From 2018 until 2021, Household worked in collaboration with artists, people of all ages, and local organisations to explore the past, present, and future of Sailortown, a historical Belfast neighbourhood.
During our time in Sailortown, together we organised the Barra – a community market; held tours, workshops, exhibitions, screenings, talks, community consultations, and a haunted house experience, led by local young people. We ran events, community meetings, workshops with older residents, a club for young children, and partnered with a local regeneration group and housing association.
We commissioned artists Sol Archer, Ruth Clinton, Emily DeDakis, and Thomas Wells to make new work in response to the neighbourhood. We exhibited work by Jasmin Marker, Jan Uprichard, and Jennifer Mehigan, and were supported by designers Clare and Sean Greer, evaluator Sean O’Sullivan, and our partners, volunteers and funders.
Our projects helped us create relationships between a community of participants. We built partnerships and shared our methods to meet local cultural needs.
Sailortown
Household at the Maritime Festival, 2021: A showcase of work by artists Emily DeDakis, Thomas Wells, Ruth Clinton and Sol Archer opening up the stories of the area and its communities, presented as part of the Belfast Maritime Festival 2021. Image designed by Sean Greer.
Household at the Maritime Festival, 2021: Artist Thomas Wells often uses food and the senses as a way to open up discussion around identity and relationships and to access other times and places. In CHIPS WITH EVERYTHING, they worked with current and former residents of Sailortown to produce a collection of recipes and objects based on conversations and shared memories of growing up in Sailortown. For this event the artist led a walk from the Big Fish to the American Bar and hosted a special meal in collaboration with The Grateful Bread. Photograph taken by Simon Mills.
The Shipyard Slips, 2020-2021: During lockdown in 2020, a group of people from Sailortown and beyond came together with artist and musician Ruth Clinton to form a digital choir and sing the song The Shipyard Slips (David Wilde 1977). The song is about the decline of the Belfast shipyards and details the hardships and historical events in the area. It references loss and longing for something, a narrative that resonates both with the history of Sailortown and the present day. Household held an audio installation of the work in the historic setting of Sinclair Seamen’s church in September 2021. It was also released online. The audio recording consisted of 22 ghostly voices routed across 6 channels over 6 speakers, which were spread across the 2 stereo channels to give a sense of space. The song can be played by clicking the image. Image designed by Sean Greer.
Sailortown Online Symposium 6 November 2020: an online presentations and discussions attended by over 60 participants to share the experience of collaborating with Sailortown Regeneration, StreetSpace at Queen's University Belfast, and the regeneration teams in the Department for Communities and Belfast City Council Street for a better built-environment in Sailortown. Image: a collage by StreetSpace student.
'Pass the baby under the donkey', 2020: As part of the project CHIPS WITH EVERYTHING, artist Thomas Wells listened to stories and gathered remedies, cures and recipes from Sailortown’s intergenerational communities of interest and place. Thomas explored the politics of the kitchen table with local women who gather and share wisdom, knowledge, and memories there. These exchanges centred around domestic and private spaces, and the rituals performed in them: On Samhain (31 October 2020), in the atmospheric settings of a local church, Thomas presented an exhibition of installation, sculpture and print, including a table set to host a meal. Selected works on display were activated through scent and included fabrics and plates, and handmade Bartmann jugs or ‘witches jugs’, believed to ward off evil spirits and witches in the 17th century. These reference a tradition of handcraft and forms of female knowledge that have frightened, inspired and been the foundation of our communities for centuries. Image: installation shot taken by Simon Mills of work installed in St. Joseph's Church.
Plates designed by artist Thomas Wells printed with patterns inspired by maps, local children’s drawings, and pictures of the dishes Thomas cooked sourced from local recipes.
TWO BY TWO, 2020: A text and audio work commissioned from Belfast-based American writer, dramaturg and producer Emily DeDakis. Over a period of months in between lockdowns, Emily spent time in Sailortown in conversation with Terry McKeown at Sailortown Regeneration; Colin & Trevor at the Seafarers’ Mission; Brendan at Benny’s cafe; the guards at the parking-lot; the staff at the American Bar; and Alastair, a skater at the local skatepark. Created in response to her time in Sailortown, the text can be accessed in PDF form by clicking the image. Image designed by Sean Greer in response to Emily's work.
Vibrant Matter, 2019: a group exhibition of new and existing works by Belfast based artists Jasmin Märker, Jennifer Mehigan, and Jan Uprichard questioning our exchanges with entities that we consider to be non-human; our relationships with our own and others’ intimate existence; and how non-humans experience cities and urban spaces. The exhibition was presented at the local St. Joseph's Church as part of the 2019 NI Science Festival programme. Image: installation shot of Jennifer Mehigan and Jasmin Marker's work.
Dispatches from Futureland screening, 2019: During the 2019 New Lodge Arts Festival, Household presented a film screening of 'Dispatches from Futureland by artist Sol Archer in a pop-up cinema at the Mission to Seafarers in Sailortown. Dispatches from Futureland, set in the near future, quietly explores the automatisation of the docklands in Rotterdam and the simultaneous growth in global trade and loss of local jobs. Northern Ireland Screen Digital Film Archive curated a selection of local archive footage in response to the themes of Dispatches from Futureland, which was shown after the film. Image: still from Dispatches from Futureland, Sol Archer.
