Category: Gallery
Plaster Casting Workshop with Model Citizen
We had hoped to have people in the gallery to take part in a one-off plaster casting session with architect/maker John Donnelly of ‘Model Citizen’ but we can’t right now!
Sooo we thought we would bring the workshop to you!
Register to take part in John’s workshop, and we will send you everything you will need to join us on Zoom. You will be sent all the ingredients needed to take part, apart from water and an old bowl. Each kit will be delivered in a cardboard box and your model will be made using a special non-toxic material that picks up a greater level of detail than standard gypsum.
We are grateful for the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund in funding this programme.
National Lottery Heritage Fund Northern Ireland
Please Click below to register before the 25th of October 2020
Model making kit will be provided via post. Workshop will take place on Zoom.
Brian Kielt – Confessional
Titled Confessional, this solo exhibition features portraits and landscapes which combine found and original imagery. The shifting perspectives of these paintings prompts the viewer to – physically – take a position on these events, as we alter our stance to understand everything we are seeing and what it is trying to tell us.
Drawing on historical documents – particularly those from events of national and international shame such as genocide, war and famine – can teach us how to understand ourselves. Kielt weaves figures, objects and landscapes from these pictures into a painted tapestry alongside personal archive material: images of figures, objects and landscapes from his own life.
“FLESH control” Culture Night 2020
The University of Atypical are delighted to premiere Flesh Control by Belfast based film maker Christopher McSherry as part of this year’s Culture Night Belfast 2020.
Somewhere in a forgotten, decrepit part of Northern Ireland, two exterminators need to fumigate the kitchen of an old granny flat before they can finally head home and enjoy the weekend. Simple enough, except they are both giant, humanoid, fully clothed, talking insects… but apart from that they’re both just your typical working class drones.
As featured in the “FrightFest 2020”
#CNB20 #CultureNightBelfast
“FLESH control” Culture Night 2020 from University of Atypical on Vimeo.
This short is my end-of-year 2019 student film. I made it after going back to college as a mature student in Belfast.
I wrote, directed, shot, edited and funded every part of it, alongside building the whole set with the help of my father.
Because I didn’t have a budget to make something that looked very professional, I embraced the low-fi, handmade look which lends the film a kind of theatrical quality. I had two days to make this film, one day to set it up and one day to shoot; one setting, and two characters. This film offers a bizarrely brief look at working class philosophy, coming to terms with your place in the world, and how – inevitably and no matter what you believe or who/what you are – we all still have a job to be getting on with.
Christopher McSherry
https://www.culturenightbelfast.com/cnb-showcase-university-of-atypical-flesh-control/
Graduate Award 2020 – Dominic McKeown & Sinéad O’Neill-Nicholl
University of Atypical is delighted to once more announce our annual Graduate Award, aimed at supporting D/deaf and disabled artists at the beginning of their professional career in the arts. This year’s cohort of students have faced a number of challenges brought about by COVID-19, with many missing out on aspects of the experience, most notably the end of year showcase event and the opportunity for new artists to gain valuable visibility locally.
Image: Dominic McKeown
We usually attend the exhibition preview event in order to select and offer one student the Graduate Award. This year, we’ve worked with all departments within Belfast School of Art, Ulster University, inviting staff to nominate D/deaf and disabled students for shortlisting. In response to the quality of work this year, we are offering two Graduate Awards for 2020, to Dominic McKeown and Sinéad O’Neill-Nicholl. Artists receive a bursary, production budget and 8 hours of one-to-one mentoring with a mid-career artist, as well as curatorial, access, marketing and technical support.
Chairperson of University of Atypical, Damien Coyle, said:
‘Both artists will feature in our 2021 gallery programme and we’re really looking forward to working with them both. Their respective practices, in sculpture and audio installation, will complement our existing programme and hopefully have real resonances with our audiences. Now – more than ever – it is important to amplify the voices of D/deaf and disabled artists, particularly those who are emerging from college into a changed cultural landscape.’
Dan Shipsides, Lecturer at Belfast School of Art, said
‘We are delighted for both Sinead and Dominic to receive this award – both have fascinating practices and are extremely deserving of it. The support that it will offer them will be invaluable in helping them both continue to develop on from the MFA. It’s an honour for our MFA students to receive recognition and support from University of Atypical.’
Recipient Sinéad O’Neill-Nicholl said:
‘I am absolutely thrilled to have been offered this opportunity by the University of Atypical. The organisation plays such a special role within Belfast, promoting inclusivity in the arts and advocating for people with disabilities and it is a real honour to be recognised by them in this way.’
Acupuncture for Artists
Mental ill-health amongst artists is three times the national average. To coincide with Confessional’s themes of trauma and anxiety, we are offering free acupuncture sessions for artists in partnership with Extern. 24 places are available and will be allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Please note: this is auricular (ear) acupuncture rather than whole body. Auricular acupuncture treatment decompresses the nervous system to produce calmness. It detoxifies and balances the body energy channels.
This will be supported with acupressure techniques (which do not involve needles) and complimentary therapies massage – head, hands, full body, reflexology – as well as reiki.