Event Category: Talks

The City is the Gallery – The Orchard Gallery: Lecture by Declan McGonagle

🗓️ Saturday 18 July 2026 – 2pm to 3:30pm at Void Art Centre

🔗 Register via the link HERE.

We are delighted to announce an illustrated talk about the Orchard Gallery’s programme, delivered by its first director Declan McGonagle.

Declan McGonagle will chart the founding and development of the Orchard Gallery over his tenure from 1978 to 1991. He will discuss how the different approaches to programming engaged communities of place and communities of interest from further afield and contributed to Derry’s cultural ecosystem. This is an excellent opportunity to discuss the strategic approach of the Orchard Gallery – understood as a public service – in relation to Declan McGonagle’s experiences and curatorial vision. The audience is encouraged to participate, to discuss and ask questions during the event.

We expect this event to reach full capacity, so please cancel your free booking if you cannot attend the talk any longer so the place can be given to another person.

Image Credit: Antony Gormley – ‘Sculpture for Derry’s Walls’ [The City Walls, Derry 1987]

💬 Laboratory for Civic Arts Research: A talk with José Oliva 💬

🗓️ Tuesday 23 June 2026 from 10am-12pm at Civic House, Glasgow

🔗 Register via the link in our bio above

On Tuesday 23 June 2026, join Laboratory for Civic Arts Research (LCAR) for a talk by José Oliva, a Venezuelan artist living and working in London. For this talk, José Oliva will reflect on the methodologies behind his collaborative, research-led art practice, tracing recent projects that investigate migrant economies and outsourced labour dependency 🤝 He will explore participation as knowledge exchange, and what it means to make work through dialogue and negotiation rather than fixed outcomes, raising questions of authorship, ethics, labour, and unionisation—and returning to an ongoing question: how do we sustain relationships after the funding ends?

ℹ️ LCAR was initiated in 2022 by former Void Director Dr Viviana Checchia with founding members Casi Dylan, Prof Dominic Paterson, and Dr Kevin Leomo, all three from the University of Glasgow. LCAR is an AHRC IAA-funded programme to nurture alternative modes of civic impact through creative practices and artist public spaces. LCAR was originally intended as a training programme for researchers in any discipline interested in new interactions for their research with society by way of art tools and methodologies.

This edition has developed the laboratory further in collaboration with Ulster University, Queen’s University, Glasgow School of Art and the University of Glasgow. In May this year Void hosted online the launch of this collaboration.

LCAR will act as a support structure for further development of deeper connections between academic research and civic life, delivered by a multitude of contributors, with sessions online and in real life taking place in Glasgow, Derry, and Belfast.

LCAR is curated by Dr Viviana Checchia and is coordinated by Void Art Centre, Derry.

Interrogating the Polis: Lecture by Professor Liam Kelly

🗓️Saturday 30th of May – 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm 

🔗 Register for free via link HERE.

We are delighted to announce an illustrated talk on the works of Philip Napier and Shane Cullen at the Orchard Gallery, delivered by former director Professor Liam Kelly:

Tom Paulin, in his essay, ‘A New Look at the Language Question’ reminds us ‘that ‘…the history of a language is often a story of possession and dispossession, territorial struggle and the establishment or imposition of a culture’. 

A number of Irish artists have deployed and interrogated language both orally and textually as a working strategy for engagement with a political context, such as in the North of Ireland. These artists include Philip Napier and Shane Cullen, both of whom exhibited at the Orchard Gallery, Derry, in the late 1990’s and whose work I will attempt to analyse in this talk.

Prof. Liam Kelly

Emeritus Professor of Irish Visual Culture, UU, Belfast

Former Director of The Orchard Gallery, Derry

Images: 

Philip Napier, Gauge, 1997. Image from Exhibition Postcard for “Gauge”, Orchard Gallery, Derry, 1997. 

Shane Cullen, Image from cover of Fragmens Sur Les Institutions Républicaines IV, Edited by Liam Kelly, Published by the Orchard Gallery and Centre d’art contemporain de Vassivière en Limousin, 1998. 

Book here

As part of the turn towards a more ecologically connected art institution, one that can expand towards multi species understanding, Void Art Centre’s Director Viviana Checchia will be questioning how exposure to nature can influence institutional behaviour. Rather than simply looking at how organisations are addressing their new relationship to nature, or how they are trying to respond to current ecological and climate crises, she would like to explore the natural cross-pollination within institutional modus operandi coming directly from the natural world. In what ways institutions are really learning from nature and moving beyond a simplistic or symbolic connection to a bucolic past or to a rural idyll?

