Quarterbeat | June 2013

UU BELFAST DEVELOPMENT | BELFAST PHOTO FESTIVAL | PICK ‘N’ MIX | OPEN HOUSE | WHAT’S ON

QUARTER BEAT Monthly News & Listings for Belfast’s Cultural Quarter

www.thecathedralquarter.com

#5 ISSUE

JUNE 2013

Artists impression of the proposed landmark building along York Street.

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE Laura Haydon At the Golden Thread gallery on the edge of Cathedral Quarter, a miniature city lies spread out on display. The 3D model of Belfast is the brainchild of the Forum for an Alternative Belfast, and at first it’s disorientatingly hard to navigate. There are no signs or labels and it’s uniformly white, so you’ve only the shapes, volumes and axes of the buildings and streets to go on. A few landmarks quickly emerge – the City Hall with its domed roof; St Anne’s Cathedral with its portico and spire; the low-slung apexes of St George’s market.

From them, the eye is drawn along vistas created at a time when civic pride was high and town planning a joined-up affair – City Hall a proud flourish to the Victorian thoroughfare of Royal Avenue; the important civic structures of Clifton House and the Assembly Rooms facing each other at either end of Donegall Street, itself Quarter Beat June 2013, Issue 5 Published by Cathedral Quarter Trust 3-5 Commercial Court, Belfast BT1 2NB 028 9031 4011 | info@cqtrust.org Design by Rinky rinky.org

punctuated by the spires of St Patrick’s church and St Anne’s cathedral.

“The model is designed to allow people to look at the city as a whole and see how different parts relate to each other,’ explains Declan Hill, one of the architects who founded FAB. “Planning powers for Belfast will eventually be devolved to the City Council and as the Belfast Masterplan emerges, we would like them to use this model to consider planning applications in context.”

Looking at the model, the jewel-like 18th, 19th and early 20th century edifices and their relationship with each other shine with a distinctive identity, despite being dwarfed by the anonymous oblong hulks around them. Had FAB included a model of UU’s new Belfast Campus, planned to front York Street and rising to a dizzying 11 storeys along Frederick Street, it would have eclipsed all its neighbours, exquisite or not. Despite objections to the scale of the proposed campus from FAB, full planning permission was granted in March. “If the proposal had been looked

Supported by:

at in the context of the overall city centre model, the vast scale of the development would have become apparent. There was no overall vision brought to bear,” says Hill.

The campus, which will accommodate 11,000 students and 1,200 staff, is to be the civic centrepiece of a brave new Belfast.

It represents a huge regeneration and educational opportunity. Funded to the tune of £250 million, “it’s going to be big by definition,’ according to UU’s Pro-Vice

Chancellor, Alasdair Adair. FAB and others have complained that the massing and scale of the campus, particularly so close to the historic buildings of Cathedral Quarter, go against the urban grain of the area. They have suggested building on some of the many nearby patches of unused land rather than construct a behemoth on a single site. Adair says this would run counter to UU’s ethos. “The new educational paradigm is about getting synergy at interdisciplinary interfaces. To make advances in healthcare, for example, we need to put biomedical sciences, computing and management under the same roof so we can nurture innovation,” he explains.

If faculties can’t be spread around then, argues FAB, why not increase the Continued on page 2

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK The new Belfast Campus of the University of Ulster, scheduled to open in 2018, will bring together the faculties of art, architecture, hospitality, Irish language, event management, photography and digital animation currently based in Belfast with Jordanstown’s faculties of engineering, computing and mathematics, social sciences, business, and communication.

Gathering together the University’s dispersed departments on a single campus in the city centre will enable a whole new level of creative and innovative exchange amongst the academic, commercial and local communities.

Vice Chancellor Richard Barnett states “Our vision of an open and publicly

accessible city campus will have significant benefits for the city of Belfast and for Northern Ireland as a whole, ...creating educational, economic, social and cultural opportunities.”

Conánn FitzPatrick, 3D animation expert and Lecturer in the School of Art & Design, is looking forward to the new campus. `What happens when you bring a broad spectrum of disciplines together?

Innovation! Great things happen through chance encounters with new ideas. Computer sciences and Digital Design will be next to each other, creating new opportunities for collaboration and invention.

Continued on page 2

Left: Willie John Ashcroft, Above: The Alhambra

CQ UNCOVERED

THE SOLID MAN Peter O’Neill on the the life and times of Willie John Ashcroft (1840-1918).

