As the BBC report, Northern Ireland Arts Minister, the DUP’s Nelson McCausland, has announced that the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure is to provide £10.76million of the overall project cost of £17.56million for the Belfast Metropolitan Arts Centre in St Anne’s Square in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter.
Fair play to Iain, he managed to get over 2,200 people voting in his poll for the top Northern Irish blogs this year… We (just, I imagine) retained our top spot, with Splintered coming straight in at number 2, no doubt his pet subject du jour will have garnered him a lot of fans… I’ve [...] read our review »
World by Storm has a nice piece up on the IRA’s role in helping MK, the armed wing of the ANC, in the 1980s. In particular he sees a strange alchemy at work there: …if one can think of a clearly legitimate contemporary struggle it was that against apartheid and it is to the credit [...] read our review »
Somehow I escaped reading this essential school text, with its story of racism in 1930s American South. Living in Northern Ireland, I draw parallels with sectarianism, with its similar bigotry and prejudice. To Kill a Mockingbird was part of a Unite Against Hate campaign event at Parliament Buildings in Northern Ireland, which I’ve written [...] read our review »
Money well spent.
With the University of Ulster moving to that area, and the new (replacement for Yorkgate) Railway Station at Gamble Street, this whole area is full of excitement – arts, higher education, eating out, and fantastic nightlife.
Indeed. This really IS to be welcomed.
Nelson, of course, can just ***k off.
However, one caveat…let’s see how open it *really* is the hoi-polloi, and not just a closed shop for the elite… There are three or four “arts centres” within a ten mile radius of me, and they certainly do NOT encourage the commoners to participate.
This is good news. Well done to DCAL.
Who’s paying for the rest?
Yup it is welcome though there are some questions as to whether or not we need another theatre given the current rebuilding of the Lyric. Questions have been voiced within the artistic community that i’ve heard (on a Friday in the John Hewitt)
To be fair to the Old Museum Arts Centre (OMAC) they have a good track record with their outreach programme and the current building really isn’t fit for purpose. However they perhaps have alienated the Hoi-Polloi aside from others within the artistic community.
They have ploughed a lonely furrow in pursuing this new building (upsetting some of the already established organisations in the Cathedral Quarter) but i wish them well and look forward to seeing the finished building
(submit word see….as in wee shall see!)
Raven, you do have a rather spiteful streak, don’t you?
I think you deserve a yellow card for abusive and unsporting language.
One of the things that annoys me about Belfast is the lack of exciting cutting-edge drama.
There is also no dedicated Art Gallery a complete lack of challenging Opera (despite a great venue for opera), and a lack of adventurous repertoire from Ulster Orchestra.
The Ulster Orchestra can put on interesting and challenging pieces, such as we saw in the BBC’s Lunchtime Invitation concerts last August in the Ulster Hall (which is a fantastic concert hall), but the main season lacks a lot of exciting, more challenging, content.
Frustrations, frustrations.
Yeah, the world starts and ends in Bell-faast.
6countyprod,
Can we give yellow cards to actors who fluff their lines too, and maybe red ones to those who turn up tired and emotional?
Slug if you want cutting edge you’d do worse than go to the Black Box next Thursday for Pigeon and Plum…….tues and weds are already sold out but i couldn’t recommend it highly enough
belfast artists were alway famous for DRAWING the bru
Why would the DUP bring an end to devolution when they get to make nice sweet announcements like this.
belfast media group will now want 1 built in their galetok quarter for oirish speaking actors
This would have happened regardless of devolution.
Shame about the sh*te new building it has to be attached to.
Column Walker said
“14.This would have happened regardless of devolution.
Shame about the sh*te new building it has to be attached to”
Ah sure we know that but
Politicians love announcing this sort of thing (its as near to their Oscars acceptance speech as it gets)
There would be tears before bedtime if its taken away
PADDY
There already is an Irish language theatre in An Chultúrlann, and a Gaelic drama also recently toured at The Baby Grand.
Can’t access this MAC’s site on my phone, what facilities will it actually have?
Time and again we get “Devolution isn’t working” – a mantra similar to “the unions are holding this country to ransom” and the like.
I think we neeed to consider whose interests such trite sayings serve.