A lecture with British School at Rome, Viviana will speak about her thinking and practice as Director of Void where she has instigated a living practice of Social Permaculture. The organisational structure is based on models of co-existence and co-creation as well as sustainable use of local resources. She is also a Co-Director of ‘Vessel’, an international curatorial platform based in Puglia, South of Italy, for the support of social, cultural, and economic development through contemporary art. This lecture takes place on Wednesday 4 February 2026, from 7pm – 8pm (GMT).

The event is hybrid. You’re welcome to attend in person—no registration is needed, and access is free. If you would like to join us online, please make sure to register using the link above. Find out more information on BSR’s website.

Talk with Chris Fremantle: Artists, Woods, Forests & Living Systems

Thursday 13th March 2025, 5.30pm – 7.30pm, at Void Art Centre

What does a forest planted by an artist look like? Should you be able to tell that it’s art? This question was posed by the Scandinavian magazine Kunstkritikk in relation to a project involving an artist working with a community to create a new woodland.

Join Chris Fremantle, a researcher and producer, for a talk that reflects on this question. Chris will present on issues that have emerged across arts and forestry, unearthed during his research on significant regional, national and international targets for woodland creation associated with cultural production.

Find out more about Chris and book to attend this free talk by clicking here

Join us for a talk by artist Mikhail Karikis about his project at Void Art Centre, Acoustics of Resistance, as part of Bounce Festival, 2024.

Please join us thereafter – from 6-9pm – for the official opening of Mikhail’s project.

What artistic responses can we invent in the face of climate collapse to inspire alternative visions to the dominant apocalyptic climate discourse? How can we collectively tune into the sonorities of socio-political change and ecology? Acoustics of Resistance is a multi-media project comprising of works that collectively tune into the sonorities of socio-political change and ecology. It rejoices in the transformative and healing powers of listening and sound-making while declaring that changing the course of climate change is in our hands and lies on humans learning the language of nature.

Find out more information about Acoustics of Resistance here.

Mikhail Karikis Biography

Mikhail Karikis is a Greek-British artist working with moving image, sound, performance and other media. Through collaborations with individuals and/or communities located beyond the circles of contemporary art, and in recent years with children, refugees, support workers and people with disabilities, he develops socially embedded projects that prompt an activist imaginary and rouse the potential to invent hopeful and sustainable futures. Focusing on listening as an artistic methodology, and the voice as a socio-political agent he centers on themes of environmental and social justice. His projects highlight alternative modes of action and solidarity, while nurturing critical attention, dignity and care.

Karikis exhibits internationally. In his most recent work for the stage, ‘Universe of Solutions’, he was artistic director for UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network inaugural cultural event for which he created a performance with 150 young people. Group exhibitions include 54th Venice Biennale, (2011), IT; Manifesta 9, Ghenk, (2012); 19th Biennale of Sydney, (2014); Kochi-Muziris Biennale, IN, (2016); MediaCity Seoul, KR (2015); British Art Show 8 (2016-7); 2nd Riga International Biennale of Contemporary Art, LV (2020), 2nd Saitama Triennale (2024), JP and others.

Acknowledgements

Images:

1.Mikhail-Karikis. Portrait by Guillaume Vieira, 2024.

2-4.Mikhail Karikis, The Weather Orchestra, video still, 2022

This project is presented with the kind support of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Henry Moore Foundation, and the University of Atypical.

Join Void Art Centre and Into the West for an talk and discussion, ‘Towards a Rail Renaissance for the North-West: What We Had, What We’ve Got Now, and What We Need for the future’. The talk takes place at Void, on Saturday 21 September, from 2-4pm.

Throughout the talk, we will hear about the history of rail in the North West, the issues affecting the rail networks in the region such as the disparity between connections in the East and West of the NW, and future plans and updates for the transport resource.

In addition, we will hear about Into the West’s work campaigning for better rail systems, such as their successful work in saving the Derry – Belfast route, and the role grassroots activism plays in supporting our local communities.

We’re excited to announce a two-day symposium that corresponds to a new commission by artist Stéphane Verlet Bottero as part of Void Art Centre’s current project Composting for the future. The artist expanded on the concept of desensitisation as outlined in the text Are we insensitive to the ongoing devastation? by Lena Silberzahn. As a team we approached this idea through shared reading and a workshop that expanded on Void’s use of resources. 

