So whats going on with the weather?

Some time ago on this blogg I was talking about the weather and global warming, talking about how everything we do makes a difference to the potential weather changes that are going on. So do you still not recycle? did you still buy without thinking about the carbon footprint of your presents? to say nothing of the local economic impact of buying more imported goods; It looks like the weather is changing after all. French TV is filled with reports of Northern Europe facing weather shifts due to polar winds coming further down than ever before because there is less ice to reflect the suns rays they dont expect it to get any better just get worse over the years to come So do you still want to buy that four wheel drive? maybe you think you need it because of the snow? But maybe not? You Can see how far the weather comes one hour outside of Lyon the snow stops it,s a line right across France After initial disbelief over the cancelled flight on Christmas eve back to Ireland with all the 40 odd expats it turned into a bizarre short story One fellow al
most passanger lives in Geneve and had been trying to get back to Cork for 5 days he had spent over 1000 Euros on different tickets around Europe to get home e left him with a flight from Paris but no train to Paris to get the flight.Maybe he will thnk differently about those in Cork he wants to see in future; Lots of familys with small children were left bewildered ? one mother on explaining that the flight had been cancelled and they were not going to Ireland for Christmas thought that Christmas had been cancelled Scream followed.
We thought we were being hard done by not getting home for Christmas? then we saw images of Paris airport and people on camp beds for the night provided by the army Back in Ireland they told me in London Heathrow they were sleeping on the floorAt least air Lingus put us in a four star hotel Lots of TV coverage with food coming too late along the roads for Christmas well afterall its France food matters.

Weather effects everything , we no longer have the resources to sustain the consumerism we were all brought up with.We have to act differently, behave diferently if we can continue to sustain some sort of existance Its not just about learning to live with the snow. Its bigger than that.

Anyway going to try and get home tomorrow via Lyon Dublin who knows.

Lyon airport Christmas eve

Nyons

New art in the new year

I was thinking about all the effort that has gone into all the exhibitions in Belfast this year. THE GOOD ONES THE BAD the ones to miss the ones you wished you did miss. Cant say there were many of those. But most of all I was thinking about all the artists that work away on our own little private obcessions no matter what is going on. I was wondering what effect the government cuts were going to have next year? Then there is an election as well.I,ve heard of four galleries closing in the last month. The economy is all over the place and there is a shift going on. The weather is severe and so is the outlook but somehow, I have to say I,m optimistic about next year. I think artists in belfast have never been so connected, galleries so focused and interesting and even the RUA exhibition was good.
I,ve enjoyed my Art year and think that next year will be an interesting one showing a further shift in the local economy and Art scene.

How exactly you will have to see with all those minds clicking away with ideas. Some will come to fuition, others will fall by the wayside. But what is sure is that it will be an interesting year all around and I intend to be part of it. Fully engaged.

I,m still in France now, slowly eating myself to death but only for a few more days. x

Fashion Souk

If you went to the Fashion Souk at the weekend you all got a treat- well done for getting it all organised and together. A little birdy tells me she is going to do a Home Souk and Fashion Souk in the new year..................it's a great edition to Belfast and a great day out as well..............and did you see those cupcakes????

Catalyst student show opens this Thursday

We are delighted to announce the opening of Catalyst Arts Annual Student Show, the first group exhibition in our new gallery space. The exhibition opens on Thursday 16th December 2010, 7 - 9pm and continues until 6th January 2011.
The show will close with a performance by artist Anthony K eigher, Anthony is looking for six participants to be involved in a 3 course dinner. If you would like to participate please RSVP to studentshowcatalyst@gmail.com.
Participating artists; Phillip Liam McCrilly and Cecile Le Couedic, Christopher Burns, Ciaran Hussey, Anthony Keigher, Alissa Kleist, Laura O'Connor, Sean Redahan, Karolin Reichardt, Nadine Stewart, Anne Marie Taggart, James Ward.
Alongside the exhibition will also be a Critical text by Sarah Lundy.

4-6 today.

Open call Citizen Journalism.

