shirley Collins Friday 27 October Fire Below Dancing at the Disco at the End of the World Lives in Translation Hard to Be Soft Rhapsody with Rachmaninov Poppies: Weeping Window Why the FWW failed to end Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox The Poetry Jukebox

BOX OFFICE

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Saturday 28 October Fire Below New Playwrights Programme showcase Lives in Translation Hard to Be Soft Poppies: Weeping Window Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox The Poetry Jukebox Later dates Fire Below New Playwrights Showcase Poppies: Weeping Window Cuimhne / Memory Their Spirit’s Shadow Women of the Royal Navy Fashion and Freedom Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition Video Encounters 40³ The Tempest: Hughie O’Donoghue Phlox The Poetry Jukebox Symbols Seminar

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Book directly through the Festival box office which this year is being run in partnership with the MAC. ONLINE: belfastinternationalartsfestival.com IN PERSON: The Festival Box Office at the MAC. The box office is open every day from 10am – 6pm. All box office terms and conditions can be found on our website. For regular event updates check

Belfast International Arts Festival @BelfastFestival

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No Alibis Bookshop Queen’s Film Theatre Riddel’s Warehouse S13, Boucher Road (Old B&Q Building) 23. Ulster Hall 24. Ulster Museum 25. Ulster University, Belfast Campus

19. 20. 21. 22.

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#BACKOURBID2023

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