reGROUP
Level 2. Portview Trade Centre
Newtownards Road, Belfast
27 - 30 October
Opening Event: Friday 27 October, 6pm - 8pm.
ALL WELCOME
Continues
Saturday 28th - 11am - 3pm
Sunday 29th - 12pm - 5pm
Monday 30th - 12pm - 4pm
ARTISTS
Robert Peters
Anushiya Sundaralingam
Jane McCann
Regine Neumann
reGROUP is the closing exhibition for the Linen Biennale 2023 featuring new work co-commissioned from a range of artists and designers especially for this year's programme.
It will, fittingly, take place upstairs in Portview Trade Centre, formerly the Strand Spinning Mill.
Gather, glean, garner, collect, reap, regroup…
It’s been approximately a hundred days since the planning and delivery for the Linen Biennale 2023 ‘Revive & Renew’ began in earnest - the average time it takes a flax crop to grow and mature before harvest. Now at the end of October, this closing show marks the end of one cycle and the beginning of another.
Collectively the team behind the biennale is asking: How do we take all the connections, learnings, ideas and inspiration grown over the last three months and continue to share it? How do we prepare the ground for another Linen Biennale in 2025, and continue to promote the amazing properties of both linen and flax in all their iterations.
Acess Info
Please be advised that this exhibtion is on the second floor of an old industrial building. There is no step-free access to the venue.
Amenities and facilities (including toilets and delicious snacks and coffees) are available for neighbours in Banana Block and other nearby locations, staff will advise).
Opening times are strictly as advertised as Linen Biennale staff and volunteers need to be present to invigilate the show.
Friday 27th - 6pm - 8pm (opening reception)
Saturday 28th - 11am - 3pm
Sunday 29th - 12pm - 5pm
Monday 30th - 12pm - 4pmEnter by the black door underneath the main Portview sign. Signage on the stairs will direct you to the exhibition rooms on Level 2.
Public Transport - Visit the Translink website to plan your journey.
Metro buses 3a, 3f and 3g stop on Newtownards Road. The nearest Glider stop is Connswater.
If using the train, Titanic Quarter station is the nearest. It is a 15min walk to the venue.Parking: Limited parking is available in Portview Trade Centre and on nearby roads but please be mindfull of local residents and rules.
We recommend parking in nearby Connswater Shopping Centre (free). It is a 5min walk to Portview via the Newtownards Road.
Meet the Artists
-
I was born in Sri Lanka and now live and work in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I have been a full-time Artist and Arts
Facilitator since graduating with a degree in Fine & Applied Arts from the University of Ulster in 1998. I initially trained as a printmaker. My practice now is more diverse and includes creating mixed media and installation works, in both two and three dimensions. The varied range of media I use reflects the intricate and layered nature of belonging, identity and place.
I have received awards and exhibited in many solo and group shows, and my work is held in public and private collections. I am a member of the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts and part of Queen Street Studios and Belfast Print workshop.
-
Inspired by the rich history of the local linen industry, this work seeks to redefine Northern Ireland’s linen heritage through abstract expression, infusing new life into the process and honouring the enduring significance of this humble plant. Drawing from the history of the Irish linen industry, my work, titled ‘there-near-here’ delves into the intricate world of flax, symbolizing ‘revive and renew’ and contributing to the resurgence of interest in this humble yet historically significant plant. Cultivating flax in my garden, I meticulously study every element of its structure and take pride in playing a part in reviving the importance of this plant.
-
In her work, Regine Neumann addresses the circularity of life and the relationship to materials, places and between self and others. Her art practice aims to create social-ecological awareness and action to foster resilience and collaboration with the environment and our communities. Through workshops, and conversations, Regine invites people to participate in the artistic process and ask questions about the interactions that sustain humans and their environment.
-
Her project for the Linen Biennale NI 2023, Flax Paper Labs, aimed to rekindle interest in flax pulp and paper, and encourage the resurgence of industrial and artisanal flax production in Northern Ireland. Moreover, the initiative sought to build a collaborative and creative community that fosters shared experiences between flax producers, papermakers, printers, and other artists and artists' studios.
-
Robert Peters is a visual artist based in Northern Ireland. He gained a BA in Fine Art and an MA in Cultural Management at the University of Ulster. Peters’ work explores the matrix of relationships between culture and technology. He has no preferred medium, working across disciplines to produce artworks, which attempt to fuse form and content. He is a founding member of Catalyst Arts and Fully Formed Art Projects, and presently operates on a freelance basis as Arts Creative. His work has been exhibited in China, Europe, the United States and is held in the collections of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Hong Kong Open Print Studio and Trinity College.
-
New work commissioned for this year’s Linen Biennale and encompasses three new artworks. Through the fusion of augmented reality and artificial intelligence, it resurrects the voices of turn-of-the-century linen mill workers, resonating their concerns about contemporary technological threats to working conditions. It delves into issues of child exploitation by mill proprietors then, paralleling the exploitation by today’s social media conglomerates. It also underscores how social divisions continue to be exploited for the enrichment of a privileged few.
-
Jane originally trained as a fashion designer, Belfast College of Art (1964-68) and Royal College of Art (1968-70). However, since establishing a unique academic design programme at Master’s level in Performance Sportswear Design, University of Derby (1994-2003) and subsequently leading research in Smart Clothes and Wearable Technology, University of Wales, Newport (2004-2013), Jane has continued to break down barriers between disciplines, primarily through adopting Co-design methodology. After sourcing and promoting technical textiles over decades, and since returning to Northern Ireland (2014), Jane has been revisiting and finding new applications for natural fibres (including linen and wool) that she originally used during her design training in the late 1960s. In relation to reGroup, Jane has focused on Natural Fibre Composites (NFC) but is also researching issues around recycled, regenerated and emerging bio materials for clothing applications.
-
My main focus, in terms of ‘Revive and Renew’, for the Linen Biennale 2023, was to bring the emerging concept of designer-led Natural Fibre Composites (NFC) to a wider audience of practitioners, in Northern Ireland and beyond, primarily for ‘value-added’ product design and interiors end-use. It is now timely to show NFC experimentation made possible through collaboration with local company (C.C.P. Gransden), that has invested in some specialist NFC machinery, along with additional independent design-led technical input from Aaron Mannis. My intention has been to contribute to the initiative for establishing an eventual local transparent supply chain. The potential has been to encapsulate locally cultivated textile fibres (flax and hemp), and design-led materials, through liaison with both participants within the current ‘From Field to Fabric’ project (led by Mallon Linen and Mourne Textiles) as well as sourcing digital print from Duncan Neil (William Clark and Sons Ltd.) and wool fibre from Donegal yarns. However, in sourcing relatively sustainable resins, the percentage of ‘bio’ content remains limited - and the supplier non-local. For one panel, I have liaised with Finnish artist, Pirjo Seddiki, who recently exhibited in Creative Peninsula by means of a British Council festival exchange. Although adopting new materials and processes is exciting, it is also challenging and still at experimental stage. The NFC panels introduced for reGroup may be seen as early prototypes, for discussion, with a view to stimulating innovative ways forward.