Now largely forgotten, the story of William John Ashcroft is worth recalling in the history of the Cathedral Quarter in Belfast and indeed of comedy in Northern Ireland. Ashcroft was the outstanding ‘Irish’ comedian of his generation and a much loved performer who had a pervasive impact on the representation of Irish people in British popular culture.

Born in 1840 in Rhode Island, USA, Ashcroft was a talented singer, comedian and dancer, who bought the Alhambra Theatre of Varieties in Lower North Street, Continued from page 1 ground floor footprint by wrapping around the top end of Frederick and Donegall Streets, which would yield the same square metrage while more than halving the height? “We looked into that and found the owner of the land did not want to sell.

Also there is very little land there. It’s not feasible,” insists Adair.

FAB has also objected to the orientation of the building, which “physically and symbolically turns its back” on North Belfast. Objections from Carrick Hill residents were heeded and an entrance and exit are now planned for Frederick Street. However, Hill believes more could have been done. “The campus on the north side of the city is such a great opportunity, the potential is massive,” says Hill. “The wraparound solution would have created frontage towards Carlisle Circus, the New Lodge and wider North Belfast.”

Instead, UU has placed its service yard and bin stores on the development’s north face. UU argues that DRD access rules gave them little choice.

For Patricia Freedman, director of the Cathedral Quarter Trust, the critical issue is whether UU will connect with local communities or act as a barrier, and

Belfast in 1879. Ashcroft’s parents had emigrated from Belfast to the States and he had always retained an ambition to live in Belfast. After a successful career on the stage in America, he married the English actress Kitty Brooks, and relocated to England where he achieved even greater fame and fortune. With the proceeds of his success, on a whim, he purchased the first music hall in Belfast, the Alhambra, when he and his wife visited the city during a tour in August 1879.

Local historian, Stewart McFetridge, describes the theatre as: “.....without parallel in its day, and most of the headliners in the music hall spectrum trod its boards.” Such performers included, for example, Charles Coborn,

whether it will bring educational benefits to the people most impacted by the development.“We’d like to see UU working directly with local communities to ensure that 13-year-olds in those neighbourhoods today will find themselves at UU five years from now,” she says. If that’s to happen, there will need to be a sea-change in attitudes, according to Paul Roberts of the Ashton Centre in the New Lodge.

“Laganside made promises of benefits to neighbouring communities when it was set up, yet they are as badly off now as when the corporation came into being.”

Freedman wants to encourage people to go to look at FAB’s model of the city at the Golden Thread, and the plans and photomontages of the new campus on display in the foyer of the Art College, and think about the wider issues around planning decisions like this one.

For those who do, the silhouettes of the finely-wrought buildings of Belfast’s heyday will speak volumes about the skills of generations of local craftsmen. They are the expression of local working-class talent set in brick and stone. It is to be hoped that the new Belfast campus will once again set that talent free.

Dan Leno, Harry Lauder, Vesta Tilley, Charlie Chaplin’s father and Marie Loftus, to name but a few. JC Beckett also notes: “Entertainment at the Alhambra did not lack variety, and on occasion included dipping small boys in barrels of tar for sixpences, or racing through hot apple dumplings with their hands tied behind their backs for similar prizes.”

Ashcroft and his wife quickly transformed the theatre and his routines attracted huge audiences. According to Irish music hall historians Eugene Watters and Matthew Murtagh: “The image of the Irish in popular entertainment was in greater need of revision in Britain than it was in America. Music hall audiences were evidently fascinated

by Ashcroft’s self-confident, ‘elevated’ Irish Yank, so different from the typical English stage Irishman or the ape-like Paddies in the cartoons in Punch. Ashcroft’s Irish Songand- Dance Characterisations from the raw New World went well in London, and he played leading Halls to crowded Houses. In 1876, he had a huge success with ‘Muldoon the Solid Man’.”

Ashcroft became famous for his rendition of this song, which was a version of a New York hit from the 1874 musical Who Owns the Clothesline. According to McFetridge, Ashcroft portrayed ‘Muldoon the Solid Man’ in: “top hat, mutton chops, whiskers, white vest and frock coat – the self made, flamboyant Irishman who had made it good - bluff, honest, generous and proud of it. And it made such an impression both in Europe and America that he was always referred to as the Solid Man.” Ashcroft built his stage character around ‘the Solid Man’ which became enshrined in the annals of music hall and was even referenced in James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake: “......from Pat Mullen, Tom Mallon, Dan Meldon, Don Maldon a slickstick picnic made in Moate by Muldoons. The solid man saved by his sillied woman. Crackajolking away like a hearse on fire.”

