About the Art centre

Ballina Arts Centre is an exciting multidisciplinary arts venue in Ballina, Co. Mayo. Presenting a programme filled with the very best in visual art, music, film, literature, as well as theatre and dance, workshops, classes and talks. This May the Arts Centre has a packed programme which includes two beautiful exhibitions, spectacular Dance all the way from Limerick , an international Digital Conference, Theatre and Music as part of the International Choral Festival! Something for everyone, info and booking links below

 

Coming Up In May

 

Spiritual Landscapes: Marian McHale  exhibition

Official Opening: Thursday 3rd May, 8pm

Reminiscences, recognition and rediscovery form the basis for Marian McHale’s exploration of her local landscape and the rugged bogland near Turlough, Castlebar, Co. Mayo. Striving to maintain the recognisable essence of the environment, by using personal concentration of composition, form, light and colour, the objective of her artistic endeavour is to expose Turlough landscapes through abstract depictions revealing their multiplicity of colour, shade and the light.

Marian describes the essence of the finished works as “the synthesis of seasonal floral forms and shapes, which flourish and dissipate in the creation of the paintings. The fusion of form and content may deter precise description or interpretation, as the battered surfaces of these paintings suggest the relentless making and unmasking of images, when they emerge as an apparition”.

Runs until Saturday 30th June. Admission free, All welcome.

 

Merry.go.round  dance

Merry.go.round

Maria Nilsson Waller

Looking beyond our world into the great vast blackness of the cosmos we find five characters orbiting each other. Some are destined to converge, others to split apart. They all long for authentic connections in this otherworldly realm of celestial bodies. Caught between construction and deconstruction it is a marvel universe, strange yet familiar both beautifully simple and incredible messy.

With a touch of cinematic sci-fi, Merry.Go.Round features an eclectic soundtrack including Swedish rebel jazz band Je Suis!, NASA recordings of the solar system and iconic opera classics. Performed within a structure of scored improvisation the piece is never the same twice.
Merry.go.round is the latest and final piece in dance artist Maria Nilsson Waller’s triptych based on unclaimed territories.
Produced by Dance Limerick with support from the Arts Council of Ireland.
“deep-felt, heartfelt, exquisitely tender”
**** the Arts Review

Tickets: €12 / €10. Early booking advised.    

 

 

Ballymun Lullaby  film

Dir: Frank Berry (Ireland / 2011 / 72 mins)

Starring: Ron Cooney, Tara O’Brien, Darren Scully
Ballymun Flats, the Republic of Ireland’s only highrise community was created in the 1960s to solve a housing crisis. Since then, social and economic issues associated with the address have led to prejudice against its residents, many of whom have been forced out of their homes due to redevelopment. Yet the community’s sense of hope and perseverance shines, as seen in this inspiring documentary following music teacher Ron Cooney and the kids of the Ballymun Music Programme through the creation of a choral and orchestral album.

Admission Free.

Presented in association with access>CINEMA,.

As part of the Bealtaine Festival. 

 

 

Uncomfortable State: Laura O’Connor  exhibition

Uncomfortable State: Laura O’Connor 

Official Opening: Thursday 10th May, 8pm

This solo exhibition by artist Laura O’Connor addresses the realities and fantasies around Irish women’s bodies. Ireland has long been represented as female or ‘Mother Ireland’ where depictions of the country as a woman are seen through images of Kathleen Ní Houlihan or Róisín Dubh or in 19th Century caricatures as Lady Hibernia. In the last century Irish women have been punished for their reproductive abilities and right now the country is at a point of change. This timely exhibition challenges notions of national identity that are tied to Irish women’s bodies. O’Connor combines sculpture, video and performance to expose the body as a site of resistance and discomfort. The exhibition centres around the video work Uncomfortable State. This two-channel video projection displays the artist standing in front of a green cut out of Ireland where she slowly paints her body green. Using green screen technology O’Connor keys out her body that is then replaced in the

adjacent video by footage of the Irish Sea. This erasure of the artist’s body and replacement by the body of water travelled daily by Irish women to access abortions is a visual metaphor for how pregnant women are treated by the state. Inspired by the Tanaiste’s 2017 comments on his “feeling uncomfortable” towards the Citizen’s Assembly decision to repeal the Eight Amendment O’Connor puts herself in an uncomfortable

position as a challenge to these remarks.