Make a 5 minute report on issues you think are urgent via Skype.
skypename: Vladimerdarakhvelidze.

and participate in the Citizen journalism call from Ps2

Museum TV station opening Thursday at Ps2

Opening: Thursday 09 December 2010, 6-9pm

'Museum TV Station'- Lado Darakhvelidze

The Georgian artist Lado Darakhvelidze uses drawing, installation, print and the internet to monitor and reveal social and political changes. He understands the role of the artist as that of a political activist and reporter of reality.
'Museum TV Station' refers to art activities in museums, biennials and related art events, in which the artwork and curatorial events evoke actual political and engaged positions and where both the artist and curator transform the museum or venue into what might be termed an open source information centre.
In the last few months, Lado Darakhvelidze has monitored the online discussions of the Belfast Telegraph’s website and grouped the coverage according to subjects. Part of 'Museum TV Station' is the Ideal Newspaper, a 20 page citizen journal of online comments transferred to print. Together with live skype sessions from artists and citizens, drawings and comments, 'Museum TV Station' turns PS² into a media centre; an agency which functions with the participation of engaged citizens as an alternative to conventional information systems.

Live broadcasts:
Thursday, 09 December, 6- 8pm
Pamela Renner (New York)
Jimini Hignett (Amsterdam)
Charlie Fox (London)



Friday, 10 December, 4 - 6 pm
Open call: Citizen Journalism
Make a 5 minute citizen report on issues you think are urgent by SKYPE.
skypename: vladimerdarakhvelidze



‘Museum TV Station’ continuous till 08 January 2011

Opening hours: Wed- Fri 1-5pm, Sat 11am-3pm
Closed 24/25/31 December 2010 and 01January 2011.
For more information see www.pssquared.org/Lado.php
Contact: pssquared@btconnect.com or 07733457772

PS² is supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
Please forward to interested parties.

In view opening Friday at GT

In View In View

10th December 2010 – 29th January 2011

Opening 6pm – 8pm

In View is an exhibition that establishes a context from which to explore the tensions and dialogues concerned with the physical act of looking. The gaze holds multiple interpretations, such as the voyeuristic, scopophilic, erotic; and is as much dependant upon the viewer, as that which is being viewed. Each artist challenges us to consider our role as a viewer of the works on display, calling into question our gender, the gender of the artist, and our preconceived understanding of the subject, therefore highlighting the tensions that exist within the topic of the gaze.



In Vito Acconci’s video work Pryings (1971), his violent attempts to force open the eyes of his subject are difficult to watch, as is the challenging gaze of Laura O’Connor in her video work Dull, Limp, Lifeless (2010). Like O’Connor, Katherine Nolan encourages the viewer to watch her, and yet reprimands them for doing so. Her work, You Are a Very Naughty Boy! (2009), obscures our view of her at intervals, as if in punishment for gazing upon her scantily dressed body. The photographic works of Shaleen Temple take a slightly different approach, commenting on the level of control held by the gaze of the subject, the artist, and ourselves, the viewer. The exhibition also includes work from Phil Collins, Common Culture, Sara Greavu, Magaret Harrison, Noemi Lakmaier, ORLAN, and Aine Phillips.



Please Note: Live performance on the opening night by Katherine Nolan



Gallery Talk

1pm - 2pm Saturday 11th December

Noemi Lakmaier & Katherine Nolan in conversation

another talk by a male artist

A certain distance, endless light

A talk about painting

by Gavin Delahunty





Thursday 9th December/ 7pm/ Free





A talk by Gavin Delahunty which will place William McKeown’s work in a broader context of contemporary painting, exploring key themes, trends and some of the most significant painters working today.



Delahunty has recently been appointed as Head of Exhibitions and Collections at Tate Liverpool, having previously been Senior Curator at mima (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art). At mima, he curated a number of important shows including British Surrealism & Other Realities, A Certain Distance Endless Light: A project by Felix Gonzalez-Torres & William McKeown, The End of the Line: Attitudes in Drawing. He is currently working towards the opening of Gerhard Richter: Lines which do not exist, will open at The Drawing Center, New York in September 2010.

This event is free but booking is essential as places are limited. Please contact OBG on chickey@ormeaubaths.co.uk or ring 02890 321 402 to reserve a place

Birrrrrrrrrrrrrr..........