Ashcroft had another big success with McNamara’s Band, a song written

especially for him by John Stamford, the stage manager of the Alhambra. Stamford may also have written other songs for Willie John, including the very popular The Brick Came Down and The Old Familiar Faces.

With competition from the Empire Theatre and the Grand Opera House and the emergence of the ‘moving pictures’, box office receipts at his theatre fell during the 1890s. Ashcroft’s music hall career diminished after 1900 when, separated from his wife and suffering from poor mental health, he was forced to sell the Alhambra. He had attempted suicide in the theatre in 1895 following his involvement in a scandalous court case. Nevertheless he continued to perform and undertook a number of tours in Britain before his health failed.

Benefit performances for ‘the Solid Man’ were held in Dublin and Glasgow but Ashcroft never recovered and he ended his days in January 1918 in Belfast’s Purdysburn Asylum. He is buried in Belfast City cemetery. His famous theatre, the Alhambra, was demolished in 1959 following a fire.

In an obituary published by Ireland’s Saturday Night under the headline “Passing of Ireland’s Greatest Comedian”, the funeral of Willie John Ashcroft was reported as follows: “The coffin was borne by relays of bearers and the funeral cortege proceeded along High Street en route to the City Cemetery. Right away from the church in Royal Avenue the sidepaths were thronged with crowds of citizens, and the long journey was marked by many public tokens of bereavement.... Many also were present who knew the famous comedian more by his theatrical eminence than his personal attributes, and thousands too, were there who had been thrilled by his pathos or moved to laughter by the never-to-be forgotten agency of his wonderful genius...And now, ‘Willie John’ a fond adieu! You with your happy smile, your lithe foot, your merry wit, your ever-open countenance and kindly feeling for everybody – farewell! The writer knows what everybody who ever knew you would like to say, and he expresses it for them - GOOD NIGHT, ‘WILLIE’ ASHCROFT, YOU WERE A SOLID MAN.” Peter O’Neill is FestivalDirector of Belfast Comedy Festival Belly Laughs taking place 27 September - 6 October 2013.

Elderbeast, by Gerard Dunleavy, Student of the Year - 2012 CG Student Awards, gerarddunleavy.me

Continued from page 1 Conánn, whose background includes experience with Dreamworks in California, has teamed up with Professor Greg Maguire, one of the world’s leading animators (of Happy Feet, Avatar and Spiderman3 fame - to mention a few). Together they have developed the University’s new Interaction and Animation Studio in Belfast. Their courses emphasise cooperative learning across a range of disciplines, including design for mobile technologies, visual effects, computer animation and visualisation.

Conánn is excited about the opportunities to develop new products.

“It could be a Film or TV series, a new character upon which a franchise can be created, mobile game or medical visualisation. We’re supporting our students to be creative team players with a firm grasp of design thinking and product development. Student-led innovation leads to spin-outs, which lead to the creation of new small businesses that will want to locate nearby in Cathedral Quarter – and that’s good for the city.”

In the past few years, the fields of animation and interaction have experienced unprecedented growth.

Animation has become a significant part of the film, television, games and interface design - from Jurassic Park to Avatar, Angry Birds to Call of Duty, Xbox to the iPhone.

Greg, a University of Ulster graduate himself, is confident that Northern Ireland is in a strong position to exploit

For more information visit forumbelfast.org

FAB’s model of Belfast city centre, showing at Golden Thread Gallery as part of Belfast / a method.

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the opportunities presented by creativity and technology. “With a burgeoning film industry, a growing talent base and a local government focused on growing the creative economy, Northern Ireland is ideally placed to become a new major player. We need a vibrant talent pool of world-class animators and interaction designers to underpin the sector’s growth and development, credibility, future competitiveness and improved productivity.”

Conánn says the Cathedral Quarter is a great place for all this to be happening, the layout of the streets and lanes lends itself to serendipity. “Creativity needs both randomness and structure. That’s why teamwork is so important in our teaching.

In partnership with the University, the Cathedral Quarter is already emerging as a hub for creative industries. Its quirky character and meandering streets lend themselves perfectly to the kind of chance encounters that can ignite creative sparks. We work with people from all over the world and have developed many international relationships. The Cathedral Quarter has the potential to become a real focal point for creative partnerships and inward investment.”

Animation students at the University are already attracting attention and winning prizes. Greg sees huge potential.

