The work is eclectic and diverse. Each artist has worked
independently on their own pieces. There is a common
thread of exploration and discovery – uncovering what is
seldom seen, the layers beneath, and finding a voice through
the arts. The exhibition is called ‘What Lies Within’, as it is from
the creative depths that these works have come”.
Exhibiting Organisations

Art is Collective artist studio space is currently located at 2
Royal Avenue in Belfast as an assisted studio model. It is the
temporary creative home to nine studio artists who represent

a range of learning and mental health disabilities. It operates
on an assisted studio model: artists are supported by
mentors and facilitators in all aspects of their professional
development. There is a strong sense of community and
mutual support between artists and mentors which extends
beyond the walls of the studio. The artists work individually,
but all share, inspire and motivate each other.
Connections Arts Centre is a social enterprise working
alongside adults living with intellectual disabilities and
neurodivergent adults based in Dublin. Artists with disabilities
are at the centre of the community as leaders, contributors
and cultural producers. The Connecting Artists programme
supports neurodivergent adults and adults with disabilities to
build confidence, develop skills, and participate more fully in
society. The artists in this exhibition have worked with
mentors to support their professional development and to
work towards this exhibition.

Mencap Northern Ireland’s contribution to this exhibition is
a film from their project ‘Positive Identities, Inclusive Futures’,
which places people with a learning disability at the centre of
conversations about identity, understanding and
reconciliation. This project, which is funded through the
Department of Foreign Affairs’ Reconciliation Fund, worked
with Mencap Network Partner groups, brings together more
than 60 participants to explore identity, belonging and shared
futures through digital arts, storytelling, film, photography and
music.

Exhibition dates:

Thursday 2 July – Friday 21 August 2026

Late Night Art openings:
Thursday 2 July 2026 from 5:00 – 9:00 pm
Thursday 6 August 2026 from 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Artist Talk:
Thursday 9 July 2026 from 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Cover image: Unforgotten Imprints by Jenny Humphreys (Connections
Art Centre)

Northern Ireland faces a disproportionate systemic problem with femicide and gendered violence. ANIMA explores what we as a society tolerate or brush under the carpet in regard to domestic violence. This show incorporates the feminine, the ‘ANIMA’ showing a delicacy in the materials and using scale as a method of showing the vastness of the issue.

Stereotypically feminine colours and shapes are used as a footprint for what we feel comfortable talking about, vs things we can’t or are not allowed to say for fear of retaliation or suppression -the redacted lines. With current global events regarding certain files, and how as a society we refuse to believe women – it unfortunately took thousands of redacted lines for us to admit it has never been about protecting women or children.

ANIMA Part 1 explores the discrepancy of justice for victims of gender-based violence and is an active call for societal reform.

About the artist:

Anna Vidamour is a multidisciplinary installation artist whose work explores the complexities of the human condition through lived experience. She works across large-scale sculpture, film, performance, sound, and painting, rooted in a radical feminist lens and a commitment to social justice.

Drawing on Newton’s First Law of Inertia, she examines how trauma irreversibly alters the body and mind. Using repurposed materials, she creates biomorphic forms—mangled female organs, phallic petals, distorted bodies—reclaiming agency in the wake of abuse. Themes of memory, transformation, and the life–death–rebirth cycle are central.

Cover Image credit: Anna Vidamour, 2026

The work draws on the language of navigation systems, biometric readouts, and mediated memory, translating lived experience of neurodiversity and invisible disability, into tempo, glare, delay, and drift. Rather than illustrating a narrative, the installation asks the audience to move, reorient, and tune in, noticing how the body makes sense of unstable information in real time.

