New cultural venues open ahead of Culture Night 2016

Already a city thriving in cultural heritage, Derry has recently added two new cultural venues to its ‘must see’ list.

They will both be holding events as part of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s upcoming 2016 ‘Culture Night’ on Friday 16th September.

At the launch of the programme, the Mayor, Alderman Hilary McClintock spoke of what’s new in the city, the recent developments to some of the city’s cultural venues and what we have to look forward to. She said, ‘The city and district has a wealth of history, culture and artefacts. Council, by supporting events such as Culture Night is keen to continually promote greater awareness and education of the historical and cultural heritage of our residents and other cultures.

‘The Culture Night programme is packed full of dance, music, song, film, art, digital events and a series of talks and tours in some of the most historic cultural buildings of the city and district. It reflects cultures worldwide’.

She added, ‘The two newest cultural venues in the city; North West Cultural Partnership and Studio 2 are two modern examples of how culture and heritage is currently celebrated in different communities. North West Cultural Partnership is a new facility based in the Fountain area. It is a centre point of a new progressive and cohesive strategy for promoting cultural production among the Protestant, Unionist and Loyalist communities, on Culture Night it invites everyone to experience its cultural expression and share its vision for a new cultural hub.

‘Studio 2 is a new art and culture centre based in the Shantallow area that provides opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to develop skills as artists through collaborative processes with professional mentors in drama, dance, musical carnival, visual and digital arts and traditional arts. It will be showcasing art work, comedy, sing-a-long tunes, dancing, traditional Irish music and art and traditional Indian Hatha Yoga on the night.

‘For those interested in the historical past of the city, two venues have gone through recent refurbishments and are worth a visit, The Museum of Free Derry and the Siege of Derry Museum both focus on past events in the city. The newly refurbished Siege of Derry Museum records the history of the Siege of Londonderry and of the Associated Clubs of the Apprentice Boys of Derry and includes artefacts, video, interactive media and one of the finest collections of meeting rooms used by the 'Loyal Orders'.

‘The Museum of Free Derry is an archive focussing on the civil rights era of the 1960s and the Free Derry/early troubles era of the 1970s. It tells the people’s story of the civil rights movement, the Battle of the Bogside, Internment, Free Derry and Bloody Sunday. The museum has an archive of over 25,000 individual items relating to this period in the city’s history. Most items with immense historical significance were donated by local residents. This will its last Culture Night in its temporary premises on Shipquay Street before it moves to its permanent residence in the Bogside’.

Full details of this year’s Culture Night events and the participating venues visit http://www.derrystrabane.com/culturenight.