Home to Belfast’s most innovative and cultural spaces, the Cathedral Quarter is host to a whole host of festivals, art exhibitions and cultural events.
With restrictions beginning to ease, now is the perfect time to explore this historic part of the city again.
Here are 10 arts and culture events happening in CQ this July::
1. Mediating Signals
Available until 10th July, you can visit ’Mediating Signals’, the offline exhibition in Flax Art Studios showcasing works of Belfast-related artists. Mediating Signals is in is a two-part instalment made up of: Tracing Algo-rhythm and Assigning Ambiguity.
To learn more about the event go to http://flaxartstudios.org/events.
2, 3, 4. Photography Exhibitions at Belfast Exposed
AEON by Marcel Rickly
Gallery 1 presents ‘AEON’, the solo exhibition by Swiss photographer Marcel Rickli represents how radioactive waste repositories will affect humanity for generations to come.
A Lightness of Touch
In Gallery 2, you can admire ‘A Lightness of Touch’ showcasing the work of MFA Photography graduates from Ulster University. Their art is far-reaching and diverse, with the overarching theme of capturing their subject with a lightness of touch.
Street View: Yan Wang Preston
Yan Wang Preston’s Street view offers visitors a chance to explore an instalment of the artist previous works He- River Together, Mother River and Forest.
To see all running events at Belfast Exposed, go to belfastexposed.org
5. Belfast Print Workshop – Fibre: A New Online Exhibition
From the comfort of your own home, you can explore Fibre- The New Online Exhibition by Belfast Print Workshop.
Fibre for printmakers is a subject matter transference, it is what ties their works together and gives the final piece its uniqueness. The instalment focuses on the relationship between fibre, the most fundamental elements of two-dimensional artmaking and print.
To find out more about the exhibition and Belfast Print Workshop, go to bpw.org.uk
6, 7, 8. Thought-provoking exhibits at The MAC
Ambera Wellmann – UnTurning
You can visit the first exhibition in the UK & Ireland by Canadian-born and New York-based painter Ambera Wellmann in the Upper Gallery. In ‘UnTurning’, Wellmann’s paintings negotiate the devastation of the present, one in which the cultural logic of heteronormativity and capitalism are naturalised in the human psyche.
Jaap Pieters – The Eye of Amsterdam
In the Sunken Gallery, you can view Dutch filmmaker and artist Jaap Pieters’ The Eye of Amsterdam Exhibition. The exhibit features footage made by using minimal equipment and hardly any manipulations. Instead, he restricted himself to creating short, 3-minute reels and produced numerous films on the small-gauge “amateur” medium over four decades.
Maya Balcioglu
The Tall Gallery is home to Maya Balcioglu’s exhibit, which consists of large scale works on paper, latex and fabric completed over 15 years. It showcases drawings from between 2006-10, latex works from 2019-20, and her most recent fabric works.
For more information about the individual exhibits, visit themaclive.co.uk
9. Across and In-Between – Susan Lacy
Golden Thread Gallery presents you with ‘Across and In-Between’, a creative collaboration between Suzanne Lacy and Cian Smyth with Helen Sharp and several communities.
This project amplifies the voices and experiences of border residents during Brexit negotiations through words, imagery, sound and performance, providing them with an opportunity to reclaim the landscape around them.
The exhibit is shown across the entirety of The Golden Thread Gallery. For an in-depth review go togoldenthreadgallery.co.uk
10. Paddy McCann – Friary
Fenderesky Gallery is showing the works of Paddy McCann in the exhibit, titled ‘Friary’. The new paintings are available to view until the end of July by appointment.
For contact information and gallery opening hours, go to: fendereskygallery.com/nowshowing.html
To find out more about what’s happening in Belfast Cathedral Quarter check out the Destination CQ website at cathedralquarterbelfast.com
By Alexandra Feher, Excalibur Press
