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Arts CentresAuthor(s): Mark GordonSource: Fortnight, No. 452 (May, 2007), pp. 19-20Published by: Fortnight Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25561938 .

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What did Belfast get? The anodyne

Waterfront Hall, isolated by roaring

traffic on three sides and now

surrounded by office blocks of appalling architectural mediocrity. The development of the much vaunted and

long awaited Cathedral Quarter has

been led by property speculators who

seem to spend most of their time selling

sites to each other in the hope of

making a quick buck. The scandal of

the arson attack on North Street Arcade

is compounded by the wall of silence

which surrounds the future of the site.

But then Belfast can be proud of its car

parks. It must have more than any other

city in Europe.

As McQuiston points out, the

distinctive recent heritage of Belfast is

an industrial one. As heavy industrial

past fades into history the remaining

architectural heritage becomes a crucial

legacy for the city; a source of potential

pride for the locals and a magnet for

visitors. This heritage was recognized in

the engineering and industrial galleries of the Ulster Museum before it closed

for remodelling. These galleries are also

to be consigned to the scrapheap to be

replaced by a space where, as

McQuiston aptly puts it ... you will be

able to have a latte and some Broccoli

quiche while admiring your newly

purchased fridge magnet of the Titanic.

In his final remarks on the 'shambles'

that is the development of the Harland

and Wolff site - McQuiston points to

the crucial element in the failure of

urban planning here - the lack of

coherent leadership and planning. This

lack bedevils all aspects of administration here: it is virtually

impossible to find out who is in charge

of anything, because no single agency

ever is. No one is accountable, so a

priceless heritage is abandoned to the

mercies of the speculators and gombeen men.

Ian McQuiston was given an OBE for

his services to the preservation of the

built environment. The coven of mandarins who listened to his condemnation of their shocking history of neglect and incompetence will no doubt ensure that there will be no further elevation up the honours pole for him.o

'A'

Ails Centres

In a climate where funding for artistic spaces is becoming harder than ever to attain, individuals and organisations are seeking new ways to create environments for art to exist in and flourish. Mark Gordon looks at two examples of initiatives currently underway in Belfast.

The Oh Yeah project is an

ambitious proposal to

transform The Outlet Building,a

former bonded whiskey warehouse

and previous home of the Outlet

recording and distribution company

into rehearsal rooms, a recording

studio, performance space, a cafe and

office units to incubate new music

businesses. As with many great ideas,

the idea came about one afternoon

in the pub - Stuart Bailie from the

project takes up the story

"It started In the Crown Bar with

Snow Patrol and some mates,

December 29, 2005.The band had

recently met with Peter Hain at

Hillsborough and thought they could

ask him for a bit of help. I think it

was Jonny Quinn who came up with

the idea and Gary Lightbody who

then pursued it. Myself, Marty Neill

and Davy Matchett had all given the

idea some thought before, but the

band and its reputation was critical

to making it fly."

Ask him about whether projects

like Oh Yeah serve a role similar to

the youth centres of the past, in

terms of getting kids off the streets

and into creative spaces, and he'll tell

you that the Oh Yeah aesthetic will

be something different: "Any youth clubs I visited in my

early years had a religious agenda. I

would be more

inspired by places like Northern the Hacienda - bold

places with punk Ireland could attitudes.We still need price itself to beat the cultural out of self cringe - to make

people feel worthy and expression. confident about

themselves and their

background" The bottom line seems to be about

creating positive space in a climate

where conventional property is

becoming totally unaffordable to arts

organisations - Bailie agrees with this

notion: v

FORTNIGHT MAY 2007 19

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"Artists need affordability.

Northern Ireland could price itself out of self-expression. Belfast has the

heavy industry thing that often surfaces in the music.The mighty clang of activity."

The King Street Arts Centre

was established in 2003 by a group of Belfast based artists, photographers and musicians wishing to establish an

independent art centre, based in

Belfast City Centre in a neutral

venue.The centre, from March 2007, has started to deliver a public

quarterly programme of workshops and exhibitions in the genres of

photography, music, film, dance, drama and art. Joby Fox, cofounder of the

venture, explains the centre's

ideology: "Essentially King St Arts Centre is

an enterprise by two individuals, photographer and founding member

of Belfast Exposed Sean McKernan, and myself.We believe that the

subsidy culture which has existed in

NI for a long time only serves to force well-meaning projects from

pillar to post when the next financial

Artists are usually individuals or small motivated groups

which do not want to write reports and chase money every

three months of the year."

year comes around. It will maintain itself through hire of rehearsal space and performance space, workshops and classes and the cafe, and with a

minimum of bureaucracy." As a self-started and maintained

project, Fox holds strong views on

the notions of public funding for this kind of venture:

"It goes against the ethos of the place that is built on the spirit of

enterprise.We believe that the petty politics of the funding process only inhibits creativity in the long run.

The King Street District is only now coming out of a lengthy period

of cultural and social neglect, but as

residential and commercial

developers start to move into the

area, there is a feeling by those

involved that it is important that such an arts centre should exist, to help improve the cultural life of the

district" "What you will see is a hub of

activity which will provide the urban dweller with a place to meet and

socialise whilst participating in the

activities throughout the centre." As for his view on the economic

problems surrounding the property price boom, Fox is pragmatic on the

notion of arts spaces being taken out of the hands of individuals and

organisations: "Yes, a certain amount of that is

true.The way the housing market is

going I can see artist space becoming more scarce on the ground. How

ever, if the City Council have the vision they will provide good arts

space for entrepreneurial arts groups like ourselves with maybe a rates reduction scheme." v

The Flea Pit ,_ Waterfront Hall

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incredible feats of mind reading, weightlifting and incredible trapeze stunts! All accompanied by live

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27/05/2007-28/05/2007 www.cahootsni.com

CHOW YUN FAT GONG Li

CURSEOF THE)GOLDEN FLOWER A .> ay ZHANG YIMOU

.b .~a I t S i l vt! Q fll*';,jns8'.'''''J h!Z

Curse of the Golden Flower Queens Film Theatre

The latest epic from ZhangYimou who brought you, Hero and House of Flying Daggers.ChowYun-Fat and Gong Li play star-crossed lovers who fall in love within the borders of a kingdom. She plays Phoenix, an imperial bodyguard, while he plays Prince Ping. Numerous forces, including Ping's stepmother, who is also in love

with him, try to keep the lovers apart. It leads them on a dangerous journey where secrets of the royal family are uncovered.

I 8/05/2007-24/05/2007 www.queensfilmtheatre.com

20 FORTNIGHT MAY 2007

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