The act of re-sensitisation was also investigated by Stéphane in collaboration with Echo Echo Dance Company which resulted in a video work realised in Derry City. Re-sensitisation is a process by which we rediscover our ability to care for our surroundings, and the living beings that make up the world around us. The video expands on how we can connect with our surroundings and explores how architectural arrangements can be reclaimed to re-sensitise the body. Together, the artist and Echo Echo reflected on the loss of sensitivity facing current crises, and how our bodily connections to the earth can enable us to regain our empathy and perception of our surrounding environment.

This symposium will build on these learnings, reflecting on the idea of re-sensitization through cooking, talking and dancing. Together, we will share and discuss tactics for feeling again and start the process of re-sensitisation. 

Read more about the schedule for the symposium below: 

Tuesday 14 May 2024: 

6pm- 9pm eating soil, thinking soil: a communal meal to celebrate our metabiontic condition with Cocina Colaboratorio

To launch the symposium, we will host a communal meal with Cocina Colaboratorio. Together, we will prepare dishes with ingredients grown from the soil, such as root vegetables, herbs and grains. This collaborative cooking experience is a metaphor for the symbiotic relationships that sustain us. We’ll explore the vital role soil plays in our lives, not just as a medium for growing food but as a critical component of the earth’s ecosystem that supports all life forms. 

As we cook we will reflect on the idea of ensoilment, a concept introduced by Sophie Strand in her work exploring the relationship between soil and the human body, suggesting that humans are connected to soil physically, spiritually and emotionally. The term ensoilment encompasses the idea that our well-being is intricately linked to the health of the soil, highlighting the importance of nurturing and preserving the Earth’s soil for both ecological and personal health reasons. Strand’s work encourages a deeper understanding of our connection to the natural world and emphasises the need for sustainable practices to protect the soil and, by extension, ourselves.

Wednesday 15 May 2024: 

11am-12.30pm: Keynote lecture and discussion by Pascal Gielen, Overheated Cultures in Undercooled Flatscapes 

The symposium continues with a lecture by Pascal Gielen, who will delve into the interplay between nature, culture, and mental health. He will spotlight the cultural sector’s challenge: the tension between the need for physical nearness in cultural exchanges and its ecological consequences. Critiquing digital technology’s failure to fully replace in-person interaction and address climate issues, he stresses an urgent need for a cultural shift. Pascal will explore aesthetic solutions to reimagine our relationship with the earth, advocating for a redefinition of our cultural practices that respects the planet’ s ecological limits.

1.30pm-2.30pm: Talk by Adrian Balseca 

Artist Adrian Balseca will speak about his work, which looks to activate strategies of representation, narration, and/or interaction in order to highlight ecosystem specificities of a particular territory. The artist will also introduce his future commission at Void Art Centre titled Nyctalopia, which will launch in late June 2024.

2.30pm-3.30pm: Dance workshop with Echo Echo

In the afternoon, we will relocate to Echo Echo Theatre for a movement and informal dance workshop that embraces the poetic possibilities of everyday movement by paying deeper attention to our intuition, and authenticity as natural movers. 

Comfortable clothing is recommended. 

4pm-5pm: Assembly and closing remarks 

Upon returning to Void Art Centre, we will have a moment to discuss and reflect on the symposium. 

5.40pm-7pm: Reading Group by Yujin Lee 

The day will end with a reading group hosted by Yujin Lee, our next artist in residence for the month of June. The artist will introduce and invite discussion on old and new texts that offer a wide-range of ecological, relational, and artistic paths in understanding our entangled world of humans, non-humans, and spiritual beings. 

Readings will be sent in advance, with texts by Trinh T. Minh-ha, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez.

Introducing an online and in-person reading group by Yujin Lee on Wednesday 15 May, from 5.30pm-7.30pm. Yujin is our next artist in residence for the month of June. The artist will introduce and invite discussion on old and new texts that offer a wide-range of ecological, relational, and artistic paths in understanding our entangled world of humans, non-humans, and spiritual beings. 

Texts will be sent in advance, and include:

• Trinh T. Minh-ha. “IV. Grandma’s Story”. Woman, Native, Other: Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism, Indiana University Press, 1989
• Theresa Hak Kyung Cha. “Terpsichore – Choral Dance”. Dictee, University of California Press, 2001
• Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing. “The Life of the Forest”. The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins, Princeton University Press, 2015
• Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez. “Artistic strategies for anti-dam construction activism: A comparative study on artistic methodologies for protection of bodies of water in Brazil, The United States and South Korea”. Praxis of Aesthetics: Critical Essays on Listen to the City, Listen to the City, 2023