Banana Block: Inside the new living museum, bar and events space in Belfast
Banana Block has opened its door in an historic part of east Belfast
Banana Block, a new living museum and events space, which is attempting to bring back the ‘Belfast Banana’, has opened its doors to visitors at Portview Trade Centre.
The new space takes a look at a unique part of local history in east Belfast. The 'banana' connection of the museum goes back to 1911, when east Belfast resident, William Richardson, became one of the first people to cultivate bananas in the British Isles.
Richardson was the head gardener to Sir Otto Jaffe, the owner of the historic mill in East Belfast, which in the 1930s was a key feature within the vibrant local community.
The new museum aims to pay tribute to this connection, which helped make east Belfast a centre of innovation in manufacturing and technology.
The banana connection doesn’t stop there. During the Mill strikes of 1932, bands and workers from both sides of the community went on the march and the only neutral, non-sectarian tune that they knew and could agree on was Louis Prima’s ‘Yes! We Have No Bananas’ which was played on repeat.
According to its founders, Banana Block has been inspired by these stories of industry, innovation and social change in the heart of East Belfast.
Visitors to the space will not only learn about the industrial past of the mill but will also discover a vibrant community of entrepreneurs and collaborators who are creating and innovating in new ways.
Key features of the experience include a tropical banana plant-filled greenhouse, a sustainable café and live laboratories where visitors will meet artisan producers including mushroom growers, cheese makers and record collectors.
The concept of Banana Block was taken forward by Belfast-based Urban Scales Interventions, as well as a team of local and international consultants, and existing on-site tenants at Portview.
Speaking about the project, Urban Scale Interventions' Head of Programming, Claire Hall, told us:
"We [USI] were working with Portview on the overall 10 year regeneration plan, so we were looking for interesting stories and came across this one about William Richardson and Otto Jaffe and the banana connection.
"We'd been discussing with National Museums Northern Ireland about how we could bring a different kind of museum into the east, which would look at the heritage of the Mill. We came up with the idea of - instead of just putting panels on the wall to tell the story, why not bring the bananas back into east Belfast?
"It a museum, but it's also a cultural venue and an events space. It's nestled in behind the main Portview Site on Newtownards Road. You might not expect to find this beautiful, regenerated saw tooth warehouse there."
Claire also told us what visitors to Banana Block can expect.
"You come down the main alleyway and the hoardings there tell you about the story of Banana Block. Then you're met with some class street art, designed by Ulster University students but produced by a really brilliant street artist named Irony.
"In through the doors, you're met with a cafe space, and a big ring of banana trees that can act as either a seating area, an amphitheatre, a performance space or a gig space.
"As you walk through, there's a bar, then there's a fantastic record store. There's also a cheesemaker on site and there's mushroom growers here as well. It's become this multi-purpose space.
"Then on the walls there's the boards which tell you the full story of the space and how it came to be."
Find out more about Banana Block here.
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