“Northern Ireland could model the future of its creative industries on New Zealand. It has grown its industry from zero to the equivalent of a massive £1.8bn over the last few years, with visual effects and animation contributing about half.”

PICK ‘N’ MIX PICTURE PERFECT RETURNS exhibition produced in partnership by Belfast Exposed and the MAC. Celebrating 30 years of Belfast Exposed, experienced.”

From colour to shadow, another highlight is sure to be Underground by Gemma Gore at Belfast Print Workshop.

The culmination of a residency during which Gore was seeking and exploring underground spaces in and around Belfast, Underground fuses shadowy spaces with excerpts from subterranean fiction.

Another unmissable photographic delight in the heart of CQ is the major Northern Ireland: 30 Years of Photography exhibition produced in partnership

by Belfast Exposed and the MAC. Celebrating 30 years of Belfast Exposed, the exhibition features significant works by key photographers to examine new photographic practices in Northern Ireland.

Many of the photographers included in this exhibition, such as Craig Ames, Sylvia Grace Borda, Ursula Burke, Willie Doherty, Paul Graham, Sean Hillen, Patrick McCoy, Moira McIver, Mary McIntyre, Jonathan Olley, Mark Power, Paul Seawright, Victor Sloan and Hannah Starkey are internationallyrecognised, but this is the first time they have been showcased together as part of the celebration of 30 years of Belfast Exposed.

But if you can’t bear to leave your dark room during daylight hours, never fear since aftershow Photo Festival parties are also taking place most nights in venues dotted around Cathedral Quarter, including Oh Yeah Centre, Black Box and 21 Social, giving you ample opportunity to Instagram some quintessentially hipster festival shots or indulge in a bit of street style reportage.

Maeve O’Lynn

OPEN HOUSE For their 15th festival Open House will be getting up-close-and-personal. Most music aficionados agree that folk music works best in an intimate, live setting. Damned right it does. It’s easier to connect with a fiddle player when you can see the whites of his eyes. All Open House events in 2013 will be taking place in relaxed, familiar and intimate venues and, seeing as it’s their 15th birthday, they are celebrating by giving you 15 shows at just £5 each, plus a whole series of free events including Irish and American traditional music sessions. Highlights of the 15th Open House Festival include performances from Simone Felice, Lúnasa, Luka Bloom, Morgan O’Kane, Jesca Hoop, Bhi Bhiman, Little Bear and dozens more folk, traditional and Americana artists.

For further details and to avail of the £5 ticket prices visit www.openhousefestival.com

It’s been two years in the making, with tens of thousands expected to pass through the doors of over 30 different galleries, museums and public spaces across the city centre – the Belfast Photo Festival returns from 6-30 June.

This year’s city-wide celebration of the photographic image will have a variety of stunning exhibits featuring the cream of local and global talent. Roger Ballen, Mirko Martins and Cedric Delsaux are among the internationally renownednames at the festival, alongside a dizzying array of workshops, film screenings, portfolio reviews, tours and live events, which offer participation and enjoyment of the photographic medium and Northern Ireland’s rich photographic heritage.

Keeping things local, one Cathedral Quarter highlight in this year’s Photo Festival includes an installation by local artist Sara O’Gorman at PS2 Gallery. Peter Mutschler from PS2 commented “I wanted an installation which would, in some way, involve passers by. Sara’s installation plays to the street, a passer-by will just see a blurred image, but placed at the right position - looking through the coloured transparent stripes - the ‘real’ image will be experienced.”

From colour to shadow, another highlight is sure to be Underground by Gemma Gore at Belfast Print Workshop.

The culmination of a residency during which Gore was seeking and exploring underground spaces in and around Belfast, Underground fuses shadowy spaces with excerpts from subterranean fiction.

Another unmissable photographic delight in the heart of CQ is the major Northern Ireland: 30 Years of Photography

View the full Belfast Photo Festival programme at belfastphotofestival.com or see map below for exhibitions in Cathedral Quarter.

Now in its sixth year, the Pick n Mix Festival returns to the MAC for a weekend-long festival featuring the very best of local music, theatre and dance from NI’s top theatre and dance companies and the hottest emerging talent. The MAC’s annual weekend-long festival returns this summer from 14-16th June bringing 28 performances from 14 of NI’s leading and emerging theatre and dance companies together under one roof for a jam packed programme of mini-plays, staged readings, dance performances and sneak peeks of brand new work.

