NEW: Project Website BelUA.co.uk

See also blog post ‘The Shields won’t go away‘

I travelled to Kiev and on to Mariupol in South Eastern Ukraine with David Boyd, Director of Belfast’s Carnival (www.beatcarnival.com). The trip was a collaboration with Ukrainian artist collective Izolyatsia (www.izolyatsia.org/en), primarily represented by Mykhailo Glubokyi. We set out to examine cultural expression in post conflict and post-industrial scenarios by exploring the Northern Ireland and Ukrainian scenarios.

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Zmina with Beat Carnival in Mariupol
21 September 2015—27 September 2015

Beat CarnivalSeptember 22-24, IZOLYATSIA conducts a series of events in frames of Zmina project.

Zmina is a series of projects to be realised in the East of Ukraine, the goal of which is to involve local communities into the process of developing and realising their own potential. The word Zmіna means “change” in Ukrainian, and at the same time refers to an industrial context, by alluding to “working shifts”, which symbolise an undisturbed way of life and a peaceful reality that should be maintained.

September 22, 19:00. Meeting with David Boyd and Paul Marshall (Belfast, Northern Ireland) on “role of culture and art in industrial city divided by cultural differences”

On September 24, David Boyd and Paul Marshall will conduct practical workshop together with residents of Mariupol on work of cultural organisations for reconciliation in conflict areas.

David Boyd — director of Beat Carnival organisation in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It organises large-scale carnival for 25 years in order to reconcile two conflicting parties: pro-British loyalists and Irish nationalists. During the meeting David will tell about parallels between situation on the West of Ukraine and North of Ireland and about ways for civil and cultural activists to start process of reconciliation in the country.

Paul Marshall is an artist from Belfast working with multimedia on post-industrial and post-conflict themes; examining people and places, architecture and culture, connections and sense of identity. Master of Fine Arts from Ulster University’s Belfast School Of Art and 2015 Royal Ulster Academy award winner.

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