Feb 28

Feb 28 The Duncairn Creative Collective - Creativity in Community

Ever wanted to see and hear what happens when you put a bunch of creative people into a room for a whole weekend? What if it’s three weekends in a row and 30 young creatives?

The Creative Collective was born out of a desire to give young artists the opportunity to collaborate and create, to teach and learn from each other, to make new friends across different backgrounds and artforms, to encourage and support each other and to innovate and challenge themselves.

In February, 30 young artists, musicians and singers gathered every weekend in the Duncairn. In small groups that changed weekly, with guidance from fellow collective members and mentors Joshua Burnside, Molly O Mahoney, Luke Howard, Sammy Copley and Sinead McKenna, they would play, write, sing and sometimes laugh their way through a creative process that was very much peer-led and driven.

“We are so lucky to have the creative collective - where else would you be paid to come and explore songwriting with no pressure. Have made friends for life through the collective… Coming to the collective was the first place I ever felt safe enough to try to write lyrics and learnt ideas of how to do so.” - Creative Collective Member

**Sunday song sharing captured by Creative Collective member Caroline Murphy**

It’s incredible what can happen when you simply provide the space, time, nourishment and support to these young people. They brought their talent and creativity as well as a willingness to engage with each other, sharing vulnerabilities, expertise and knowledge.

“I love the variety of a different group each week - this year I went from experimental 1st week, trad 2nd week, singer songwriter style 3rd week. I think that is such an important part of the collective - not to be boxed into one genre. So nice to have different members with varied backgrounds each week too.” - Creative Collective Member

The Creative Collective showcase on March 1st as part of Look North festival will feature some of these musicians and artists, and you’ll get an insight into the magical and enriching experience they had! They will perform an evening of music that they have composed in collaboration with each other over the course of their four residential weekends here in North Belfast. Expect cutting-edge new music, never heard before collabs and a bit of improvisation on the night!

Tickets available here: Creative collective showcase

“Watching everybody perform at the end of each weekend never fails to bring me joy! It’s always amazing to see how the different dynamics in a group produce such different results and always of such a high quality! It makes me very proud of everyone.” - Creative Collective Member and Mentor

The Duncairn’s Creative Collective started in February 2022 as a pilot project with the aim to provide young artists with the space to create without the usual pressures. Since 2023 the collective has enjoyed the vital support of Esmee Fairbairn, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast City Council and Paul Hamlyn Foundation. We are hugely grateful for this support.

List of artists participating in the creative collective:

Joshua Burnside

Dan Byrne-McCullough

Rose Connolly

Sammy Copley

Pearse Donaghy

Cathleen Gartland

Josh Healy

Luke Howard

Deirdre Kelly

Brendan Kerr

Kat Little