About the artist:

Paul Moore is a Belfast-based interdisciplinary artist working across Audio Visual installation, performance, and digital media. His practice explores embodiment and endurance, often using the aesthetics of surveillance, interface design, and data visualisation to examine how bodies are mediated through technology. Underlying his approach to his practice is a belief that access and attentiveness are creative tools. His practice asks how technology might become more himan, messy, affective, capable of expressing difference and empthy rather than control. Moore has exhibited widely across Ireland, the UK, Europe, and the US, with exhibitions including Torrance Art Museum, Golden Thread Gallery, IMMA, CCA Derry, Platform Arts, and The MAC Belfast. He has been supported through multiple arts awards and development programmes, and maintains a studio practice at PS ² , Belfast.
Paul Moore was the recipient of the University of Atypical Digital Innovation Award 2024 funded by the Santander Foundation and would also like to express his thanks to the Guesthouse, particularly Mick O’Shea and Irene Murphy.

About the exhibition:

Edel Murphy, CEO and Artistic Director says that the group exhibition ‘twixt takes its name from the notion of being in between, at an interval and interweaving. Recipients of our d/Deaf and Disabled Support Fund grant programme have used the funding to deliver new pathways towards their own goals, some artists pursuing experimental directions or new ambitions – each at their own stage of development and discovery between concept and realisation.

‘twixt showcases the work of some of our twenty d/Deaf and Disabled Artists Support Fund 2025 (DDASF) awardees, including Darlene Corry, Elly Makem, Emma Brennan, Eve Belle, Finn Nichol, Hana Abri Smith, Indigo Azidahaka, Jamie Baker, Jayne Cherry, Kate Guelke, Brian McAvera, Abby Oliveira and Liam Devlin. The exhibition includes ceramics, painting, textiles, music, photography, digital art, spoken word and sculpture.

Exhibition Dates: Wednesday 14 January – Wednesday 25 February 2026
Late Night Art opening – Thursday 5 February from 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Artist Talk: Wednesday 21 January 1:30 – 2:30 pm

About the award:

The d/Deaf and Disabled Artists Support Fund (DDASF) is a dedicated individual artist development initiative supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland through National Lottery Funds. The awards enable and support d/Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists to develop their professional practice across all artforms. The award provides important funding for artists to produce new, high-quality work; to receive training: mentoring; or to buy creative time to practice their artform.

New name – same fund.

The DDASF fund will be renamed as Atypical Generation Fund and will be opening for applications in February 2026. The fund will remain the same – just a fancy new name. To apply, check out our website or social media or call the Atypical Gallery to find out more.

“The DDASF scheme has been incredibly valuable to me. As a disabled artist, opportunities like this allow me to work at a professional level and connect with producers and collaborators who help bring my work forward.”
(d/Deaf and Disabled Support Fund recipient 2025)

about the artist:

Charys is an Irish visual artist working primarily in installation. She holds a BA in Fine Art from Aberystwyth University, and an MFA from Ulster University. Her immersive, contemplative works explore light, space, and time and often draws on natural elements. She has exhibited widely across Ireland, the UK, Germany, and Japan, with solo exhibitions in Berlin, Belfast, and Derry-Londonderry.
Charys often creates installations using light as a medium. She is deeply passionate about the climate crisis, our connection to the natural world, and the impact of this connection/disconnection on our mental health. She focuses on creating immersive works that minimise impact and that are created using recycled or biodegradable materials with the climate crisis in mind. Every installation is dismantled or recycled, reflecting her commitment to sustainability and addressing the growing disconnect between humanity and nature.

About the exhibition:

The work is inspired in part by the practice of forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku: a Japanese tradition of spending quiet, mindful time among trees. Research shows that this kind of intentional time in nature can reduce stress, improve mood, and even boost the immune system.
For many of us this kind of immersive experience can feel out of reach, especially during the colder months or in urban environments. This installation is a way to bring some of those benefits indoors: a moment of calm, light, and quiet connection.
At a time when the climate crisis is making rhythms of nature more fragile and unpredictable, this piece also serves as a gentle reminder of what we might be losing, and what we still have time to protect.
This installation is about reconnection with nature, the passing of time, and our role in sustaining the environments we depend on. It doesn’t aim to shock or overwhelm, but instead to gently remind, and soothe the viewer, offering a visual respite in a busy overstimulating world.