Tastes of Sailortown, 2019: Inspired by the stories told by former residents of the tastes of Sailortown’s past, and by what current residents want to eat, artist Thomas Wells developed 'Tastes of Sailortown', a series of workshops for participants of all ages. They worked with young people at Clanmil Housing Association and, together with food educator Clare McQuillan, delivered two workshops for adults that will explore food preparation and knowledge. On the 25th May 2019, as part of the Belfast Maritime Festival, Tom, Clare and Household hosted a free flavour-focused public event at Sailortown's Mission To Seafarers, inviting visitors of all ages to sample dishes and some of the ‘edible stories’ created by the people of Sailortown. Clare spoke about her work as a forager and Household screened food and cooking-related footage from the NI Screen digital archive.
Tastes of Sailortown, 2019: artist Thomas Wells working with Sailortown children
Sailortown Community Day, 2019: A day-long presentation of local history, stories, creative responses, music, and tours. Students from the Masters of Architecture at Queen’s presented mapped histories of the neighbourhood, and gathered feedback and ideas from residents about its present and possible futures. Sailortown Regeneration provided tours of St Joseph’s Church, a local building undergoing a process of restoration. Artist Thomas Wells served Sailortown-themed refreshments as part of their project exploring taste and memory in the area. Younger visitors were able to imagine and make their own paper cities alongside live music and visuals of some of the previous art projects that have taken place in the neighbourhood. Image designed by Sean Greer.
2019: Household was part of the Re-Imagining Democracy event at the Imagine: The Belfast Festival of Ideas & Politics 2019 ,where together with the Sailortown Regeneration Group the organisation successfully pitched for money towards a campaign video for the restoration of St Joseph’s Church, a historical church in Sailortown.
Horror Inc. Haunted House, 2018: On Monday 29th October between 6pm and 9pm in Sailotown's St Joseph’s Church, Household, young people living in – and with an connection to – the Sailortown neighbourhood, and a volunteer team guided visitors through an immersive experience collaboratively designed and built by the participants in a series of workshops held in September and October 2018. The theme of the Horror Inc. Haunted House was ‘the city will eat you alive’ and the event playfully explored horror in the context of the rapidly changing and encroaching city at a pertinent time in Belfast’s urban development. The Horror Inc. Haunted House was inspired by workshops with Household’s artist in residence, Sol Archer, part of the artist’s long term project The production of daily life, during which young participants made a horror film. Image designed by Sean Greer.
Horror Inc. Haunted House, 2018: Visitors attending the Horror Inc. Haunted House experience in St. Joseph's church, Halloween 2018. Visitors were welcomed at the reception lounge by Horror Inc. staff, shown a corporate ‘induction’ video, and were led through an ‘enchanted’ forest to the autopsy room. Guided by the animals of Sailortown, they witnessed Dr. Guts and her assistant attempts at resuscitating and dissecting Belfast, followed by a visit to Tom’s hipster human pie shop. Footage from the NI Archive and a cast of suited zombified characters accompanied them along their increasingly frantic journey towards the exit. Photograph by Emma Campbell.
Horror Inc. Haunted House, 2018: In preparation for the Horror Inc. Haunted House experience, Household organised makeup and special effects workshops with industry professionals to teach children new skills that could be used in preparation for the public event.
Sailortown Barra, 2018: a weekend of free events organised by Household and Sailortown Regeneration in partnership with Moving On Music, Clanmil Housing Association, The American Bar, New Lodge Arts Festival, and local residents, community groups and businesses. The market reignited a long tradition of community-led events taking place in the streets of Sailortown, bringing together current residents, former residents, workers, visitors, creative practitioners and local community organisations and businesses to learn about the neighbourhood and its history, celebrate the area’s past, present and future. Events included a music trail hosted by Moving on Music, a market-stall making workshop for young people, and a community market with stalls, film screenings and performances, children’s activities, and celebration of Belfast’s Little Italy. Image: the Barra community market, including Barn, an artwork by Paddy Bloomer and Ireland's only nomadic agricultural outbuilding, conceived as an temporary event space where the erection of the venue is as important and sociable as the goings on within. Photograph by Simon Mills.
Sailortown Barra, 2018: people attending the walking tour and music trail, organised with Moving on Music and Sailortown Regeneration
Sailortown Barra, 2018: children and technicians building market stalls for the Sailortown Barra market
Tuesday Club, 2018-2021: Between 2018 and 2021, Household organised Tuesday Club, a regular club at Clanmil Housing Association for children and young people living in Sailortown's social housing accommodation. Artists and others were invited to design opportunities for creative play, and Household staff organised activities and outings for the children and young people (a group of under 10s and a group of over 10s) attending the club. Image: Sailortown children filming scenes for 'On the production of daily life', a three-year project by artist Sol Archer.
