Art Events in Northern Ireland 08/09

NDCS Northern Ireland receive funding from The Arts Council of Northern Ireland to support our Arts Programme.

We organise a wide range of exciting art events across a variety of art forms such as visual art, dance, drama, film, music, animation, circus skills...the list is almost endless and really fun! 

Find out more about previous art events below.

Our annual creative writing and visual art competition for deaf children in Northern Ireland explored the theme of Inventions in 2008.

We had 46 entries from 27 different schools and were utterly amazed by the talent and thought behind each entry!

Some of the Inventions are listed below:

• The Teacher Zapper!
• The Hot Cut - a knife that toasts bread while it cuts!
• A computer you can get inside to play the games for real!
• A homework computer that does the work for you!
• A dress that turns you into a princess!
• Goal Keeper Juice!

Our prize day was held in NICCY and Patricia Lewsley, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People presented the awards.

It was a difficult task to follow on from the success of Murder at the Manor, the film produced in 2007. However the young people in 2008's film excelled once again through mentoring from BBC Blast and produced a real chiller entitled The Seashell Hotel.

The Seashell Hotel tells the tale of a loving husband and wife revisiting their honeymoon location to celebrate their wedding anniversary. But all it not as it seems as a clever twist is revealed. Is the husband really there?...Watch our film and decide for yourself!

The Seashell Hotel premiered in the Odyssey Belfast on 20 September to an audience of 121 people. This included professionals from the TV and film industry; Louis Neethling director of Mutt and Jeff Pictures, Joel Kellhofer director of AC2.com and Tessa Padden freelance TV presenter and news presenter for See Hear.

Film festivals across the UK and Ireland have been screening The Seashell Hotel and it has received fantastic support from the media. Our lead character, Mrs. Overlook, has been snapped up by an acting agent in London!

In 2008 Showcase focused on the artistic talents of deaf children across Northern Ireland in our very own NDCS Has Got Talent Show at the King's Hall Belfast.

57 deaf children and young people got together in the prestigious venue to perform an array of talents both in groups and through solo pieces.

We had a fantastic variety of acts including:

• Circus skills
• Music
• Dance
• Singing
• Magic act
• Photography

This event grabbed the attention of the media including the BBC who came along and filmed the event and broadcast it on BBC News!

Quotes:

“Absolutely fantastic!!” Patricia Lewsley, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People. 

“Brilliant show, NDCS never stops to amaze me” Parent

Sticky Fingers Early Years Arts approached NDCS with their fantastic music programme and our Sing and Smile parent and toddler group was developed.

This was a short 6 week parent and toddler group set up in Lisburn thanks to the Island Arts Centre providing us with a free venue.

The aim of this project was to allow parents to get together with their deaf children and have some fun. The social element was just as important as play time and the families involved were able to share experiences and support eachother.

The music session, provided free of charge by Sticky Fingers, was loved by all the kids and the parents and staff too! It was so great watching the kids getting so excited and inspired by the music activities and really enjoying themselves.

We also had a number of guest speakers and professionals come along to offer support to the group including NDCS deaf role models and parents of deaf children aged 5+ to share their experiences.

Not forgetting a special moment when one of the babies took her first steps on our last morning together!

Snow, the last thing you expect at a Halloween event, but there it was on 28 October 2008! It was an eventful journey for some of our children and young people to join our Spooks Drama Academy but the snow didn’t stop them.

We started our mornings with lots of fun ice breaker games lead by our Drama Coach. ‘The Halloween Tree’ soon came to life as the group started their acting sessions and gave lots of fantastic ideas to develop the story. It was practice makes perfect for the majority of the day as the children and young people got into character and rehearsed their drama piece.

We spent our afternoons making props for the final production on day three. It was really good fun and also quite relaxing!

The final performance, ‘The Halloween Tree’ was watched by family and friends of our participants and was brilliant to say the least!

A great project and thoroughly enjoyed by all!

Nine deaf young people came together for our issue based photography project with WheelWorks.

Over a four week period the group worked with the artists to learn more about photography; functions of a camera, different types of cameras and the history of photography. They took a hands on practical approach and evaluated their work each week. Using a variety of cameras, digital, disposable and holga, the group took images of aspects that were important to them. This varied from family and home life to history and achitecture and environmental concerns.

The theme and name of the project became Same Difference, showcasing the individual journies of nine deaf teenage photographers. The group wanted to show the public their capabilities were the same as their hearing peers and given the necessary support and working with deaf aware organisations their talents could be showcased.

Quote:

“Thanks to the NDCS for helping me accept who I am in society and with my confidence.” Girl age 16

The Same Difference exhibition was launched at the Waterfront Belfast and through coverage by UTV featured on their lunchtime news slot.

We aim to tour Northern Ireland with Same Difference and welcome any opportunities to showcase this exhibition. Please contact the Arts Officer arts@ndcs.org.uk if you have a gallery space that wishes to host Same Difference.

Our animation project was hugely successful seeing 21 deaf children and young people take over W5 in the Odyssey!

Led by the education team at W5, the group were shown how to create and animated movie and got stuck straight in to create their own animations! They picked it up so quickly and before we knew it it was time for lunch.

Lunch was enjoyed at Pizza Hut and 21 children almost rolled their way back to W5 to visit the fantastic exhibitions.

We finished off the day by watching everyone's animations on the 'big screen' and W5 presented each young person with a DVD of their animation to take home and watch with their family and friends.

Quotes from participants:

“I think it the best”

“I met more deaf people and it was fun altogether”

“It was awesome!”

“I had fantastic time”

Over a six week period our choir learned four popular chart songs using British Sign Language. Some of the choir had never used BSL before and our youngest choir member was only 3 years old!

We held our annual public performance in Victoria Square Shopping Centre and literally stopped shoppers in their tracks! We had fantastic positive comments throughout the evening and it was obvious the choirs presence was touching the hearts of our general public. This event was a great opportunity to showcase British Sign Language and raise awareness of deafness and NDCS. A very moving performance.

The choir received true celebrity treatment when Disability Action whisked them off to the Killyhevlin Hotel in Enniskillen to perform at an awards evening for the Centre of Human Rights for Disabled People. “Congratulations everyone – it was a pleasure and privilege to be with you tonight. Keep up the good work!” Michelle Gildernew Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Run in association with Ballymena Deaf Children's Society, we held a fun arts and crafts day in Wilton House leading up to Easter. The children got to make a variety of crafts including cards, Easter baskets, bookmarks and Easter decorations. And of course there were plenty of chocolate treats for everyone!

To find out more about Local Deaf Children's Societies in your area or if you are interested in forming a group please contact one of our family officers irene.bell@ndcs.org.uk or barbara.wilson@ndcs.org.uk

Working with the social work team in Lisburn and a porcelain sculptor we were albe to hold a successful Scultpure Day in the area.

The young people involved learned the art of sculpting porcelain clay and made their own pieces which were taken and fired before returning them to those involved.