Not Just BS (Breakfast Symposium) Belfast

Friday 3 October 

10:30 am – 12:30 pm 

The MAC 

£5

BSL

Creative networking and panel event

Belfast

Not Just BS (Breakfast Symposium)

Not Just BS is a disabled-led networking, discussion and performance forum for artists and activists from diverse disability identities. 

Programme Highlights:

  • Oluwatobi (Tobi) Balogun presents his short film ‘Lows of the Highlife’.  An experimental shortfilm about personal experiences with chronic pain. A collaboration by two artists both with chronic illnesses/disabilities,  bringing together dance, poetry and visuals. Written and performed by Tobi Balogun. Produced and directed by Susannah Appleby.
  • Welcome from Edel Murphy (CEO and Artistic Director, University of Atypical), with guest Pádraig Naughton (Executive Director, Arts and Disability Ireland).
  • Brain Injury Matters installation: Flourishing in Times of Change.

Panel chaired by Ruth McCarthy. Ruth is Artistic Director of Outburst Arts and Outburst Queer Arts Festival. She has been a queer curator and activist for 35 years, working with intersectional feminist approaches and non-normative narratives.

Panellists:

  • Alice McCullough is a poet, writer, comedian, film-maker, and disability rights advocate from Belfast.
  • Julie McNamara is a QueerCrip, working class Butch Dyke, playwright, theatre, filmmaker, and disability activist.
  • Paula Clarke is a performance artist, actor, and sign language poet. Paula was born Deaf, and grew up in the Deaf community. She is personally and professionally active in the Deaf, neurodivergent and disability communities.
  • Tobi Balogun is a multidisciplinary artist whose background and training span dance, fashion, film and visual art. Tobi’s practice fixes the lens on black masculinity, cultural sustainability and community. He has performed for, and created performances with, Cois Ceim, Cathy Coughlan, Story of the Sei, Dance Ireland, and others. He lives with an invisible disability.
  • Edel Murphy is CEO and Artistic Director of University of Atypical. Edel is a disabled, queer, Donegalian and Gaeilgeoir who has worked across the arts sector in Northern Ireland.
  • Zofia Kuligowska is a performance artist neuroqueering language to challenge common ways of thinking and communicating. Zofia is a researcher of care practices in art and collaboration, an autistic mother, and a PhD candidate in the Academy of Art in Szczecin, Poland.

Tea, coffee, and refreshments from 10:15 am.

Accessibility at The MAC

You can find more information about accessibility at Bounce Arts Festival venues on the Venue Accessibility page.

Making an Access Request

You can also request other accommodations. You can see some examples below.

You can request these in different ways:

We require two weeks’ notice to organise a British or Irish Sign Language interpreter, or an audio describer, for an event. Our funds are limited, and some accommodations take time to organise. Please give us as much notice as possible so we can do our best to meet your requests.

Fócloir Faoi Mhíchumas / Disability Dictionary

Friday 3 October 

1:00 – 4:30 pm

The Duncairn

Free or pay what you can

Ceardlann / Workshop

Belfast

Fócloir Faoi Mhíchumas / Disability Dictionary

Please note: this event has been postponed until later in the year. If you would be interested in attending the rescheduled date please email neave@universityofatypical.org


Tar linn chun cúrsaí mhíchumais a phlé trí mheán na Gaeilge, na gluaiseachta, na focail agus an spraoi. Stiúrfaidh amharclannóirí agus Gaeilgeoirí Billí Mills agus Soso Ní Cheallaigh an cheardlann seo chun an teanga mhíchumais a phlé trí na healaíona. Tar le chéile chun an Foclóir Faoi Mhíchumas a chruthú – acmhainn Gaeilge comhaimseartha a phléann le teanga mhíchumais agus téarmaí nua cruthaithe le Gaeilgeoirí faoi mhíchumas. Mar rannpháirteach, beidh tú in ann pháirt a ghlacadh i gcomhráite, radharc-chruthú, agus marc-chruthú.

Níl eolas ar an nGaeilge ná taithí gluaiseacht de dhíth — níl uait ach intinn oscailte, meon oscailte, agus fiosracht. Caith éadaí compordacha a cheadaíonn gluaiseacht, agus tabhair leat deochanna agus lón, nó, más mian leat, beidh tú ábalta lón a cheannach sa chaife.

Explore disability through Gaeilge, movement, words and play. Theatremakers and Irish speakers Billí Mills and Soso Ní Cheallaigh will lead this Irish-language workshop that creatively explores the language of disability. Join them and help create the Fócloir Faoi Mhíchumas, a modern Gaeilge resource exploring and defining new terms for disabled Gaeilgeoiríidentities. As a participant, you can expect to take part in discussions, scene creations, and mark-making.

Participants do not require any prior knowledge of Irish, artistic or movement experience, just a curiosity and a willingness to share. Dress in comfortable clothes that you can move in, and bring a packed lunch (or purchase something in the cafe).

Important Update on Fócloir Faoi Mhíchumas / Disability Dictionary workshop. We have updated the pricing structure to FREE or pay what you can. We recognise that the Gaeltacht communities are among the most disadvantaged and we want to ensure that there is no financial barrier in accessing this workshop. 

This project has been supported by the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland through The Ultach Fund 2025.

Accessibility at The Duncairn

You can find more information about accessibility at Bounce Arts Festival venues on the Venue Accessibility page.

Making an Access Request

You can also request other accommodations. You can see some examples below.

You can request these in different ways:

We require two weeks’ notice to organise a British or Irish Sign Language interpreter, or an audio describer, for an event. Our funds are limited, and some accommodations take time to organise. Please give us as much notice as possible so we can do our best to meet your requests.