The eclectic Festival line-up includes a rock pop musical, an Irish language play, rehearsed readings, a dancemix, a number of short plays, and even the MAC’s Cathedral Quarter Quarterly Quiz, hosted

by Leonie McDonagh from ponydance.

We caught up with Niall Rea, from TheatreofplucK (Northern Ireland’s first publicly funded gay theatre company) and one of the resident artists at the MAC. Niall describes Pick n Mix as “a delicious smorgasbord of Belfast theatrical talent trying out new things” and explains TheatreofplucK’s central role in Pick n Mix 2013 as being “so special as we are the only company producing two pieces - a fantastic support for us and for queer culture!”

Niall’s word to the wise is that “Peter Quigley as Pauline in Tuesday at Tesco will be a must see - and will sell out very quickly as audience capacity is very limited for this site specific special production teaser.”

See themaclive.com for up-to-date festival listing .ndividual performances cost £6 per ticket or festival-goers can make the most of the weekend with the Ultimate Compilation Ticket which allows you the chance to enjoy any 6 shows for just £30.

MY CQ: BELFAST PHOTO FESTIVAL New Talent Annual Exhibition University of Ulster, York Street 8 - 25 June This annual exhibition will present the new photographic talent coming out of Belfast School of Arts department of photography.

Edge Of The Real

by Roger Ballen Golden Thread Gallery 6 - 30 June

Northern Ireland - 30 Years Of Photography The MAC & Belfast Exposed 7 May - 7 July The exhibition brings together significant works by some of the most influential photographers of the last three decades to present a contemporary view of Northern Ireland featuring 200 photographs by over 30 artists.

Fantastic Voyage

by Sara O’Gorman PS2 Gallery 7 - 22 June This new work explores dystopian themes and some of the kitsch qualities from Sci-Fi and horror movies of the 1950’s. By creating a composite of cropped and rephotographed images, this work brings two narratives together, compelling the viewer to construct a third new understanding of the double images.

Underground - ‘Subterranean Typologies’ by Gemma Gore Belfast Print Workshop 8 - 30 June Taking an initial departure from subterranean novels, where the psychological experience of underworlds are described: absence of natural light, strange acoustics and the shifting experience of time; Gemma has been researching subterranean locations such as mines, caves, and tunnels systems.

ET 3

Enter the mind of a photographer who has been described as one of the most important of his generation, where in this exhibition his highly evocative and sometimes unnerving imagery presents the idea and influence of the ‘Spectacle.’

WHAT’S ON JUNE EXHIBITIONS Late Night Art: 6 June Galleries open until 9pm Contemporary Jewellery 6 - 28 June CraftNI Gallery, Cotton Court, 42 Waring St., BT1 2ED, craftni.org Edge Of The Real by Roger Ballen 6 - 30 June Golden Thread Gallery, 84-94 Great Patrick Street BT1 2LU goldenthreadgallery.co.uk Artist Talk: 7pm, 17 June Belfast School of Art Annual Exhibition 7 - 15 June University of Ulster, York Street ulster.ac.uk Fantastic Voyage

by Sara O’Gorman 7 − 22 June PS2, 18 Donegall St, BT1 2GP pssquared.org Underground - ‘Subterranean Typologies’ by Gemma Gore 8 - 30 June Belfast Print Workshop Gallery Cotton Court BT1 2ED, bpw.org.uk ‘To Architect’- Paul Bower 24 - 26 June PS2, 18 Donegall St, BT1 2GP pssquared.org Belfast / A Method 2 May - 6 June Golden Thread Gallery, 84-94 Great Patrick Street BT1 2LU goldenthreadgallery.co.uk Northern Ireland 30 Years of Photography 10 May - 7 July The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ, themaclive.com Belfast Exposed, 23 Donegall Street BT1 2FF, belfastexposed.org

WEEKLY EVENTS MONDAYS Live Jazz @ Bert’s Jazz Bar Free, 9pm, themerchanthotel.com Open Mic at The John Hewitt Free, 9.30pm, thejohnhewitt.com Monopollie @ Ollie’s Nightclub £3, 10pm, olliesclub.com TUESDAYS Brogue at The John Hewitt Free, 8pm, thejohnhewitt.com Live Jazz @ Bert’s Jazz Bar Free, 9pm, themerchanthotel.com WEDNESDAYS Traditional Session @ McHughs Free, 7pm, mchughsbar.com Live Jazz @ Bert’s Jazz Bar Free, 9pm, themerchanthotel.com THURSDAYS Ollie’s Rocks @ Ollie’s Nightclub £5, 9pm, olliesclub.com Live Jazz @ Bert’s Jazz Bar Free, 9pm, themerchanthotel.com Sweet Trev & The Blue Notes @ The John Hewitt Free, 9.30pm, thejohnhewitt.com FRIDAYS Das Vibic @ Black Box Free, 8pm, blackboxbelfast.com Feelgood Fridays @ 21 Social Free, 4pm, 21social.co.uk Traditional Session @ Whites Tavern Free, 7pm, whitestavern.co.uk Panama Jazz Band @ The John Hewitt Free, 8.30pm, thejohnhewitt.com Live Jazz @ Bert’s Jazz Bar Free, 9pm, themerchanthotel.com The Golden Years @ The Duke of York, £5, 9pm Lipstick @ Ollie’s Nightclub £5, 10pm, olliesclub.com Famous Fridays Free/£5, 10pm, myntbelfast.com SATURDAYS The BIG John Hewitt Early Session Free, 5.30pm, thejohnhewitt.com Dana Masters Jazz Sextet @ McHughs Free, 5.30 − 7.30pm, mchughsbar.com Trad Session @ Whites Tavern Free, 8pm, whitestavern.co.uk Bert’s After Hours @ Bert’s Jazz Bar Free, 9pm, themerchanthotel.com Secret Society @ Ollie’s Nightclub £10, 9pm, olliesclub.com Club Eclectic @ The Duke of York £5, 9pm Radio K @ McHughs £5, 10pm, mchughsbar.com Rewind Saturdays Free/£5, 10pm, myntbelfast.com SUNDAYS Social Sundays @ 21 Social Free, 5pm, 21social.co.uk Live Jazz @ Bert’s Jazz Bar Free, 12pm & 9pm themerchanthotel.com

THURSDAY 6 JUNE BELFAST PHOTO FESTIVAL Blurb’s Favourite Photo Books Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA Free, 8.45pm, belfastphotofestival.com Official Launch of Belfast Photo Festival Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA Free, 9.45pm, belfastphotofestival.com FOOD & DRINK Hentastic Evening The Potted Hen, Saint Anne’s Square £49.95, 7.30pm, thepottedhen.co.uk MUSIC Getting To Know You: VerseChorusVerse Oh Yeah Music Centre, 15-21 Gordon St. BT1 2LG Free, 8pm, ohyeahbelfast.com

FRIDAY 7 JUNE BELFAST PHOTO FESTIVAL Breakfast Talk: ‘On My Mind’ Photography and Spectacle Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA Free, 10.30am, belfastphotofestival.com

Book Launch: Karczeby

by Adam Panczuk Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA Free, 4pm, belfastphotofestival.com YOGA Tamal Dodge Intro To Inversion Flow Yoga Studio, 52a Hill St. BT1 2LB £30, 12pm, flowstudiobelfast.com MUSIC Lilygreen & Maguire Oh Yeah Music Centre, 15-21 Gordon St. BT1 2LG £10, 7pm, ohyeahbelfast.com

TUESDAY 11 JUNE TRAINING & WORKSHOPS Photography & Photoshop with David Haughey Digital Arts Studios, 38-42 Hill St. BT1 2LB £45, 10am, belfastexposed.org WORDS & IDEAS Voica Versa Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £5, 8pm, blackboxbelfast.com

WEDNESDAY 12 JUNE

Artist Talk: Fakes Holidays with Reiner Riedler Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA Free, 4.15pm, belfastphotofestival.com

BELFAST PHOTO FESTIVAL Seminar: Photography and Social Justice Belfast Exposed, 23 Donegall Street BT1 2FF Free, 12pm, belfastexposed.org

Screening: Bruges La Mote (Premier) Micro Cinema, 23 Donegall St., BT1 2FF Free, 4.45pm, belfastphotofestival.com

MAGIC Midweek Magic Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £4, 7.30pm, blackboxbelfast.com

Public Lecture: Colin Graham The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ Free, 12pm, belfastphotofestival.com

THURSDAY 13 JUNE

MUSIC Lau Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £12, 8.30pm, blackboxbelfast.com Belfast School of Art Aftershow Party Oh Yeah Music Centre, 15-21 Gordon St. BT1 2LG Free (UU students + 1 guest), 9pm, ohyeahbelfast.com

TRAINING & WORKSHOPS Stage Three: Fashion Photography (3 Sessions - 13, 20, 27 June) Belfast Exposed, 23 Donegall Street BT1 2FF £150/£120, 6pm, belfastexposed.org DANCE The Meal The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £10, 8pm, themaclive.com

