More communities experience Culture Night 2012

On Friday 21 September Culture Night was celebrated throughout a record 34 towns across the island providing an exciting cultural showcase for all ages and communities. In Northern Ireland Culture Night was hosted in Ards, Armagh Belfast, Holywood, L’Derry and Strabane. As part of Culture Night Belfast supported under Belfast Peace III Plan by the European Union’s Regional Development Fund through the Peace III Programme, CAP delivered Culture Night in the Community, an innovative programme inviting groups to experience and contribute to this colourful city-wide event.

Over the last three years there have been increasing efforts to make Culture Night as inclusive as possible and to cater to all communities. Through various means including pre culture night workshops we made it possible for more people than ever to enjoy a truly inspirational evening.

Community Arts Partnership provided numerous workshops for a large number of community groups of all ages including an intergenerational project leading up to the event. Through these workshops, groups were given a variety of art forms to sample and were able to contribute to a large-scale exhibition in the Assembly Rooms.

The Culture Night in the Community exhibition featured original works created by groups of different ages, abilities and backgrounds taking part in community arts projects. Some of these projects were also part of Culture Night in the Community. Others were delivered in the past by Community Arts Partnership.

Participants worked with artists who encouraged and supported them to express their creativity, experiment with different art forms and create art pieces of relevance to themselves or their communities. The art works on display ranged from photographs to paintings, prints, poetry, public art and craft. They reflected the stories, cultures, identities of Belfast’s communities, as well as the rich and diverse talent in the city.

An estimated 3,500 people visited the exhibition space and over 750 participants took part in the art workshops which included a special video project on the night. In addition to this, six separate Culture Night Community Tours took place escorting a number of community groups through the Culture Night epicentre to experience the highlights of the evening.  A selection of images below capture the evening and preceding workshops.

Check out the Culture Night gallery here

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New Belfast Community Arts Initiative trading as Community Arts Partnership is a registered charity (XR 36570) and a company limited by guarantee (Northern Ireland NI 37645).Registered with The Charity Commission as New Belfast Community Arts Initiative - NIC105169.