Positive Sounds

Thursday 2 October 

8:00 – 11:00 pm

The Dark Horse

£10

18+ only

DJ set

Belfast

Positive Sounds

Please note: the correct price for this event is £10. We apologise for the misprint in the printed brochure. This event is ticketed directly through Mencap NI via the button above.

Positive Sounds is a club night led by DJs, visual artists, and promoters with a learning disability. Expect an electrifying night of live DJ sets and a welcoming atmosphere where everyone can enjoy music without barriers. DJ ConRob, DJ Gems and DJ Eslcimo will spin their favourite tracks to new visual graphics. Positive Sounds is more than a party, it’s a movement!

This event is brought to you by Mencap NI, who are recipients of University of Atypical’s Sounds Atypical Award, funded by Belfast City Council.

Accessibility at The Dark Horse

You can find more information about accessibility at Bounce Arts Festival venues on the Venue Accessibility page.

Making an Access Request

You can also request other accommodations. You can see some examples below.

You can request these in different ways:

We require two weeks’ notice to organise a British or Irish Sign Language interpreter, or an audio describer, for an event. Our funds are limited, and some accommodations take time to organise. Please give us as much notice as possible so we can do our best to meet your requests.

Passages by Anushiya Sundaralingam

Thursday 2 October 

See below for times 

Atypical Gallery 

Free (donations welcome)

Gallery installation

Belfast

Passages by Anushiya Sundaralingam

Passages is an exhibition of drawings, sculpture and installation exploring the journey of migration. Fragile boats and body-like forms hold stories of movement, memory, and survival. The work reflects the psychological and physical experience of migration—pain, hope, and identity—as we cross borders and navigate change.

Central to the work are fragile sculptural boats and vessels that evoke skeletal structures, embodying the tension between vulnerability and endurance. These forms carry not only the physical weight of travel, but also the invisible burdens of memory, trauma, and cultural identity. The boats’ delicate frameworks echo the human skeleton—structures that support yet fracture, heal, and hold history. This duality invites viewers to contemplate how displacement shapes the body and psyche alike.

Anushiya is a multidisciplinary artist from Sri Lanka, now based in Belfast, who works across printmaking, painting, sculpture, textiles, installation, mixed media, and performance.

Exhibition times:

  • Late Night Art opening event: 6:00 – 9:00 pm on Thursday 2 October
  • Exhibition: Thursday 2 until Friday 24 October by normal opening hours (Tuesday to Friday 10:00 am – 5:30 pm)
  • Bounce weekend opening: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm on Saturday 4 October, and 12:00 pm – 4:30 pm on Sunday 5 October
  • Artist Talk: Friday 3 October from 2:00 – 3:00 pm in the Atypical Gallery (free, no booking required)

Accessibility at Atypical Gallery

You can find more information about accessibility at Bounce Arts Festival venues on the Venue Accessibility page.

Making an Access Request

You can also request other accommodations. You can see some examples below.

You can request these in different ways:

We require two weeks’ notice to organise a British or Irish Sign Language interpreter, or an audio describer, for an event. Our funds are limited, and some accommodations take time to organise. Please give us as much notice as possible so we can do our best to meet your requests.

We Should Not March to the Beat of the Same Drum by Rebecca Strain

Saturday 4 October 

7:00 – 9:00 pm

Centre for Contemporary Art

Free (donations welcome)

Live performance

Derry-Londonderry

We Should Not March to the Beat of the Same Drum by Rebecca Strain

We Should Not March to the Beat of the Same Drum is live performance that draws on Homi Bhabha’s notion of the ‘third space’ where cultural meaning is negotiated rather than fixed, to explore the tensions between heritage and innovation, collective memory and individual expression.

Fort Dunree, a site where military history intersects with contemporary art, serves as the starting point for Rebecca Strain and Martha McCulloch’s 2023-24 body of work. This live performance emerges from that exploration, seeking a space between past and present, individual and society.

Rebecca Strain is a visual artist, single mum, and eco-feminist, and lives with clinical depression, dyslexia, and anosmia.

Accessibility at Centre for Contemporary Art

You can find more information about accessibility at Bounce Arts Festival venues on the Venue Accessibility page.

Making an Access Request

You can also request other accommodations. You can see some examples below.

You can request these in different ways:

We require two weeks’ notice to organise a British or Irish Sign Language interpreter, or an audio describer, for an event. Our funds are limited, and some accommodations take time to organise. Please give us as much notice as possible so we can do our best to meet your requests.

Dreaming Disability Futures

Saturday 4 October 

12:00 – 4:00 pm

(lunch break: 1:30 – 2:15 pm)

Void Art Centre

£5

Workshop

Derry-Londonderry

Dreaming Disability Futures

Dreaming Disability Futures is a writing and dreaming workshop led by writer Alex Cregan. It is inspired by the book Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by writer and activist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. The workshop explores the politics of disability justice, and the lives and leadership of sick and disabled queer, trans, Black, and brown people.

This two-part workshop begins with a reading, and discussion around access and collective liberation across different identities. The second part is a free writing session. While the session involves writing, participants are invited to express their ideas in other creative ways that feel comfortable, from drawing to soundmaking. 

Materials will be provided. Please bring lunch with you.

Accessibility at Void Art Centre

You can find more information about accessibility at Bounce Arts Festival venues on the Venue Accessibility page.

Making an Access Request

You can also request other accommodations. You can see some examples below.

You can request these in different ways:

We require two weeks’ notice to organise a British or Irish Sign Language interpreter, or an audio describer, for an event. Our funds are limited, and some accommodations take time to organise. Please give us as much notice as possible so we can do our best to meet your requests.

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