Belfast Invests £250,000 in Creative Peace Projects

• Peace III

Belfast City Council is investing £250,000 in a range of ten large scale creative projects which aim to help the city become a shared cultural space and one that is peaceful and welcoming to everyone.

As part of the council`s Creative Legacies programme, ten projects, bringing together arts and community groups from across the city, have been awarded funding to develop a range of long-term creative and cultural activities.

“This fantastic funding boost from Peace III will make some groundbreaking creative activity and community partnerships possible – and help draw people in from the margins”.

The projects receiving funding are:

• Belfast East, which will see Beyond Skin engaging with Ravenlink Women`s Groups and the Chinese Welfare Association to provide a range of cultural education programmes, encouraging greater acceptance of different cultures and traditions and use of shared spaces in east Belfast;
• Greater Shankill Partnership, Creative Exchange and Impact Training will be working together to deliver `Hewitt in the Frame` in north Belfast, using the works of local poet John Hewitt to encourage the Shankill community to express their history and culture through the arts;
• Lower North Belfast Community Council will be working with Arts for All, the Ulster Scots Community Network and North Belfast Orange Memorial Hall to engage with local people on `Learning to Share` – a project aimed at increasing knowledge of the Orange tradition in a way that encourages appreciation and acceptance;
• New Lodge Arts will be encouraging local teenagers from greater New Lodge, Westland and Mount Vernon to get green-fingered by working on `Grow How` – a project which will explore community environmental schemes, and create, landscape shared green spaces and integrated public art pieces;
• Northern Visions will be working with a range of partners including Ballymacarrett Arts and Cultural Society and Feile An Phobail to create a feature documentary exploring the heritage of the community arts sector and digital media projects for the web exploring the theme `In our time: creating arts within reach`;
• Open Arts will be working with a range of partners to lead a dance and music project with disabled people across Belfast – ending with city centre performances, exploring the legacy of conflict from a personal perspective;
• Upper Andersonstown Community Forum will be working with Lenadoon Community and Carn Media to celebrate the creativity and diversity of young people in their area under the banner `All for Arts` - creating an animated programme, a 3D sculptural wall frieze and publishing an intergenerational storybook;
• Upper Springfield Development Company will be working with partners on a project titled `Heritage of the Hills` to connect existing and recent ethnic minority communities and to transform part of the Peace Wall interface between Springfield Park and Springmartin into a shared cultural space;
• The Workers` Educational Association will be working with a learning group and partners including the Ulster Museum and Ballynafeigh Community Development Association to explore culture, identity and difference to create pieces of art which portray new visions of Belfast; and
• Youth Action Northern Ireland will be working on the Rainbow Community Links Arts Outreach project to engage teenagers from Springfield, Dee Street and Cliftonville in a series of creative workshops and a three day festival.

The Creative Legacies programme will also lead to the creation of six new pieces managed by Belfast City Council of public art across the city and fund an important piece of research examining the impact of artistic activity on community development – as well as producing an educational resource and a conference, exploring the impact of the arts in communities and showcasing best practice.  For further information, contact the Tourism, Culture and Arts Unit on 028 9091 8734.

The Creative Legacies programme is designed to tackle sectarian and racist attitudes through the development of shared cultural space in the city, and is a key part of the Belfast Peace and Reconciliation Plan, funded by the Peace and Reconciliation Programme for Northern Ireland and the Border Counties of the Republic of Ireland (PEACE III).

Belfast City Council Good Relations Partnership is managing and administering the funding available to Belfast through the Peace III Programme.