Boating Floating Making Knowing
Boating Floating Making Knowing
We are PS2, an arts organisation based in the centre of Belfast.
We’re proud to be a part of Belfast 2024 - a year-long, city-wide celebration of culture, creativity, and nature.
Our project - WATER WORKS - shifts our attention towards the River Lagan, the harbour and other water systems in Belfast. WATER WORKS spearheads a transformative journey, rediscovering our pre-industrial, vernacular boatbuilding histories, urban and maritime developments and future planning, and use of some of our greatest assets: the waterways in and around our city.
Together, we can envisage a future where our river is rejuvenated, celebrated and used by all its residents, and where community engagement and creative expression take centre stage.
Upcoming events
For more information on each event, please click on the date square to the right.
You can read about the various strands of the project - big boats, small boats, research resources, events, activities and sites - by clicking on the menu at the top of the page or on the graphics below.
Boating Floating Making Knowing
Boating Floating Making Knowing
What to expect from WATER WORKS
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Skiff build with Niamh Scullion and Lagan Currachs
Artist, writer and boatbuilder Niamh, as a member of Lagan Currachs, will lead a group of over 70 community participants who have expressed interest in building a skiff (a wooden boat crewed by a team of five people) which will be gifted to the people of Belfast as a legacy of the project.
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Experimental vessel with Paddy Bloomer
Paddy will continue his tradition of innovating vessels (or "mechanical curiosities”) which are constructed from recycled materials and featuring sustainable forms of power. Occupying a prominent site next to Titanic Belfast, local people and tourists alike can observe this construction taking place.
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Workshops - coming to a neighbourhood near you!
With materials, boatbuilding tools and pop-up pools, (and whatever your age or skill level), we’re inviting you to construct your own vessels under the guidance of our artists and boating experts who will show you the ropes.
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Here’s One I Made Earlier! Our project space at CastleCourt Shopping Centre
We’ll be displaying all of the boats you’ve built in workshops and on your kitchen tables. Keep an eye out for more info on when, where and how to bring us your boats!
More information to follow…
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10,000 boat corso
WATER WORKS culminates in a spectacular boat corso in August 2024 to coincide with FĂ©ile na hAbhann. This will be a vibrant parade showcasing the collective efforts of the community and the approaches of artists, boatbuilders and boating clubs based in the city.
More information to follow…
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River reflections: commissioned events, performances and interventions by artists
If boatbuilding isn’t your thing, we have lots of other events planned that might float your boat.
More information to follow…
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Streams of Consciousness blog
Artist Jonathan Brennan is joining us for a research residency into Belfast’s 13 rivers and tributaries. In the coming months, he will be sharing images, videos, written reflections, found facts, maps and myths on our blog pages, gradually coalescing into approximately a dozen articles on the city’s waterways.
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Environmental efforts
The ideas and action underpinning our project: the power and vulnerability of our water; river clean-ups, help for habitats and rising sea levels - what can we do?
More information to follow…
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Get on board! Downloadable resources and video guides to building a boat
Content coming soon… keep an aye-aye out ;)
Boating Floating Making Knowing
Boating Floating Making Knowing
