Leads:
  • NCAD
  • UU
Partners:
  • Create
  • National Museum of Ireland
  • The MAC Belfast

Art Activist Methods for
Hopeful Collaborative Futures

Developing creative activist strategies for addressing complex histories, memorialisation and social identity through practice-led art and archival research.

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Question

How can creative activist methods support ethical engagement with difficult histories?

Question

What role can museums and public spaces play in facilitating nuanced conversations about identity and representation?

Question

How does participatory art practice contribute to intercultural engagement in cross-border contexts?

Doctoral Researchers

  • Lyónn Wolf is an artist and writer currently engaged with de-productive trans & class poetics. His work unfolds a desire for structures of being away from the logics of reproductive colonial time towards the collective reimagining of political futures centred on pleasure & interdependence for queer, trans & crip social bodies.

    Embodying the Archive: Counter-narrative and Trans Futurity

    During a time of intensified state violence directed towards trans life my research focuses on intellectual traditions of time and its politics. I propose that the current redactive material interventions into trans lives crafts a narrative that aims to curtail the future for trans becoming. Transness embodies chronopolitics in that transition derails normative narratives of a stable and coherent self, a Eurocentric and masculinist paradigm currently dominating global statecraft.

    This project considers narratives as central in the production of individualist patriarchal discourses and, accordingly, counter narratives as a vital political tool against the maintenance of oppressive power structures. I aim to draw from queer and feminist narrative critiques, engaging the world building tools of radical futurism and trans theory, to collectively disrupt the current political paradigm. I will do this engaging the tools of my practice; archival research, community workshops, reflective writing, publishing and performance.
    Lyónn Wolf
    Lyónn Wolf

  • Thomas Wells is an independent artist and curator, based in Belfast and originally from Manchester. Their practice centres socially engaged practice as a methodology often working with LGBTQIA+ communities to investigate history and experience from the perspective of assembly. They are currently researching how ‘pride’ is a successful vehicle for queer liberation in contemporary life through the lens of radical movements in Ireland. Themes of nostalgia and hospitality are often employed as sites of engagement.

    Recent projects include The House of Atreus (2025-2026) at Catalyst Arts, Belfast and Pallas Projects, Dublin, A Queer Dander (2025) The MAC Belfast, Pack’d Lunch (2025/6) Platt Hall, Manchester and It’s Turned Out Nice Again (2024) Outburst Queer Arts Festival. They are founder of SAM’S EDEN (2018-2023) a queer arts and research publication, committee member for Belfast International Festival of Performance Art (2023-2025) and a regular guest lecturer at The Belfast School of Art.

    Pursuing humour and mischief as engagement beyond empathy against complex violence in Ireland, in its resistance movements — by artistic practice

    This research project aims to investigate the relevance and value of Pride as a festival has for LGBTQIA+ communities across contemporary Ireland, and if there is need for the pride movement to pivot back to its roots in protest.

    In this case, the project will take its reference from historic resistance movements on the island of Ireland, in particular the fight for reproductive justice and the mobilisation of the LGBTQIA+ community in the face of the potential erosion of rights due to the rise of the global far right. This proposal centers around the origins of Pride in Ireland with a focus on Belfast with its roots firmly planted in the fight for visibility of the community in the wake of the period commonly referred to as The Troubles through demonstration. The proposal will look at how humour and mischief have been used not only nationally but globally in the queer liberation movement and how these tactics can be adopted to support a new radical Pride agenda.
    Thomas Wells
    Thomas Wells

Research Supervisors/Project Co-Leads

  • Dr Dominic Thorpe is an artist and assistant lecturer in the Department of Sculpture and Expanded Practice at NCAD. He works across performance art, video, drawing, installation, collaborative and relational processes. Research interests include perpetrator trauma representation and the role of the body in contemporary art. He also regularly works with artists at the inclusive KCAT studio.

    Dominic Thorpe NCAD
    Dominic Thorpe

  • Dr Campbell teaches photography at Ulster University and recently produced the Abortion Utopia toolkit for her Shared Island post-doc. Campbell’s exhibitions and publications encompass the work of Alliance for Choice and Array Collective, where she is Co-convenor and 1/11th member artist respectively. The Wholly Trinity film combines her roles succinctly.

    Emma Campbell UU
    Emma Campbell

Partners

  • Create logo

    Create is the national development agency for collaborative arts. Their work initiates cross-sectoral national and international partnerships which support artists and communities to co-create work of depth, ambition and excellence. Their mission is to lead the development of collaborative arts practice by enabling artists and communities to create exceptional art together.

    www.create-ireland.ie

  • The National Museum of Ireland is home to one of the world’s most remarkable collections of artefacts, tracing the rich and fascinating story of Ireland and its place in the world. Spread across three inspiring locations in Dublin and Co. Mayo, each Museum offers a unique space for discovery.

    www.museum.ie
  • The MAC Belfast logo

    At the MAC (Metropolitan Arts Centre), we’re more than an arts venue — we’re a creative hub that fosters bold, imaginative experiences, connecting people with the transformative power of the arts. We believe in the potential of culture to inspire, challenge, and engage diverse audiences. Our mission is to spark creativity, empower communities, and create a platform for voices that might otherwise go unheard. Every day, we work to create a more inclusive and vibrant city through the arts as a cultural leader in Belfast and beyond, known for innovative programming, creative excellence, and social impact.

    themaclive.com