SATURDAY 8 JUNE

FRIDAY 14 JUNE

BELFAST PHOTO FESTIVAL Breakfast Talk: ‘On My Mind’ Photography and Spectacle Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA Free, 11am, belfastphotofestival.com

PICK ’N’ MIX FESTIVAL The Break The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 12pm, themaclive.com

Talk: Conversation with Nadav Kandar Lecture Theatre, University of Ulster, York St., Free, 12.45pm, belfastphotofestival.com

Fifty Ways The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 3pm, themaclive.com

TRAINING & WORKSHOPS Stage One: Using Your Digital Camera (3 Sessions - 8, 15, 22 June) Belfast Exposed, 23 Donegall Street BT1 2FF £125/£110, 6pm, belfastexposed.org Weekend Screen Print (8 & 9 June) Belfast Print Workshop, Cotton Court BT1 2ED, £95, bpw.org.uk YOGA Tamal Dodge Enhance Your Practice Flow Yoga Studio, 52a Hill St. BT1 2LB £30, 2pm, flowstudiobelfast.com MUSIC Patrick Monahan Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA blackboxbelfast.com Don’t Stop Believing The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £10, 2.30pm, themaclive.com

SUNDAY 9 JUNE BELFAST PHOTO FESTIVAL Breakfast Talk: ‘On My Mind’ Photography and Spectacle Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA Free, 11am, belfastphotofestival.com Artist Talk: STAGE with Shen Chao-Liang Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA Free, 12.30pm, belfastphotofestival.com Artist Talk: In Broad Day with Mirko Martin & Melanie Martin Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA Free, 1.45pm, belfastphotofestival.com Artist Talk: Dark Lens with Cedric Delsaux Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA Free, 3pm, belfastphotofestival.com

Dole Dolly The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 3.30pm, themaclive.com BLISS The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 4.30pm, themaclive.com All That Promise The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 5pm, themaclive.com The Bench The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 6pm, themaclive.com BLISS The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 7.30pm, themaclive.com Stitching Time The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 8pm, themaclive.com Summertime The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 8.45pm, themaclive.com INSTALLATION Katie, Don’t Go The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ Free, Every 30 mins 5pm-6.30pm, themaclive.com DANCE The Meal The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £10, 8pm, themaclive.com VISUAL ART Bookshop Talk: Keith Connolly, Tonic Design Belfast Exposed, 23 Donegall Street BT1 2FF Free, 12pm, belfastexposed.org

COMEDY Stand Up to G8 The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £5, 9.15pm, themaclive.com

Tuesday at Tesco The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 7.15pm, themaclive.com

THEATRE VIBE Academy Showcase The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £8, 7,45pm, themaclive.com

WORDS & IDEAS George Galloway vs. the G8 The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £2, 6.30pm, themaclive.com

INSTALLATION Katie, Don’t Go The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ Free, Every 30 mins 10am8.30pm, themaclive.com

The Real Man The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £10, 8pm, themaclive.com

SATURDAY 15 JUNE

COMEDY My Favourite Waste of Time Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA 7pm, blackboxbelfast.com

PICK ’N’ MIX FESTIVAL Summertime The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 12pm, themaclive.com Stitching Time The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 1pm, themaclive.com Chatroom The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 2.15pm, themaclive.com Mixed Messages The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 3pm, themaclive.com Fifty Ways The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 5pm, themaclive.com The Wheelchair Monologues The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 5.45pm, themaclive.com Drought The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 7.30pm, themaclive.com Dance Mix - An Tobar: Fused & The Dutiful Wife The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 8pm, themaclive.com Tuesday at Tesco The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 8pm, themaclive.com INSTALLATION Katie, Don’t Go The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ Free, Every 30 mins 10am8.30pm, themaclive.com DANCE Stars Can’t Shine Without Darkness The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £15, 7pm, themaclive.com 8 To The Bar Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA 8pm, blackboxbelfast.com

SUNDAY 16 JUNE PICK ’N’ MIX FESTIVAL Dance Mix - An Tobar:Fused & The Dutiful Wife The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 12pm, themaclive.com Chatroom The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 12.15pm, themaclive.com All That Promise The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 1.45pm, themaclive.com The Bench The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 2pm, themaclive.com Dole Dolly The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 3.45pm, themaclive.com Drought The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 4pm, themaclive.com The Wheelchair Monologues The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 5.15pm, themaclive.com The Break The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 6pm, themaclive.com Mixed Messages The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £6 (6 shows for £30), 7pm, themaclive.com

