This project took place during the pandemic, on the 25th of March until the 28th, making use of alternative/ disused spaces.

A development of the first project now in partnership with 9ft in Common and the Imagine Festival. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on our relationships with public space across the city. The oft-neglected network of entries and alleyways between Belfast’s terrace houses in particular are underutilised spaces which hold great potential for civic activism as has been seen in community initiatives such as Wildflower Alley or Open Ormeau.

12 local artists and designers were invited to select and respond to specific sites identified from an emergent Belfast Alley Map of the back-alleys across south (Ormeau) and east (Belmont) Belfast. Festival audiences were encouraged to seek out these showcases individually via an online map, exploring and engaging with these underused spaces in our city while doing so. The real-world ‘trail’ of art and design exhibitions will be accompanied an online discussion led by project partners Amberlea Neely, Aisling Rusk and Meadhbh McIlgorm at an online talk on 25 March where they shared notes from their investigation into the unfulfilled potential of Belfast’s alleys as places for connection and rewilding in the city."

Artists
Charys Wilson
Neal Campbell
Joe Laverty
Susan Hughes
Jonathan Brennan
Meadhbh McIlgorm
Pauline Clancy
Dónall Billings
Anna Donovan
Patrick Colhoun
Laura Nelson
Aaron Dickson

Photos in this gallery, Simon Mills.