It's cold outside but I braved it into town and was rewarded with all the stall holders at The Black Market selling their crazy wares and a seasonal treat at St Georges Market. Nice to support local businesses. Is that what you will be doing this Christmas??? Next week it's the fashion souk on Sunday and St georges all weekend. Dont forget to support local people. Its going to be hard this Christmas.;-)

The peoples History Inititiative

The Peoples History Initiative is pleased to invite you to attend two lectures:



‘The Labour and Trade Union Traditions in Ireland’,
by Dr. Éamon Phoenix historian, journalist and lecturer.

This lecture takes place on Friday 3rd December at 10 am in the Dublin Suite, Europa Hotel, Great Victoria Street, Belfast.







‘Change Without Change: the Second World War and the Welfare State in Northern Ireland’,
by Dr. Éamon Phoenix historian, journalist and lecturer.

This lecture takes place on Monday 20th December at 10 am in the Dublin Suite, Europa Hotel, Great Victoria Street, Belfast.







Refreshments will be served after each lecture. There is a lift in the hotel. Each event should be finished by 1pm.



There are limited places at each lecture so please contact the UPC on 02890 330131 and leave your name and your number or email me at kmccartney@upclearn.org to book places as soon as possible at either or both of the lectures.

Art elves

All across Belfast the Art elves are busy working away putting the final touches on their Christmas shows come out into the city tonight and see a snapshot of some of the creativity that is on offer in Belfast. WOW. ONly change to previous posts is that Platform arts is also having their opening tonight.......just off Queen street.

art in the Dark

Dont forget its Art in the dark tomorrow night ;-) see you around.

gt opening 10th Dec

In View

10th December 2010 – 29th January 2011

Opening 6pm – 8pm





In View is an exhibition that establishes a context from which to explore the tensions and dialogues concerned with the physical act of looking. The gaze holds multiple interpretations, such as the voyeuristic, scopophilic, erotic; and is as much dependant upon the viewer, as that which is being viewed. Each artist challenges us to consider our role as a viewer of the works on display, calling into question our gender, the gender of the artist, and our preconceived understanding of the subject, therefore highlighting the tensions that exist within the topic of the gaze.



In Vito Acconci’s video work Pryings (1971), his violent attempts to force open the eyes of his subject are difficult to watch, as is the challenging gaze of Laura O’Connor in her video work Dull, Limp, Lifeless (2010). Like O’Connor, Katherine Nolan encourages the viewer to watch her, and yet reprimands them for doing so. Her work, You Are a Very Naughty Boy! (2009), obscures our view of her at intervals, as if in punishment for gazing upon her scantily dressed body. The photographic works of Shaleen Temple take a slightly different approach, commenting on the level of control held by the gaze of the subject, the artist, and ourselves, the viewer. The exhibition also includes work from Phil Collins, Common Culture, Sara Greavu, Magaret Harrison, Noemi Lakmaier, ORLAN, and Aine Phillips.


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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION


About the Artists



Vito Acconci was born in the Bronx New York on 24.01.1940. He received a B.A. in literature from Holy Cross College and an M.F.A. in literature and poetry from the University of Iowa. Until 1968 his work was in a context of writing and poetry. Acconci was interested in the space of the page, a structure within which the reader and writer could move through. He made his first visual artworks by combining photographs with texts to document task-oriented activities. These works announced the dialogue between camera and body that would become an essential aspect of Acconci's subsequent art work, particularly the series of super-8 films and videos. Between 1969 and 1974 he started to perform himself what he would otherwise have written and developed over 200 conceptually structured and radical body-related pieces that were extremely simple in formal terms, but highly intricate psychologically. These performances and installations were extremely controversial because they were a direct confrontation with the viewer. Acconci's artworks are now considered classical examples of what we now call conceptual art and have earned him international
recognition.



Phil Collins belongs to a generation of artists whose engagement with people, place and community is central to their work. In the last few years he has lived, worked and exhibited in numerous locations, including Belfast, Belgrade, Baghdad, Bogotá and Brighton. He is currently based in Berlin. In all the different strands of his practice Collins investigates the perils of representation and the emotional core of such seemingly transparent media as video and photography. Instinctively distrustful of the camera and its effects, yet responsive to its potential as an instigator of relationships, his works often revolve around a convocation of individuals. Complicating both the myth of aesthetic autonomy and the fantasy of art as in itself political, Collins films, photographs, installations and live events appropriate the documentary tradition and elements of popular culture, such as pop-music and dance, to establish an immediate and humorous connection with the participant and viewer.



