Belfast International Festival of performance Art 2026
The Belfast International Festival of Performance Art 2026 was developed in partnership with PS2 with administrative support from Bbeyond and funded by the Cultural Department of Ulster University.
The Belfast International Festival of Performance Art is an annual festival, which was established by Brian Connolly in 2013. It evolved out of a series of previous performance art events within the Belfast School of Art. It was established as an independent festival program within the University in 2016.
BIFPA generates new performance artworks by international, national & local artists, along with work created by students and recent graduates of the Fine Art Course.
Much of the planning, organising and running of the festival is achieved with the help of student volunteers, recent graduates and local artists. The annual festival has been funded via Arts & Culture Development within the Ulster University with administrative support provided by Bbeyond.
Every year the team invites an international, national and local artist to take part in the live performance events. The connection with Belfast School of Art provides the opportunity to deliver a visiting lecturer talk for students at the university, as well as providing students the opportunity to participate in a performance art workshop with one of our visiting artists. PS2 will also be hosting an artist panel discussion, talking to key people and organisations involved in groundbreaking performance projects. To book your place visit here
This year the BIFPA team have invited Denys Blacker, who will also be delivering the student workshop, Volodymyr Topiy, Jayne Cherry, selina bonelli and Thomas Reul, who will be giving the artist lecture in the Belfast School of Art. PS2 introduce Kate Guelke to the festival, for her first live performance art solo work.
Denys Blacker (London, 1961) is a transdisciplinary artist whose practice spans performance art, drawing, sculpture and video. She has lived and worked in Catalunya since 1987 and has shown her work internationally for over 30 years. She is co-founder of the all-women performance group Ocells al Cap (Birds in the Head) and a member of the International performance group, Wolf in the Winter. Blacker’s interest lies in the way we intercommunicate and how we develop our individual and communal capacity for adaptability and contingency. She explores the artistic, social and political implications of engaging with embodied, intuitive and visceral ways of knowing. In 2019, she was awarded a PhD from the University of Northumbria, Newcastle, (England). Her research Interconnection, Synchronicity and Consciousness in Improvised Performance Art Practices, has led her to explore the boundaries between subject and object and between self and other, to reveal how we might communicate in ways that go beyond the cognitive senses, including the possibilities of telepathy and precognition.
Image courtesy of the artist
'Volodymyr Topiy was born in 1979 in Sudova Vyshnya, Ukraine and is now based in Limerick, Ireland. He works across a range of interdisciplinary practices, but primarily performance art, which addresses themes of identity, cultural fusion, and resilience. Through exhibitions, collaborations, residencies, and public engagements, Topiy has shared his work internationally in countries including Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Japan, and Lithuania. In 2025, he received the Agility Award from Arts Council Ireland and is currently working on the realisation of his funded project. Topiy is also an active member of Visual Artists Ireland and Live Art Ireland
Image courtesy of the artist
Jayne Cherry is an artist living and working in the countryside of Co.Down, Northern Ireland and was brought up with a deep respect for the ground we walk on and all who breathe upon it, including those we cannot see.
Experiencing grief and trauma as a child informs her daily life and nurse training introduced her to her own vulnerability when confronted by uncomfortable subjects which often include death, pain and discomfort.
Her performance actions keep her attached to reality and she intentionally lives to inform her work, which can form into objects, drawing or sound.
Image courtesy of the artist - Resonance performance
selina bonelli works both within the landscape and with found ‘everyday’ objects and ‘passed-on’ materials.
They are currently exploring abandoned conflict architecture through performance and sound. They hope to develop an affective trail of embodied withnessing, a being with personal, collective and more than human collaborators.
selina also seeks to expand on a listening through what touch can be in the gaps outside of language, to uncover the resonances trapped in ruins, utterances and hauntings.
selina bonelli is a current researcher at Ulster University, a founding member of SITE- a collaborative open source queer group making work in the rural-public realm, a member of Live Art Ireland, PAE-Aktionslabor e.V. and an associate artist at Performance Space, London.
Image credit: Thomas Reul
Thomas Reul is interested in the potential arising from the encounter of different elements. He explorers this collaborative performance approach also in duo or group performances. The challenge is to find a form of communication that respects and retains the individual rhythms, intentions and perceptions in a situation.
Thomas lives and works in Cologne. He is a performer, organiser of various projects and events, performance documentary photographer and an active member of PAE Aktionslabor eV. since 2015. His work has been shown in Asia, Europe and South America.
"Through interaction and dialogue with materials and others, I try to open up new spaces for thoughts and feelings in order to transcend the perceived boundaries. In particular, I use familiar perceptual experiences as well as everyday materials and my body to initiate and continue these conversations. The movements and encounters encourage leaving the potentials as open as possible in all directions of a multi-dimensional space. In this process, the organisation of events also serves to expand the artistic perspectives and strategy of action.“
Image courtesy of the artist
Kate Guelke is a Northern Irish opera-maker with a performance art practice. She was recently selected by Cois Ceim to develop this practice during an 'off-site' residency.
She is a recent A-N Bursary and DDASF award recipient. Previous performances include 'The Bare Necessities' (Imagine Festival). Kate is currently directing 'The Caucasian Chalk Circle' for Stage Beyond and preparing her adaptation of F L Green's novel 'Odd Man Out' for premiere at the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, 2026.
Image courtesy of the artist