Art, peace and reconciliation: In conversation with Rita Duffy by Allan LEONARD 11 May 2017 At the last lecture in the spring series of events hosted by the Mitchell Institute of Peace at Queen’s University Belfast, artist Rita Duffy conversed with Professor Fiona Magowan, on how she has applied her creativity to help better understand … Continue reading Art, peace and reconciliation: In conversation with Rita Duffy
Stéphane Duroy: Selecting memories by Allan LEONARD 3 May 2017 A recent exhibition in Le Bal featured a retrospective of the work by Stéphane Duroy. Again and Again contained a selection of hung prints on the ground floor and an installation of his reworked book, Unknown, in the lower level. The prints displayed his wanderings … Continue reading Stéphane Duroy: Selecting memories
I found myself with spare time before the bus commute home, so I popped over to Belfast Exposed, where I knew there was a exhibition of participants in its Stage 3 training photography courses. Coincidentally, I discovered as I walked in that there was a session of portfolio reviews. About half a dozen tables on … Continue reading Reciprocated Gaze: Belfast Exposed
Failed It! by Erik Kessels is an easy read of his encouragement of embracing failure as a means of revealing a better discovery. He intersperses his quips with visual inspirations, from both the intentional (by seasoned artists) and the unintentional (by reconsidering the work of some amateurs). The strength of this short book is demonstrating … Continue reading Book review — Failed It!
Using art to fill in gaps of our reconciliation: DFAT Reconciliation Networking Forum by Allan LEONARD 14 December 2016 At the eleventh annual convening of a reconciliation network organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Ireland), an afternoon panel discussion explored the role of the arts in Northern Ireland’s reconciliation process. Entitled “Culture, … Continue reading Using art to fill in gaps of our reconciliation
Without fear or favour: 30 years of Troubled Images by Allan LEONARD for Shared Future News 28 November 2016 The latest incarnation of the Troubled Images project — the launch of a free downloadable iBook — was cause for a reunion of sorts at the Linen Hall Library for the original team that compiled and … Continue reading Without fear or favour: 30 years of Troubled Images
At the Ulster Museum, my method is to head straight to the lift and go to the fifth floor, avoiding the history sections; it's gotta be fine arts for me. My motivation today was the Francisco Goya exhibition, The Disasters of War, which I learned about in an art history module at university. I remember … Continue reading A good afternoon @UlsterMuseum
René Magritte was the first artist that I identified with -- particularly his sense of humour yet thought provoking presentations of surrealism. One of my favourites paintings of his -- and one of his more famous ones -- is Ceci n'est pas une pipe, because literally it is not a pipe; it is an image … Continue reading Book review — A visit with Magritte (Duane Michals)
What happens when you ask an online chat room how to make a home? In an interview-style format with about 50 people attending, Belfast Exposed Curator Ciara Hickey asked artist Jan McCullough to share her journey. Home Instruction Manual is the product of the Internet. That is, while Jan McCullough is the author of this … Continue reading Surrendering one’s identity to the internet: Home Instruction Manual
A lexicon of conflict: Paul Seawright exhibition “Things Left Unsaid” by Allan Leonard 1 October 2015 On the surface, the images shown in Paul Seawright’s work, “Things Left Unsaid”, are just a series of American television news stations. And in a tour that the Belfast-based artist provided as part of Community Relations Week, Mr Seawright … Continue reading A lexicon of conflict: Paul Seawright exhibition “Things Left Unsaid”
As part of the Ulster Festival of Art & Design at Ulster University, I dropped in on a 30-minute photobook lab. Inside a pop-up style workspace on the ground floor of the Belfast campus were a few tables strewn with miscellaneous books, magazines and newspapers. The objective was to create your own photobook with these … Continue reading A festival photobook
Art opens up community imagination Peacebuilding and the Arts: An Imagine Belfast Festival discussion by Allan LEONARD 11 March 2015 As part of the Imagine Belfast Festival, the Northern Ireland Foundation and Forum for Cities in Transition hosted a discussion event, “Peacebuilding and the Arts”, which explored how art has progressed peace in Northern Ireland. … Continue reading Art opens up community imagination
