• Exhibition: THF @ Belfast Exposed

    May 23, 2017 - By 

    This week is the last to see Aisling McCoy’s exhibition THF in Belfast Exposed. The project sees McCoy explore and respond to the now closed Berlin airport Tempelhofer Feld – THF was it’s International Air Transport Association airport code. Tempelhofer Feld was original constructed by the government of the Weimar Republic, but underwent a massive expansion and redesigned in 1936 when it was envisioned by the Nazi regime as being the ‘Gateway to Europe’ for a post-World War II Germany. Since closing permanently as an airport in 2008 has undergone main guises from hosting fairs and marathon events. Since late-2015 it has also become…

  • Exhibition: How We Got Here @ Platform Arts

    May 17, 2017 - By 

    How We Got Here, an exhibition featuring the wok of 1st year MFA students from Belfast School of Arts, is due to end this week in Belfast’s Platform Arts. 12 artists feature in total, with the work exploring themes including memory and femininity. The exhibition is spread across both galleries within Platform Arts and includes collage, sculpture and painting. The gallery is open 12-6 Wednesday to Friday, before closing on Saturday 11-4. Full details are available here.

  • Gallery Open Call: Eight

    May 8, 2017 - By 

    Eight, on Dublin’s Dawson Street, have announced details on an open call for artists to apply to for their 2017/18 programme. In recent years the gallery has hosted compact but expansive shows by a number of key emerging artists, including Eleanor McCaughey, James Kirwan, David Lunney and more. As well as these solo shows the space has worked in conjunction with other bodies, most notably with Basic Space Dublin for Culture Night last year, to host engaging group shows, INFRA in the case of Basic Space Dublin. Full details of the submission requirements can be found here, with an expressive…

  • Exhibition: A Rhythm Exposed @ MART

    May 10, 2017 - By 

    Artist Steven Maybury returns with a new exhibition, entitled A Rhythm Exposed (Routines: 5-6), which is due to open this coming Thursday in The MART Gallery, Rathmines. While the series is a continuation of thoughts previously explore in his 2016 shows, Anicca (The Library Project, Dublin) and Dukka (Platform Arts, Belfast), this new work sees Maybury embracing new materials and approaches, all while further exploring the Buddhist Doctrines of existence and impermanence discussed in those exhibitions. Drawing is still a key language for the artist’s output, with the exhibition set to examine and challenge the processes of archiving and presentation. We chatted to Maybury last…

  • Silverbacks – Sink The Fat Moon

    April 28, 2017 - By 

    Insofar as first-rate lo-fi indie rock goes, the island of Ireland is surely right up there with the most fertile.Laying claim to their stake amongst the very best, Dublin’s Silverbacks release a new EP, the five-track Sink The Fat Moon on May 19. If new single ‘Dirty Money’ is anything to by, we’re in for something well worth the wait. A terse, harmonic-laden effort that openly yet rather brilliantly filters the more more reclined efforts of the holy trifecta that is Sonic Youth, Pavement and Pixies, it’s a masterfully languid release betraying real purpose in its disaffected swagger. This follows up on their…

  • Hornets – Witch Hunt

    April 24, 2017 - By 

    Having spent the last few years establishing themselves around Belfast originally as a trio before expanding to become a quartet, the heft-laden hardcore act Hornets finally release their debut album, Witch Hunt on May 19. Witch Hunt will be the first release on newly established promotion & record label Solid Choice Industries – who have in just the last 2 months, brought Belfast rare shows from the likes of Russian Circles and Grails. Hornets’ latest release hugely broadens their scope and dynamic, taking blast-beat-led detours through visceral crust punk & cacophonic, harshly atmospheric black metal, without losing their trademark moments of Mastodon-esque gargantuan proportion.…

  • Hiva Oa – Mk 2 (Part 2)

    April 21, 2017 - By 

    Brooding, atmospheric Belfast-based duo Hiva Oa release their new EP, Mk II (Part 2), following up on last year’s in-parenthesis Part 1. Based around core members Stephen Houlihan & Christine Tubridy, with outside help from Matthew Collings, Daithi McNabb & Chris McCorry, the pair lived in Edinburgh for several years before returning to Ireland and instilling new life into the project. Hiva Oa’s recent material has taken some cues in mood from post-punk & experimental electronica, filtered through the lens of contemporary indie music, not without its pop merit – paving a sonic path not unlike that of latter day Radiohead. The EP displays a breadth of unrestricted instrumentation & arrangements by band’s…

  • Basecamp Launch Night

    April 24, 2017 - By 

    It’s always great to see a new regular live gig night crop up. Launching at Belfast’s McHughs on Saturday, May 22, BASECAMP is the a new venture from Four Acre, the brainchild of Neil Allen of all but revered NI alt-folk band The Emerald Armada. For its first outing, the night – which is calling itself “the home of emerging artists – will see sets from Brash Isaac, Jamie Neish and Benjamin Hamilton. Admission is £5, doors are at 8pm.

  • Whiskey and Words @ The Black Box

    April 20, 2017 - By 

    Ask virtually any resident of Belfast to list a few must-visit places in the city and No Alibis on Botanic Avenue will surely feature. A veritable institution that has acted as both an intimate venue for performers of every ilk and shade as well as one of the country’s leading independent bookstores for many years, it is owned and co-ran by one David Torrans (pictured), who will take part in Whiskey and Words, a one-off event in collaboration with Bushmills at the Black Box on Sunday, April 23. A highlight of the current #AnswerTheCall series, in which Bushmills have worked “with local creators, thinkers,…

  • Life after Buildings @ Mother’s Tankstation

    April 19, 2017 - By 

    Opening tonight in Dublin’s Mother’s Tankstation is the latest exhibition from Irish artist Brendan Earley. The work, entitled Life after Buildings, is the result of Earley’s shift in focus over the last few years following the completion of a studio in the Wicklow Mountains. Taking ques from American poet Lew Welch, as well as the change in surroundings, Earley returns with a series of new drawings that seek to initiate rather than simply respond and record. This, coupled with his new more rural and less cluttered surroundings, has resulted in an intriguing and, on surface value, more minimal approach. The show…