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Ormeau Baths Gallery

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The Ormeau Baths Gallery in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is one of Ireland's premier contemporary art spaces. It has curated exhibitions by prominent international artists including; Yoko Ono, Gilbert & George, Victor Sloan, Bill Viola, Hans Peter Kuhn, Stan Douglas, David Byrne, Willie Doherty and Alastair MacLennan.

There are four main galleries with a total exhibition space of 10,000 square feet. It is located on the site of a Victorian Bath House. In 1995 its conversion to an art galley once again restored the venue to the public realm. Hugh Mulholland, previously the founder and Director of Context Gallery in Derry, has been the Director of the Ormeau Baths Gallery since 1997. The gallery programme includes a mix of solo and group shows; national and international in all art disciplines. The Ormeau Baths Gallery is managed by a Board of Trustees.

It also organises Perspective, an annual open submission exhibition with works selected by well-known figures from the art world. Perspective offers an important platform for the presentation of new approaches and ideas within contemporary visual art practice from around the world.

The gallery used to receive its major funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council, but in a surprise move, the Arts Council suddenly announced [1] at the end of February 2006 that it was not going to renew its funding, and that the gallery would close [2] and all its staff be made redundant four days later. Over the last 18 months, there have been ongoing problems between the gallery and the Arts Council over financial and management issues - which have culminated in the closure.

A silent protest vigil of Irish artist and gallery supporters was held outside the locked gallery at 1pm on 1 March 2006. Whether the gallery will reopen - with new funding and perhaps new management - is unknown.

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