Latest News

ArtsEkta, Northern Ireland’s leading intercultural arts organisation, is proud to announce the launch of My Place, Our Place, a transformative three-year initiative designed to deepen socially engaged artistic practice and promote cultural inclusivity. Supported by Paul Hamlyn Foundation, through their Arts Fund, the programme will create meaningful opportunities for culturally diverse communities, participants, and artists, […]

A new era of creativity and cultural connection is set to unfold in the heart of Belfast with the launch of Olive Tree House, a dynamic new cultural hub dedicated to fostering collaboration, creativity, and community engagement. Located just moments from City Hall, this vibrant 40,000sqft meanwhile use space is designed to bring together artists, […]

Researchers from Queen’s University are part of a team that has secured £1.48m from the UKRI’s Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) for a public history project to re-examine two of Ulster’s historic houses, Clandeboye and Mount Stewart. The project, ‘Historic Houses, Global Crossroads’, will explore their histories as both local “big houses” and significant […]

We’re proud to be partnering with Titanic Belfast to launch ‘A Magical Christmas Experience’ at its annual Christmas Light Switch On event on Sunday 24th November. There will be lots of free festive fun for everyone to look forward to from 2pm, with the arrival of Father Christmas, carols from the Lisburn Community Choir, ArtsEkta Bollywood dancers, […]

In Loving Memory of Anna Lo MBE: 1950 -2024 It is with great sadness that have learnt of the death of Anna Lo, former Alliance MLA for South Belfast and campaigner for equality and social justice in Northern Ireland. We are incredibly proud of Anna and what she achieved throughout her life and career. She […]

A community event in North Belfast aimed to address recent racist incidents in the city by celebrating the area’s cultural diversity. A festival of music, dance, and food from across the world were showcased at the multicultural event, with Polish, Filipino, and Arabic residents among those who provided a taste of their food and culture […]

ArtsEkta and Mothers Tongue Ireland proudly announce their successful bid for funding from The Shared Island Civic Society Fund. This initiative, aimed at fostering practical North-South cooperation, provides vital support to civic society and community organizations, enabling them to strengthen existing partnerships, forge new cross-border connections and champion inclusivity and diversity across the island. Project […]

The largest celebration of cultural diversity on the island of Ireland drew to a close yesterday (Sunday 25 August) at Botanic Gardens with the traditional Mela Day where thousands gathered for a day of music, food, theatre, arts and dance. The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Micky Murray, along with The First Minister Michelle O’Neill, […]

Get ready for our spectacular nine day programme of events across Belfast from Saturday 17 August to Sunday 25 August as tickets for the Belfast Mela, sponsored by Sensata Technologies, go live. Belfast Mela hosts U105’s Carolyn Stewart and UTV’s Paul Reilly join Mela founder Nisha Tandon OBE with South African poet Nandi Jola, hip […]

‘The Walk’, a world-renowned creative project featuring Little Amal, a giant puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee, will arrive in Belfast from 16-19 May – the latest event to be confirmed as part of Belfast City Council’s Belfast 2024 programme. The acclaimed production will be a signature event in the city’s biggest ever creative and […]

THE ROLE The Creative Engagement Manager will be responsible for managing all duties associated ArtsEkta’s creative engagement function with the overarching aim of ensuring excellence in intercultural arts practice across Northern Ireland. The post holder will work collaboratively with other key personnel in ArtsEkta to deliver a range of events and projects in a timely […]

Join us across Northern Ireland as we mark Chinese New Year – Year of the Dragon with an extravaganza of food, music and dance 🐲 Check out where to find us ⬇️ 🏮Five course Asian-inspired feast at the Silk Road Supper Club on 3 February at Established Coffee from 7.00pm. Book tickets here. 🏮Free family […]

Join us at events across Northern Ireland as we celebrate Halloween with special performances and cultural activities to mark the Mexican Day of the Dead and Indian Diwali celebrations. Check out where we will be this year.   Féile an Phobail parade in Belfast on Friday 27 October from 6pm at Spórtlann na hÉireann, followed […]

The first Minorities Recognition Awards in Northern Ireland (MRANI), designed to celebrate and acknowledge professionals and businesses from diverse ethnic minority backgrounds, was held on October 7th at Stormont Hotel. Founder and CEO of ArtsEkta, Nisha Tandon OBE, was awarded the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award for contribution to racial equality in Northern Ireland in a […]

The Conway Education Centre was honoured to host a visit by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah from Jordan. Queen Rania met with children and young people from Conway’s Homework club for refugee families, with refugee and asylum-seeking students of Conway’s adult education programme and members of ArtsEkta‘s Art Route Collective to learn about the […]

The largest celebration of cultural diversity on the island of Ireland drew to a close at Botanic Gardens last Sunday with the traditional Mela Day, sponsored by Sensata Technologies, where thousands gathered for a day of music, food, theatre, arts and dance. Botanic Gardens was once again transformed into a global party of music, dance, […]

ArtsEkta were delighted to participate in the 25th anniversary of Refugee Week between the 19th – 25th June. We delivered a whole range of events that celebrated what compassion looks like in action. The events demonstrated that together we can create a shared understanding of compassion to ensure we are extending it widely to all. […]

Discover Develop Design Deliver is a unique partnership between ArtsEkta and JoinHer that aims to address the challenges faced by underrepresented entrepreneurs, particularly women from Global Majority backgrounds. With funding provided by Ulster Bank’s Enterprise Fund, the programme is pioneered by two of the most influential voices on Ethnic Minority Communities in NI;  Nisha Tandon […]

Queen’s University Belfast, one of the leading universities in the UK and Ireland, and a member of the prestigious Russell Group of UK research-intensive universities awarded Nisha Tandon, founder andChief Executive of ArtsEkta an honorary Doctorate for services to the minority ethnic sector in Northern Ireland. ArtsEkta set up by Nisha, is one of the […]

Belfast Mela is returning to the city for its 13th year with organisers saying it will transform its venue.

ArtsEkta, Northern Ireland’s leading cultural diversity charity, has announced the cancellation of this year’s 14th Belfast Mela, which was due to take place on Sunday August 30th at Botanic Gardens.