A showcase of female hip hop artists will take place as part of this year’s Women’s Work festival. Now in its fourth year, the festival, which takes place on 5–9 June in Belfast, aims to promote music created by women in Ireland and Northern Ireland and to provide opportunities for education and networking.

Taking place in various venues across the city, this year’s programme features concerts, workshops, panels and talks, including a CD DJ workshop, a discussion on developing a career in music, and a screening of Bad Reputation, which recounts the life of Californian singer Joan Jett.

Women of Irish Hip Hop
On Thursday 6 June, the Women of Irish Hip Hop event will take place at Oh Yeah Music Centre and features Limerick hip hop artist Kaka Mollz, Belfast R&B artist Dena Anuk$a and Derry-based spoken word performer Abby Oliveira. Belfast’s DJ Zakia will DJ for the night and Voodoo Belfast regular Sister Kush is set to MC. 

In 2016, Abby Oliveira released her spoken word album Cast Away Your Compass. Kaka Mollz recently released her debut track ‘Close to Death’ in January of this year. Dena Anuk$a has also just released the track ‘My G’ and will also perform at this year’s New Voices in the GPO on 17 May in Dublin. 

Podcasting and live performances
Among other events at Women’s Work is a workshop on podcasting hosted by BBC Rewind’s Helen Toland. ‘The Principles of Podcasting’ (5 June) will demonstrate how to approach audio editing and create engaging content. Participants will create their own piece of sound material by the end of the session.

Other artists performing at the festival include Belfast songwriter Jealous of the Birds, multi-instrumentalist and electronic artist ROE, and Dublin-based R&B artist Gemma Bradley. The programme also includes a free counselling service by Jigsaw Community Counselling Centre running for the length of the festival, a social and networking event for disabled and deaf musicians (8 June) and a literary evening of music and writing featuring author Geraldine Quigley (9 June).

For more information, visit www.womensworkni.co.uk.