Pedro Donald does not want to describe himself as a collector, just a person who has picked up bits and pieces along the way.
From his days working at the now closed Ulster Arts Club three decades ago, the one time owner of The Sunflower Bar has still managed to build up something of a collection, mostly work by local artists.
The Belfast man wants to find good homes for the art, saying he has no room for the collection at his new base in The Netherlands.
“Art should be seen and I want to find new homes,” says Pedro.
Pedro Donald putting 50 pieces of Artwork on display at The Harrison Hotel in Belfast.
PICTURE COLM LENAGHAN
Fifty pieces will be on display at the The Harrison Hotel on Malone Road from Thursday night and over the summer, and for sale, with half the proceeds going to Medical Aid for Palestinians. It offers aid to Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon.
Among the artists whose work is on display are Barbara Allen, Kev Largey, Stephen Shaw, Anto Brennan and Hugh Clawson.
But Pedro thinks of one work by Lorcan Vallely. It is called ‘Resistance’.
It is a black and white charcoal of a Palestinian boy with a brick in his hand, described by the artist as the universal weapon of defiance, says Pedro.
There is “no shortage of charities” but the terrible happenings in Gaza have been “horrendous”, he says.
A piece ‘No Racism Here!’ by Myles Smith
PICTURE COLM LENAGHAN
The former bar owner, when manager back in the day of The John Hewitt on Donegall Street organised exhibitions of local artists.
It hosted one of the first by Oliver Jeffers, the Australian-born but Belfast-raised story teller and artist. Pedro picked up one of his early works.
‘Creggan Bonfire’ by Tommy Long, one of 50 pieces of artwork on display at The Harrison Hotel in Belfast. PICTURE COLM LENAGHAN
The 58-year-old was among the most prominent bar owners in the city before selling the popular Sunflower and American.
He decided to leave Belfast, expressing his frustrations over what he described as the stop-start politics of the north, drugs on the streets, a challenging business environment, a city centre filled with crumbling buildings and inadequate cycle lanes filled with broken glass.
“I feel really bad slagging Belfast though and I’m going to try not to,” he previously told The Irish News from his new home in the village of Vijfhuizen.