Common Culture is a collaborative artists’ group consisting of David Campbell, Mark Durden and Ian Brown. They exhibit internationally, with previous solo shows in New York, Athens, Porto, London, Manchester, Belfast and Derry and have participated in numerous international group exhibitions including Manifesta 8, 2010, the 6th Shanghai Biennale 2006, and Shopping – A Century of Art and Consumer Culture, The Tate Gallery Liverpool, 2002. Through their work Common Culture explore how social identity is constructed through rituals of commodity consumption within popular culture. Often collaborating with workers from the entertainment industry, they engineer strategic collisions between the elitist assumptions attached to Art and its institutions, and the perceived commonplace and vulgar aspects of popular culture. . Previous work has addressed the issue of alienation and exploitation of workers as the logical, but culturally invisible, consequence of commodity consumption.



Margaret Harrison studied at the Carlisle College of Art, England (1957-61), Royal Academy Schools, London (1961-64), and the Academy of Art in Perugia, Italy (1965). Until recently, she was a Professor at Manchester Metropolitan University and The Summer Arts Institute of California, held at U.C. Davis. In 1970, she was one of the founders of the first London Women’s Liberation Art Group. Harrison developed artist during the years of pop, minimal and conceptual work. She has produced bodies of work dealing with homeworkers, rape, domestic abuse, the impact of war upon women, fame and celebrity status, and beauty as depicted by the cosmetics industry. She has been an Artist in Residence at the New Museum for Contemporary Art in New York and a Fellow at the Studio for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University.



Noëmi Lakmaier was born in Vienna and studied for both her BA (2003) and her MA (2004) in Fine Art at Winchester School of Art. She has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally including We Are For You Because We Are Against Them, The LAB, Dublin 2009, Essence, Beldam Gallery, Brunel University, London 2008, The Works of Others, Whitechapel Gallery Project Space, London 2006, Redundancy, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth 2005. In 2008 she was artist in Residency at Camden Arts Centre, London and from 2008 – 2009 she held a studio residency at the Fire Station Artists’ Studios in Dublin. Lakmaier recently showed her piece We / Them / Other as part of Belfast Festival at Queens 2010. She has won awards and bursaries including NAN New Collaborations, the Adam Reynolds Bursary, a Fire Station Studio Award and an Arts Council England Grant For The Arts. Lakmaier has guest lectured at the University of Brighton, Brighton, the University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield and NCAD, Dublin.



Katherine Nolan is a video and performance artist, currently completing a practice-led PhD entitled Seducing the Machine: Narcissism and Performance in Contemporary Feminist Practice. Her work is concerned with the erotic female body as spectacle, in particular provoking questions around narcissism and exhibitionism as seemingly incongruous with critical agency. This is currently explicated through an invested relationship with the machines and spaces that produce and frame the body in performance. Recent projects include Surface Attention, bodily interventions in re-used spaces such as SHUNT London and Stattbad, Berlin, in association with MART collective. She also co-curates Visual Deflections a video art platform for emerging artists, and is a sessional Lecturer at the University for the Creative Arts and the London College of Fashion.





Laura O’Connor is currently in the 2nd year of a Masters in Fine Art in the University of Ulster, with a degree in Sculpture and Combined Media from Limerick School of Art and Design. O’ Connor has shown work, sculptural & media based, in group shows throughout Ireland. As well as curating exhibitions and most recently completeing a public art commission, Dancing at the Crossroads Project, for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Cavan. Her work deals with images of women portrayed in media, advertising and film. Looking at theorists such as Laura Mulvey and directors such as Hitchcock, she combines the gloss look of advertising and cinema with an interest in “normal” women; the effects these images have on them and the notion of beauty in contemporary culture. She aims to cross the boundary between public and private space, using the camera as a mirror (Dull, Limp, Lifeless). www.lauraoconnorart.blogspot.com



ORLAN born May 30th 1947 in Saint-Etienne, France. Lives and works between Paris, New York and Los Angeles. ORLAN is a permanent teacher at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts de Paris-Cergy. She is regularly invited by universities and institutions to give lectures and master-classes. She explores different techniques such as photography, video, sculpture, installation, performance, biotechnologies etc.



