![]() Centre exterior and signage | |
Address | Duncairn Ave, Belfast BT14 6BP |
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Location | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
Coordinates | 54°36′46″N5°56′13″W / 54.6127°N 5.9369°W |
Genre(s) | Irish Traditional music, Folk music, Jazz, Soul, World music |
Capacity | 170 |
Opened | 2014 |
Website | |
TheDuncairn.com |
The Duncairn Centre for Arts & Culture, which opened in 2014, is an arts and culture venue in North Belfast, Northern Ireland. [1] The centre also engages in outreach activities. [2]
Events undertaken at the venue include concerts, dramas, music, arts and craft workshops, and dance. Since its opening in 2014, the Duncairn Centre for Arts & Culture has been used as a venue for Irish traditional music and for concerts in the genres of world music, jazz, soul music, acoustic and folk music. [3] In 2017 and again in 2019, [4] The venue was used for the Belfast edition of RTÉ's TV series Other Voices . The 2019 edition saw Snow Patrol and Joshua Burnside, among other artists, playing on the Duncairn stage. [5] [6] [7] [8]
On occasions, the Duncairn has also hosted free events. These events have included live music and free art classes. [9]
The Duncairn Centre for Arts & Culture also has an outreach program which works to engage families and young people with the arts.[ citation needed ] In 2019 it hosted an art exhibition featuring works from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Collection and welcomed over 100 Art & Design students from schools in North Belfast. [10]
The centre is based in a deconsecrated Duncairn Presbyterian Church, which is a Grade B1 listed building on the Antrim Road in Belfast. The church was originally built between 1860 and 1862 in a High Victorian Gothic style. [11] A substantial refurbishment project was undertaken to refurbish the main church and halls in order to adapt the facilities to their use as a centre for culture and arts. The Duncairn was awarded almost a million pounds by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. [12] In total, the refurbishment project received £3.5 million in funding; This provided art studios, an exhibition area, a community meeting room and a 170 seater theatre/performance area, a café, and conference rooms. [13] The project won a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Building Conservation award. It was also shortlisted in the Regeneration and Community Benefit categories and gained a "special commendation" in the Royal Society of Ulster Architects Building Conservation category.[ citation needed ]