MUSIC In This Moment Oh Yeah Music Centre, 15-21 Gordon St. BT1 2LG £12, 7pm, ohyeahbelfast.com WORDS & IDEAS Cathedral Quarter Quarterly Quiz The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £10 per team of 5, 8.30pm, themaclive.com DANCE Stars Can’t Shine Without Darkness The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £15, 7pm, themaclive.com

MONDAY 17 JUNE INSTALLATION Katie, Don’t Go The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ Free, Every 30 mins 5pm-6.30pm, themaclive.com

TUESDAY 18 JUNE INSTALLATION Katie, Don’t Go The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ Free, Every 30 mins 5pm-6.30pm, themaclive.com TRAINING & WORKSHOPS Stop-motion & Still Image Film with David Haughey Digital Arts Studios, 38-42 Hill St. BT1 2LB £45, 10am, belfastexposed.org COMEDY Christian Talbot: Funeral Addict Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £5, 8pm, blackboxbelfast.com

WEDNESDAY 19 JUNE OPEN HOUSE FESTIVAL Isobel Anderson & Ruby Colley Black Box Green Room, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £5/10, 7.30pm, openhousefestival.com Lunasa Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £5/12.50, 9pm, openhousefestival.com INSTALLATION Katie, Don’t Go The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ Free, Every 30 mins 5pm-6.30pm, themaclive.com

THURSDAY 20 JUNE OPEN HOUSE FESTIVAL Bhi Bhiman Black Box Green Room, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £5/8, 7.30pm, openhousefestival.com

SATURDAY 22 JUNE OPEN HOUSE FESTIVAL Mick McAuley, Winifred Horan & Colm O’Caoimh Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £5/10, 2pm, openhousefestival.com Jesca Hoop Black Box Green Room, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £5/10, 3pm, openhousefestival.com Little Bear, Biggles Flys Again Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £5/10, 8pm, openhousefestival.com INSTALLATION Katie, Don’t Go The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ Free, Every 30 mins 12pm4.30pm, themaclive.com THEATRE VIBE Academy Showcase The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £8, 7,45pm, themaclive.com The Real Man The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £10, 8pm, themaclive.com TRAINING & WORKSHOPS Weekend Screen Print (22 & 23 June) Belfast Print Workshop, Cotton Court BT1 2ED, £95, bpw.org.uk

SUNDAY 23 JUNE OPEN HOUSE FESTIVAL Simon Felice Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £5/12.50, 2pm, openhousefestival.com Shane McAleer, Eamon Murray & Ryan O’Donnell The John Hewitt, 51 Donegall St. BT1 2FH £5/8.50, 2pm, openhousefestival.com BelfastFolk The John Hewitt, 51 Donegall St. BT1 2FH £5/10, 7.30pm, openhousefestival.com Morgan O’Kane Band Black Box Green Room, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £5/10, 7.30pm, openhousefestival.com Jarrod Dickenson, Emily-Rose Conlon Black Box Green Room, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £5/8, 8pm, openhousefestival.com INSTALLATION Katie, Don’t Go The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ Free, Every 30 mins 12pm4.30pm, themaclive.com TRAINING & WORKSHOPS Focus on Black & White Photography Belfast Exposed, 23 Donegall Street BT1 2FF £70, 10am, belfastexposed.org

WEDNESDAY 26 JUNE

Luka Bloom Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £5/12.50, 8pm, openhousefestival.com

COMEDY Wonderfrog Black Box, 18-22 Hill St. BT1 2LA £5, 7.30pm, blackboxbelfast.com

INSTALLATION Katie, Don’t Go TheMAC,10ExchangeSt.WestBT12NJ Free, Every 30 mins 5pm-6.30pm, themaclive.com

FRIDAY 28 JUNE

THEATRE The Real Man The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £10, 8pm, themaclive.com

FRIDAY 21 JUNE INSTALLATION Katie, Don’t Go The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ Free, Every 30 mins 5pm-6.30pm, themaclive.com FOOD & DRINK, MUSIC La Fête de la Musique McHughsBar,29-31QueensSq.BT13FG £5, 7pm, mchughsbar.com

COMEDY Cookstown Sizzling Comedy Club The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £10, 7.45pm, themaclive.com

SATURDAY 29 JUNE MUSIC Quire presents Songs with Love & Pride The MAC, 10 Exchange St. West BT1 2NJ £13.50, 7.45pm, themaclive.com