Tuesday Club, 2018-2021: Activities included set and costume building, script writing, and audio and camera recording sessions. Working as a crew with artist Sol Archer, the group developed their own narratives loosely based around the past, present and future of the area and filmed members of the group’s performances at the Clanmil Housing Association community space and in public spaces across the Sailortown neighbourhood. Their films were presented at the Belfast Barra Market in August 2018, a project jointly delivered by Household, Sailortown Regeneration Group and Clanmil Housing Association, supported by Belfast City Council. Image: young people in Sailortown filming scenes for 'On the production of daily life', a three-year project by artist Sol Archer.
The production of daily life, 2018-2021: The production of daily life was a multi-annual project designed and delivered by Sol Archer, the first artist invited to participate in Household’s artist-in-residence programmes in city neighbourhoods. From 2018 to 2021, at the invitation of Household, Sol Archer has spent time with and engaged with groups intersecting, identifying, or operating in Sailortown and the surrounding area: elderly former residents, new migrant communities, local grassroots organisations, and children and young people living in local social housing. The production of daily life positions the neighbourhood as a microcosm where histories are memorialised and (re-)enacted; the forces of regeneration and speculation are at play and can be playfully examined, and community and communities are formed and (re-)imagined. This three-year embedded residency programme included workshops, public events and screenings, the creation of a participatory Haunted House experience, documentation of oral histories, and an exhibition, and associated public programme of interviews and discussions, including a custom designed online platform. Image courtesy of Sol Archer.
go beyond art 2017-2018: a student module designed by Household that encouraged Ulster University BA Fine Art students to engage with expanded definitions of public art practice. The module took its title from the first directive of the Situationists International – written by poet, artist, revolutionary thinker, editor, and filmmaker Guy Debord in 1963 – that called for artists to ‘go beyond art’, give up art making with a capital ‘A’ and continue their struggle in non-art fields and everyday life. The module was delivered in public spaces in and around Sailortown and encouraged students to use this fascinating historical Belfast neighbourhood as a starting point for developing their own approaches to Public Art production.The module was delivered by Household in collaboration with the Ulster University teaching staff and Sailortown Regeneration group. Activities included lectures covering brief histories of exemplary local and international public art practices; a history of Sailortown with Terry McKeown from Sailortown Regeneration Group; a Sailortown dérive; an introduction to Artistic Mapping/ Mapping Sailortown; Studio visits with Household for all the participating students; formal presentations of work and group discussions; and an exhibition of work made by students in response to the go beyond art module, exhibited in Sailortown. Image: Guy Debord, Directive no. 1: Go beyond art, June 17, 1963 Oil painting on cloth, Kodak reversal film reproduction (the original was destroyed in a fire) Guy Debord archives, manuscript division, BnF
Our work in Sailortown was made possible through the generous support of The Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Belfast City Council, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, The National Lottery Awards for All Northern Ireland, Mondriaan Fonds voor Beeldende Kunst, NI Screen, CBK Rotterdam, DAS Digital Art Studios Belfast,
To deliver our events, we partnered with Moving On Music, Clanmil Housing Association, New Lodge Arts Festival, NI Science Festival, Ulster University, Queen’s University Belfast, Digital Arts Studios, NI Screen, Daisy Chain Inc, Save Cathedral Quarter, Infinity Farm, SHIP, Sailortown Regeneration Group, AC Hotel Belfast, Sinclair Seamen’s Presbyterian Church, The Dockers Club, Mission to Seafarers, McKenna’s Bar, the American Bar, Golden Thread Gallery, The Hair Bus,
Our programmes included contributions from artists Paddy Bloomer, Jasmin Märker, Jennifer Mehigan, Jan Uprichard, Ruth Clinton. Musicians and performers Scott Flanigan and Dave Howell, Conor Lamb and Paddy McKeown, Hugh and Sinéad McKeown, Ludwig O’Neill, Séan Kaluarachchi, Matt McGinn, Sing for Life choir, Scott Flanigan and Richard Mawhinney, Conor Lamb and Paddy McKeown. Agustina Martire and StreetSpace architecture students Mariana Alvim da Cunha, Nathan Cilona, John Doherty, Ciaran Gormley, Sitong Guo, Aisha Holmes, Nehal Jain, Aisling Madden, Lorna McCartan, Tiarnan McIlhatton, Hannah Miskimmon, Juliette Moore, Jing Ting Lim, and Jonathan Yau. Food educator Clare McQuillan. Academics, writers and thinkers Samuel Stein, Brenna Bhandar and Daniel Renwick, Olúfemi O. Táíwò, and Anna Minton and Henrietta Williams.
Thank you to Stephen Millar, Alessia Cargnelli, Clodagh Lavelle, David Frederick Mahon, Ana Truchanova ,Charlene and Jonathan, Phil Hession, Mitch Conlon, Ruaidhri Lennon, Sinéad Bhreathnach-Cashell, Jennifer Mehigan, Connie McGrath, Trisha McNally, Emma Campbell, Colm Clarke, Sean and Clare Greer, Gerard Rosato, Terry McKeown and The Sailortown kids for generously giving their time