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Alongside the exhibition, we’re hosting a series of talks, workshops, screenings and creative actions that open up urgent conversations about Belfast today, and the future we want to build.
Thinking of Home through Geopolitics, Memory and Justice | Tue 9 September | 3pm-5pm | Age: 16+ | Free, Booking Required
What does “home” really mean in a world shaped by inequality, displacement, and struggle?
In this lecture-performance, Dr. Azadeh Sobout invites us to rethink the idea of home—not just as a place to live, but as a site of resistance and a lens through which we can confront systems of power, colonialism, and injustice. Challenging the mainstream push to simply “build more housing,” Dr. Sobout explores deeper questions: What if housing itself could help us reimagine care, community, and belonging?
Reimagining Home Together: Tackling NI's Housing Crisis | Sat 13 September | 2pm-3.30pm | Free, Booking Required
Join us at the MAC on Saturday 13 September for a workshop to explore student proposals for the Mackie’s site, developed by the StreetSpace studio at Queen’s University.
This event invites discussion on a spatial plan tackling Northern Ireland’s housing crisis through a design-led, human-centred approach. In partnership with PPR's campaign Take Back the City and international research project Change Stories, this project reimagines public land for inclusive housing with all the services and amenities needed for a good quality of life.
From Grenfell to Belfast: Race, Poverty, and the Politics of Housing | 19 September | 6.30pm - 8pm | Free, Booking Required
The Grenfell Tower fire exposed not only a devastating loss of life but also the deep structural inequalities of race, poverty, and class that shape who gets safe housing- and who doesn’t.
This event connects that tragedy to the housing crisis in Belfast, unpacking how systemic neglect, economic injustice, and racial inequality intersect in both contexts. Through critical analysis and lived experiences, we will explore what these parallels reveal about power, accountability, and the urgent need for housing justice.
This event will include an introduction to The State of Belfast, an exhibition exploring housing inequality; a film screening of Seeking Home, a short film about a homeless refugee family, and how precarious their life is; light food by the Kind Economy Chefs; and conversations with Grenfell survivors, anti-racism and housing activists, refugees and film-makers.
Mother City | 20 September | 18+ | 2pm - 4.30pm | Free, Booking Required
Join us for a special screening of Mother City followed by a conversation with film-maker Pearlie Joubert, PPR housing activists and advocates.
Mother City is a simultaneously heart-breaking and inspiring story about the profoundly personal and political struggle for land and housing in Cape Town, South Africa. Following the story of the Reclaim the City movement, supported by activists and lawyers, the film reveals the complexities and devastation of spatial inequality and the commodification of land and housing in the city.
Mini Architects – Let’s Design a City | Sat 20 September | 11am-1pm | Age: 7-11yrs | £7
In this imaginative workshop, children become Mini Architects, using drawing and collage to dream up a city where everyone has a home.
With the help of local artists, kids will explore what makes a home—and a city—welcoming and fair for all. They’ll create vibrant, mixed-media artworks that show their own designs for houses, neighbourhoods, and community spaces that leave no one behind.
Programmed as part of The State of Belfast exhibition. The State of Belfast uses Grenfell by Steve McQueen as a stepping off point to address the inherent injustices and inequality as well as issues of race and poverty which are inextricably linked to the Grenfell tragedy. The State of Belfast explores how these same conditions exist in Belfast and how we might collectively address them.
This national tour of Grenfell is being coordinated by Tate in collaboration with the partner venues and is made possible thanks to support using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and from Art Fund. Each presentation will be free to visit and will be accompanied by a public engagement programme of talks, workshops and community events supported by the Grenfell Foundation.
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With thanks to our funders:
