It is with great pleasure that I take a look back at the highlights of another amazing year for ArtsEkta which has seen us engage with tens of thousands of people across Northern Ireland to build relationships, develop shared cultural spaces and celebrate cultural identity through the wonderful creativity of the arts. 

The start of the year saw completion of our Cultural Coach and City of Festivals outreach projects funded by Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council. These programmes have offered access to the arts to some of our most deprived and marginalised communities, and offered opportunities to explore cultural diversity and challenge percepetions. Both projects will continue into 2012 to further deliver on the successes of 2011.  

In March, we held our annual Festival of Colours in St. George's Market to an unprecedented audience of over 5,000 people. The festival included a packed programme of live music and dance performances, food and craft stalls and a mini fun fair. Performers included Scotland's top Bollywood fusion group Desi Brave Hearts and the energetic Punjabi folk dancing group Balle! Shava. Visitors were treated to the wonderful spectacle of a traditional Coloured Powder Party which took place in a special arena in the market. Participants, some dressed in their oldest clothes, smeared and threw coloured powders over each other while dancing to the sounds of Bollywood, Hip Hop and House music provided by an Asian DJ. 

In April, our pilot South Asian Dance Academy project, the first in the whole of Ireland, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund came to an end and exceeded expectations all round. This project has enabled the preservation of Indian Kathak storytelling dance in Northern Ireland, and helped to build the artistic skills of seven dance trainees in this specialised dance form. The academy will continue on in 2012 by incorporating further South Asian dance forms and expanding the live performance & workshop programme to expose as many people as possible energy, vibrancy and creativity of South Asian Dance. 

In May, we partnered with Polish Cultural Week to deliver 'Taste of Polska' - a one day event looking at Polish arts and culture at Saint Anne's Square in Belfast. The square came alive with the sounds, sights and smells of Polish and other cultures and will featured a show-stopping, jam-packed schedule of music and dance. Headlining the event was ethno-electro group ‘GOORAL’ from Poland who blend electro, dub-step and drum ‘n’ bass with traditional Polish songs for a truly unique sound experience. Local artists from Indian, Chinese, African and Irish backgrounds also took to the stage.

In June, we partnered with Smallworld Music on behalf of Belfast City Council to deliver the Lord Mayor's Parade 2011 with a theme of 'One World, One Vision, One Future', and the remainder of the summer saw us gear up for our fifth annual Belfast Mela at Botanic Gardens. Now, Northern Ireland's largest intercultural arts festival, the event attracted over 20,000 people who enjoyed an elicit mix of cultural food, music, dance, crafts, circus, film and carnival. The summer months also saw us host an informal consultation with minority ethnic artists on behalf of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to inform the new Intercultural Arts Strategy.  

In October, we delivered a series of events to celebrate the Indian festival of 'Diwali', and Irish festival of 'Samhain' in partnership with Ulster Musem and Belfast City Council. The main highlight of the programme was a musical collboration between Indian pianist Utsav Lal and Irish flautist Sam Comerford, together with world renowned tabla player Kousic Sen. The trio treated a sold out Lyric Theatre to an electrifying performance where Indian Ragas meet Irish reels in a breathtaking fashion. 

In November, we held our second 'Stronger Together' conference with partners STEP, SEEDs, Foyle Multi-Cultural Forum, Chinese Welfare Association, Ballymena Inter-Ethnic Forum and Centre for Global Education. Over 60 delegates partcipating in the conference aimed at increasing collaboration and knowledge sharing between groups and organisations. The theme of the conference centred on strength in rights and influence, strength in diversity and strength in unity. Keynote speaker Naz Koser, Director of Ulfah Arts, a Birminghambased social enterprise that works to achieve social empowerment in disadvantaged communities spoke about the importance of a shared vision and collaborative work, and the powerful journey it can take you on. She stated that Stronger Together “is an energetic, fresh idea initiated by six women to share their experiences on the issues of race and ethnicity and an inspiring example of coming together to reflect upon common goals’

The end of the year saw the competion of an extensive outreach and events programme within the Lisburn & Castlereagh areas exploring Indian, Polish, Chinese, Irish and African cultures. The project, funded through the Peace III programme, engaged with over 200 partcipants and 1000 audience developing good & community relations and promoting cultural diversity throughout the council areas.

We are extremely proud of all achieved throughout 2011, and look forward to continuing the good work in 2012.

Nisha Tandon, Director, ArtsEkta