It’s All Your Vault

‘Davenports and kettle drums
And swallowtail coats
Tablecloths and patent-leather shoes
Bathing suits and bowling balls
And clarinets and rings
All this radio really needs is a fuse’

Soldier’s Things Tom Waits

It’s All Your Vault is the first exhibition to be held in our new Vault Gallery & Project Space, and our first public-facing event since moving from East Belfast earlier in 2023. It’s a show that features artworks inspired by the past, present and future of Vault created by our 100 members who work across the visual and performing arts. Also on display is a selection of ‘treasures’, plucked from the detritus of our six-year existence, including videos, photos, signage, posters, badges, obsolete tech, and other items of ephemera.

All of the artwork in the show has an inextricable link with Vault Artist Studios: you’ll see work made for the Vault – from the series of solo, group and collaborative shows and performances held in the Canteen Gallery in our previous building, to work made as a thank-you to trustees stepping down after several years in their voluntary board roles; work inspired by the Vault – pieces employing found materials from the old Tower Street technical college to portraits of members by other members; even work from the Vault – sketches from studios windows or from the roof of the old Tower Street building. And of course, work made in the Vault – the place where our members create and make our livings.

The exhibition is also an opportunity to tell our story until now – we’ve done this in a special souvenir newspaper but also in the display of bits and bobs dotted around this new space. It’s an archive in three dimensions documenting our journey through several disused buildings. Many of these objects, like the old ‘soldier’s things’ and bric-a-brac of Waits’ house clearance track quoted above are, after all, worthless: scraps of paper, weather-beaten wood panels, old labels, rusty signage … Yet every one tells a story: not only for us as a community (the Christmas parties, the Friday lunches, the famous pool competition…); but also for the thousands of people who have passed through our doors over our six-year existence: attending open studios, cabaret and Covid car-park circus performances, comedy nights, gigs, film screenings, exhibitions and of course our annual summer and Christmas art markets.

While it’s comforting to reflect on the past, nostalgia can be a rose-tinted dead end. We’re also looking forward to the future, to a permanent home for all of our members. For now, we’re so excited to bring a Vault presence to the centre of town, to work more closely with the other artist-led organisations here, especially at a time when many have lost their city-centre locations. And we’re delighted to have you over, ­we’re glad you came, there’s more to come, ‘It’s All Your Vault’.

Further information:

Exhibition opens 5 Oct, 6–9pm and continues to 15 Oct at Vault Artist Studios (Marlborough House)
28-32 Victoria St, Belfast BT1 3GG. Open daily Tue–Sat (12–6pm) and Sun (12–4pm). Closed Mondays.

Pick up a copy of the Vault Artist Newspaper at the exhibition launch and sign up to our newsletter on our new website: www.vaultartiststudios.com

Vault Artist Studios is the largest provider of affordable studios in Northern Ireland. We are also the only multi-disciplinary studio space in the north of Ireland, with two premises in Belfast City: Marlborough House and Shankill Mission Building. 

Thanks to our supporters at Arts and Business NI, Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Martin Group.