Laura is currently finishing a practice-based PhD at Ulster University, Belfast. She has recently exhibited at LACE Gallery, Los Angeles, Framewerk Gallery, Belfast, Townhall Cavan & RUA RED, Dublin. O’Connor is the recipient of Arts Council of Northern Ireland funding 2017, 2013 & 2011. She is also co-founder of Wanda, Feminism and Moving Image Event in Belfast. www.lauraoconnorart.com

Runs until 30th June. Admission free, All welcome.

 

John in Heels  theatre

John is a man. A man who wears heels, dresses, lingerie. John wants to tell you why. How it has changed him. How, maybe, it might change you. John in Heels is a powerful monologue about the journey to feel like oneself and not be trapped be notions of normal

John has something to share with you, it’s simple “Don’t Dream it be it”.

Phoenix Theatre Co. is a Louth based theatre company that is committed to the creation of new and socially relevant works. The company’s work ranges from new forms of collaborative, devised performance to original text-based work.

Tickets: €18 / €16. Early booking advised

 

An Introduction to Dance and Movement  workshop

An Introduction to Dance and Movement

With Catherine Donnelly

Monday 14th & Monday 28th May11am 

Dance artist Catherine Donnelly will lead a workshop introducing elements of dance and movement. The workshop will take place over two days.Catherine Donnelly founded The Elderberries, a creative movement and dance group for over 55s, in Roscommon Arts Centre over 10 years ago. Her workshops focus on creating opportunities for people to explore their own creativity through movement and dance in a fun and enjoyable way.

Mayo County Council Arts Service is supporting a series of Dance and Movement workshops for over 55s with dancer Catherine Donnelly in Castlebar, Ballina and Belmullet. In partnership with Mayo’s Older Peoples Council, Mayo County Council Community Section, Ballina Arts Centre and Áras Inis Gluaire

Admission: free. Booking essential.

Supported by Mayo County Council Arts Service

Part of the Bealtaine festival

 

Digital Transformations  conference

Digital Transformations
19-20 May 2018

We can change the world with digital technology, but how will that technology change us?
A bold, exciting, and innovative international conference focusing on the cultural impacts of the digitisation of society. Featuring speakers from the worlds of technology, film, arts, culture and creative industries, attendees will come face to face with the digital society, with the people who are making it happen, the artists who are trying to find meaning in it, and the academics, and policy makers who are trying make sense of it. You too will have a chance to participate in the debate.
This 2-day conference is bringing a panoply of speakers from Ireland, Europe and North America to share radical thinking about the digital society. See http://www.digitaltransformations.org for more information.
Early registration €80

Ballina Sings!  music

Ballina Sings!

Ballina Chamber Choir & The University of Southern Indiana Chamber Choir

As part of Mayo International Choral Festival, Ballina Chamber Choir will be joined by University of Southern Indiana Chamber Choir.  Ballina Chamber Choir was formed in 2011 and performs an eclectic repertoire.  The choir’s  talented violinist Felicia Schneiderreit will delight the audience with a solo. The choir’s Director is Niamh O’Kelly.

The University of Southern Indiana Chamber Choir is one of three ensembles, which serve as musical ambassadors for the University.  The choir performs a varied repertoire and joined with several other choruses to perform Haydn’s Mass in Time of War with the New York Chamber Orchestra in Carnegie Hall.  The choir has performed in Castles, Cathedrals and Concert Halls of Poland, Germany, Ireland & Canada for a total of 16 International tours.  The choir’s Director is Daniel R Craig.

Tickets: €15. Early booking advised.