Trio of new arts exhibitions at the MAC in Belfast

At The Table, a collaborative exhibition with the MAC’s associate partners who work to combat some of society’s most pressing issues and inequalities, plays an important part of this visual art showcase.

As is the ethos of the MAC, the exhibition invites integrated collective activity and public participation around a community table the length of the Upper Gallery floor.

The concept is inspired by Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress who famously said: “If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair” – a quote which is emblazoned on the gallery wall.

The aim is to challenge who is and who isn’t invited to ‘the table’ where decisions that determine our lives are made, and to encourage visitors to interact and contribute to the exhibition.

Elaine Forde, creative learning and engagement manager at the MAC said: “Working with our associate partners, the communities they represent and local artists, we are bringing issues to the table to help raise awareness and address inequalities.

"We shine a light on asylum seekers with Syrian artist Khaled Barakeh and Participation & the Practice of Rights, while Kerrie Hanna works with Action Mental Health to create visual art which reflects mental wellbeing.

“As well as six commissioned artworks, we will also be hosting a series of talks, events and children’s workshops to enable everyone to have a seat at the table.”

Downstairs in the Sunken Gallery, Sharon Kelly has developed Red-To-Red, an exhibition with the colour red, as the name suggests, of the heart - symbolic of blood, the universal force and flow of life; the symbol of bloodshed and sacrifice, often seen in religious depictions.

Completing the trio is Louise Wallace’s Midnight Feast, a new body of work which looks at desire, excess and the feminine, and depicts familiar scenes in Belfast in a unique and contemporary way.

The exhibition features a series of nocturnes, loosely based on the gardens of Lenadoon and Glengoland housing estates in West Belfast, made of body parts, fruit and animated shrubs, populated by monstrous bird feeders, bizarre garden ornaments and spectral visions.