Aine Phillips has been exhibiting multi-media performance works in Ireland and internationally since the late 80's. She has created work for diverse contexts; public art commissions, the street, club events and gallery exhibitions including Stanley Picker Gallery London, Judith Wright Centre for Art, Brisbane Australia, Tanzquartier Vienna, Moving Image Gallery and The Kitchen New York, National Review of Live Art Glasgow, Mozovia Art Centre Warsaw Poland. In Ireland at the Irish Film Centre, Arthouse, EV+A Limerick, Galway Arts Centre and the Hugh Lane Gallery Dublin. Her work has been shown at Museums of Art in Stockholm, Liechtenstein and Cleveland USA. She is founder and co-curator of artist led initiative Live@No.8 in Galway, a monthly screening of live and video art and she curated Tulca Live 2005-2007, festival of live and video art in Galway. Head of Sculpture at the Burren College of Art, she completed her practice based PhD at the National College of Art and Design Dublin in January 2009 entitled Live Autobiography. www.ainephillips.com



Born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1987, Shaleen Temple moved to Northern Ireland at the age of thirteen with her mother and siblings. She received a BA (Hons) in Photography from the University of Ulster in 2010, and through her work explores themes surrounding South African lifestyle. In the Boys and Girls series, Temple photographs black South African maids and gardeners in their white employers’ homes, examining the changes South Africa has undergone since the end of the Apartheid, specifically the relationship between the workers and their white employers, a relationship which Temple herself experienced as a child.


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About the Gallery.



Golden Thread Gallery – local, international, contemporary

The Golden Thread Gallery is the premier contemporary visual arts organisation in the Northern Ireland, working across the international arena – based in and informed by the local.

Golden Thread Gallery is committed to enhancing the cultural experience for those living, working and visiting the region and is driven by two key aims: widening and increasing public access and participation in contemporary visual arts activities and supporting the development of contemporary visual arts professionals.

In order to achieve its aims Golden Thread Gallery delivers a coherent and multi-faceted program of visual arts activities: high quality exhibitions; publications; participatory in-house educational opportunities; artist representation and support; national and international profiling projects; and ambitious off-site outreach projects and collaborations.

The year on year increases in audience and participation are testament to; the need; the demand; and the successes of the Golden Thread Gallery.



We pride ourselves on offering a friendly, open space where everyone is welcome. We are located on Great Patrick Street between the Belfast’s Cultural Cathedral Quarter and the historic Sailor Town areas of the city. For further information about our program and projects visit www.goldenthreadgallery.co.uk or email us at info@gtgallery.co.uk or join us on Facebook or twitter.

Admission is free.



We are fully accessible for wheelchair users, and have an audio T-Loop available.



The Golden Thread Gallery is a company Limited by Guarantee NI 41642 and is accepted as a Charity by the Inland Revenue under reference XR 54731.



Golden Thread Gallery, 84-94 Great Patrick Street, Belfast BT1 2LU

Opening Hours: Tuesday – Friday 10.30am - 5.30.pm & Saturday 10.30am – 4.00pm

Tel. +44(0)28 9033 0920 E. info@gtgallery.co.uk W. www.goldenthreadgallery.co.uk

women and the conflict

WAVE



Women’s experiences of the conflict



Are you a woman affected by the conflict?



We are inviting you to a gathering of women to discuss our various experiences of the conflict and highlight the needs that come from the different kind of harms we have lived through.



We are organising this event so that we can bring our combined knowledge about women’s experiences of the conflict to other organisations and government processes.



One of these current processes is the Irish government’s plan to put into practice their adoption of U.N. Resolution 1325 on women’s role in peace building. We want our experiences to be reflected in this plan and in other similar policies in Britain and Ireland.





The workshop will be held on

Saturday 4th December from 2pm to 5pm

in the Europa Hotel, Belfast.





Please let us know if you will be attending. Contact Relatives For Justice on 90220100. Email adminrfj@relativesforjustice.com





Childcare is provided – we need to know in advance if you require childcare so please telephone 90220100 or email adminrfj@relativesforjustice.com to book.