Thursday, June 03, 2010

Trans Festival 2010 launched

Adam Turkington doing a spot of street art at the launch of Trans Festival 2010

This summer’s Trans Festival was launched yesterday and as usual features music, street art, exhibitions, films and courses.

Urban Arts Academy is once again offering courses for anyone over the age of fifteen who is interesting in immersive training by practicing professionals in photography, radio production/podcasting, journalism, game design, developing iPhone apps (shorter course available too), documentary film making, free running, stop motion animation, puppetry and lots, lots more. Get your places booked early as it tends to sell out.

There’s oodles of music throughout the three weeks of the festival. Saturday 17 will see the Waterfront’s Penthouse Bar replace chart hits with booming classical music in the night club setting of Classic Music unBound: “We’ll be mixing Mozart, chopping Chopin and back- beating Bach, while a live string quartet will be keeping it ‘old school’ with two centuries of classical favourites”.

There’s always something unexpected with Trans, something of the organisers’ personalities running through the programme.

Last year’s Scavenger Hunt is back with a twist. This time there’s no mass organised Sunday afternoon event, but Alternative Ulster have composed a brand new treasure trail around Belfast city centre based on local new music icons. Download the PDF, solve the clues, collect all the badges, and then download free tunes from the featured artists.

No VENTiliation - VENT Collective poster

On 18 July, you’ll be able to take part in the Vent Collective’s latest participative art project – No VENTilation – creating an enormous crime scene somewhere in Belfast. (Check for more details as VC’s Facebook page says Sunday 18 July, while the trans website suggests Saturday 17.)

The Waterfront’s Penthouse Bar goes all Wiff Waff on Tuesday 6 July as it hosts a round-the-table ping pong tournament. On Tuesday 20 July, it’s the turn of Championship Gaming where you can “embrace your inner nerd and compete with like-minded children of the 80s and 90s in a knockout battle of classic Nintendo greats and their modern-day successors. There will be Mario Kart, Rock Band, Pro Evo and more, with competitions and super prizes and awards”.

There’s an Electronic Crèche with Sunday newspapers, magazines, wifi and Wii games in the Crescent Arts Centre between 1-4pm ion 4, 11 and 18 July. Black Market (artists, illustrators, crafters, stalls, vintage clothing)is in the Black Box on Sunday 4 July, and Black Books (books, magazines, comicbooks, children’s literature) is back on Sunday 18 July.

The QFT is coming to the Group Space upstairs in the Ulster Hall for a week. George Lucas’ sci-fi cult hit THX 1138 is being performed live on Wednesday 14 July. Electroma (the odyssey of two robots on their quest to become human) is playing on Thursday 15 July. Friday 16 July’s treat comes in the form of the showing of Le Donk & Scorz-ayz-ee, a no-budget mockumentary film made and shot in five days “following the day to day life of Le Donk, failed father, second-rate roadie, aspiring music mogul and one of the most monstrously funny characters you will ever see on the big screen”.

Moochin Photoman's through the Viewfinder exhibition

Running from 5-24 July, Moochin Photoman has an enormous exhibition of his Through the Viewfinder portraits upstairs in the Waterfront. On the final evening of the exhibition, visitors can choose their favourite photo from the thousands on display and take them home for free.

Elsewhere in the Waterfront, there will be another photographic exhibition, this looking at Youth in the Media which promises to “portray the stereotypes with which young people are currently labelled and addresses how they should be portrayed: as articulate, intelligent, hard working and caring”.

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