The following article and press release was first published by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland on 13th October.
Pictured (L-R) are Harley Aussoleil, COVEN Berlin, Neave Wright, University of Atypical, with Sick in the City artists Husk Bennett (Belfast) and Chris Yohei Tokunaga (Berlin). Image © Arts Council of Northern Ireland
Disabled artists from Belfast and Germany present a powerful audio-visual performance at Bounce Arts Festival, supported by Cultural Bridge
Sick in the City was a project that combined elements of socially engaged practice with audio-visual technologies for a live performance reclaiming public space in Belfast city centre. The performance used audio-reactive visuals and live broadcasting methods to shift between levels of contemporary culture, disability justice, abstraction, written word, hedonism, revolt, political-response, nonsense, life-experience, emotions, emojis, and absurdity. The project explored a tense vulnerability between the analogue and accidental for audiences to experience the varied and acutely plethoric range of interpretations between audience and artist.
Watch a video featuring the project:
Sick in the City was developed by artists Husk Bennett (Belfast) and Chris Yohei Tokunaga (Berlin), in partnership with University of Atypical and COVEN Berlin, following a series of community co-creation and consultation workshops, and residencies in Belfast and Berlin. The project was funded through the Cultural Bridge, a funding programme that supports arts and cultural organisations across the UK and Germany to develop partnerships and projects that explore social arts practice and highlight issues faced by communities across both countries.
Project partner, Harley Aussoleil from COVEN Berlin, said, “For Bounce in Belfast we presented Sick in the City, a work by Belfast-based artist, Husk Bennett and Berlin-based artist, Chris Yohei Tokunaga, following respective residencies in Belfast and Berlin. The work was an audio-visual live performance which explored disability justice, and we were delighted to partner with University of Atypical and be able to present it as part of this year’s Bounce Arts Festival.”
Neave Wright, Creative Programmes & Studio Lead, University of Atypical, added, “Bounce Arts Festival is an annual festival taking place in Belfast and Derry-Londonderry that supports the work of d/Deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent artists. The festival is organised by University of Atypical and this year we were pleased to include our Cultural Bridge project, Sick in the City, as part of the wider Bounce programme. The importance of this work is its ability to give voice to queer and disabled communities in Northern Ireland and Germany through reclamation of public spaces and exploring issues of disability justice, disability rights and identity.”
Siobhán Molloy, Festivals, Venues & International Arts Development Officer, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said, “The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is proud to partner with Fonds Soziokultur, Goethe-Institut London and our arts funding colleagues across these islands in the Cultural Bridge programme. This important initiative offers a valuable opportunity artists from NI to engage with their counterparts in Germany with the aim of using the arts to connect communities, develop shared understanding and facilitate social change through the creation of new artistic work.
Congratulations to University of Atypical and COVEN Berlin on their Cultural Bridge project, Sick in the City which powerfully highlighted issues affecting disabled communities in Belfast and Berlin."