Household Festival 2013 was a programme of events and activities collectively delivered by Household, creative practitioners and south Belfast residents that offered new ways to experience contemporary art in the city.
The festival catered to a community of people keen to invite new audiences to view contemporary work in their homes and neighbourhoods and sought to challenge and destabilise established notions of public and private space. Over a three-day period in August 2013, we invited over 100 creative practitioners (see dropdown menu below) at more than 50 domestic, public and alternative locations around the Ormeau Road area in South Belfast to present a variety of outputs to visitors and local residents.
This area of the city is increasingly recognised as a neighbourhood defined by its dynamic resident creative community. However, there are no contemporary gallery spaces around the Ormeau Road in which these practitioners can exhibit, and they remain largely invisible to a general public. Following the success of Household Festival 2012 , for Household Festival 2013, artists’ houses again became makeshift venues and urban public spaces were temporarily transformed into open platforms, unhindered by the demands and restraints of galleries and institutions.
The festival programme included exhibitions, dance, music, theatre, dinners, workshops, performances, talks, demonstrations, poetry, screenings, tours, and interventions. To create a cohesive, easily negotiated event, Household provided recognisable and consistent branding and an app.
Outdoor events included: a dance performance by Maeve McGreevy, accompanied by Tom Hughes on cello at the Ormeau Park Bowling Green; the erection of a temporary façade of a makeshift house outside the Ormeau Park gates constructed by Martin Carter and members of the Lawrence Street Workshops that hosted DJ sets and protested against the restricted use of public spaces; the mysterious ‘historical right-of-way’ sign that appeared next to a newly-created gap in the Ormeau Park railings (the metal bars in the fence were temporarily removed, resulting in an opening that people could pass through); Colm Clarke’s sculptural installation in an abandoned, fenced-off building site; and Deirdre McKenna’s large scale collage on the gable end of her home.
Indoor interventions included: Relocation, an installation by Jane Butler of a strip of shimmering material suspended over a bath refracting the light from an adjacent window in order to illuminate one half of the room in a soft green glow and cast a pink hue over the other; Unofficial Secret, an audio installation by Dorothy Hunter of recordings made at the east-facing hatch at the abandoned Teufelsberg listening station in Berlin; and Surrender Yourself, a project developed by Tonya McMullan and Colm Clarke inviting their neighbours to exhibit a selection of objects which represent them in some way.
To contextualise how space in the city is used and to critically examine the connotations of the term ‘home’, Household organised a programme of talks in the Ormeau Road Library. Speakers included Declan Hill from the Forum for Alternative Belfast, who spoke about the distribution of green space and trees in the city and how this can affect inner-city neighbourhoods and their perceived ‘value’. Ray Cashell, Chair of Shelter NI, discussed housing issues and tenants’ rights in rented accommodation. Lynne McMordie and fellow staff members, as well as service users from the Welcome Organisation, a charity addressing the needs of people who are homeless or sleeping rough in the city, spoke about their experiences of homelessness, makeshift housing and what it means to be without the security of a home. A discussion between Eugenie Dolberg – a curator and photojournalist who, as part of the project Open Shutters Iraq, lived and worked with a group of Iraqi women for three months – and Belfast Exposed Director Pauline Hadaway concluded the programme of talks. Their conversation focused on private and public space, and how ‘the private’ and ‘the public’ are jeopardised in both Middle-Eastern and Western society.
Aidan Deery
Aisling O’Beirn
CROW
Andrew Wood
Ann & Ken Bartley
Aonghus McEvoy
Ben Crothers
Bernie Stocks
Blue Whale
Brian J Morrison
Caroline Pugh
Catherine McKenna
Catherine Skroch
Ceardha Morgan
Claire Hall
Clodagh Lavelle
Colm Clarke
Dave Farquhar
David Mahon
Deirdre McKenna
Dennis O’Keeffe
Dermot Hughes
Dorothy Hunter
Eamonn McKeever
Emma Jane McAleese
Eugienie Dolberg
Fellow Bicycle Co. (Andrew Elder, Patrick McQuiston, Jon T Parks) & Thomas McConaghie
Gabriele Sabunaite
Gary Moore
Gemma McMahon
Geraldine Boyle
Grace Loughrey
Gus Sutherland
Hannah Burns
Hannah Casey
Hannah McBride
Hannah Shepherd
Helen McDonnell
Iain Griffin
Jack Hughes
Jan Carson
Jane Butler
Jason O’Rourke
JJ Devereaux
Joanna Monks
John D’Arcy
Katrina Sheena Smyth
Kelly Hanvey
Larry McAree
Laurent Pellisser
Lawrence Street Workshops
Leanne Donly
Lyndsey McDougall & Lynn Ross
Lynne McMordie & guests
Maeve McGreevy
Mairead Dunne
Maria McManus
Martin Boyle
Martin Carter
Mathew Rodger
Matilde Meireles
Matt Green
Miguel Martin
Natalia Beylis
NI Opera
Ormeau Bowling Club
Paddy Bloomer
Paddy Kelly
Pauline Hadaway
Phil McCrilly
PLACE
Pollen Studios & Gallery
PS2
Ray Cashell
Rebecca Mairs
Rob Hilken
Robin Price
Rosie Hughes
Rosie LeGarsmeur
Ruaidhri Lennon
Satsumas Aural Conditioning
Shelby Woods
Skinnybone Theatre: Nicholas Boyle & Bronagh McCrudden
Stuart Sloan
Susan Hughes
Table Tennis Ulster
Tara Plunkett
The Pavilion
Thomas McConaghie
Tom Clark
Tom Hughes
Tonya McMullan
Una Hickey
Yvonne Kennan
To deliver the festival Household partnered with PS2 and was consequently supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Small Grants programme.
In addition, the organisation secured private sponsorship and in-kind support from local businesses and organisations including Michel’s Fruit and Vegetables, Lavery’s, Soul Food Cafe, Bread and Banjo, Graffitti Restaurant, Cafe Le Petit Ormeau, McCreery’s Meats, The Errigle Inn, Ballynafeigh Post Office, Ballynafeigh Community Centre, Table Tennis Ulster, Ormeau Library, Ormeau Bowling Club, Forum For Alternative Belfast, Flaxart studios, The Pavilion, Welcome Organisation, and Belfast Exposed Photography.
This project would not be possible without the generosity and support of all participating artists, organisations, residents, speakers and volunteers.
Images courtesy of Simon Mills, Stuart Calvin, and the artists.
Identity and graphic design by Tom Hughes
App design by Ruaidhri Lennon
Slavka Sverakova reviews Household Festival 2013 here
Alissa Kleist provides a further insight into the festival for Visual Artists Ireland Newssheet here