Look North, 2023
Bbeyond were invited by the JOHN HEWITT SOCIETY to be part of the Look North, North Belfast Festival 2023.
Our participation included an workshop with Bbeyond member Sinéad O Donnell at the Golden Thread Gallery.
O’Donnell is one of the leading performance artists in Northern Ireland and this workshop was an exciting opportunity for practising artists and those with an interest in performance art to take part in the workshop and a group performance monthly meet that took place at St Joseph’s (Deconsecrated) Church in Sailortown.
Sinéad O’Donnell works in performance, installation, site and time-based art. O’Donnell’s work explores identity, borders and barriers through encounters with territory and the territorial. She sets up actions or situations that demonstrate complexities, contradictions or commonality between medium and discipline, timing and spontaneity, intuition and methodology, artist and audience. She uses photography, video, text and collage to record her performances. She often uses her body to investigate both her own and cultural boundaries, particularly in relation to the restrictions placed on women. Despite deliberately avoiding the sensationalisation of the body, her works often promote strong reactions and emotions.
O’Donnell’s practice is nomadic and travel has broadened her cultural perceptions and influenced her artistic sensibilities regarding time and space. She is active on the Belfast performance art scene working with local organisations to foster performance art activity and supporting emerging artists in her community.
Curating artists, exchanges, projects and exhibitions of performance between Northern Ireland and Canada, Chile, Croatia, Germany, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Japan, Iraq, Montreal, Peru, Transylvania region Romania, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Thailand, Poland, Peru, Montreal and U.S.A.
IMAGE | SINÉAD O’DONNELL | ‘VIOLENT’ | OPEN SPACE GALLERY | CANADA (CHAOS) | 2010