Abstract

'The conflicted terrain of the Irish past is occupied by two powerful grand narratives, one loyalist and protestant, the other nationalist and catholic. These furnish different and mutually antagonistic ways of telling the story of Ireland, two competing constructions of the same history. There is no pure form of these two stories, which exist only in the range of their tellings and re-tellings, with numerous variations and difference of emphasis and nuance, across a variety of modes and media of representation.' Graham Dawson Making Peace with the Past, Memory Trauma and the Irish Troubles. MUP 2007 A series of photographic works that examine the disparate and often conflicting narratives of Northern Irish history. Working in history classrooms of Protestant and Catholic schools and on housing projects from both communities the work recovers visual fragments and texts which represent the layering of narrative, a continual writing and re-writing of history and the conflicting rhetoric of two traditions. The research tests ways to make visible cultural, historical and political slippages and contradictions and raises questions about the relationship between memory, identity and opposing readings of history. Originally commissioned by MCAC and also exhibited at Highlanes, Droheda and in the touring exhibiton 'Archiving Place & Time' – Art since the Belfast Agreement – Wolverhampton Museum, Manchester City Art Gallery (catalogue pdf in supplementary information). A number of works included in the exhibition Then & Now: Evolving Art Practices, Lewis Glucksman Museum, Cork.Included in 50th Anniversary Issue of Photography Journal Portfolio who ' invited 50 of the the UK's most significant artiststo contribute 2 pages of their newest works' ed.Nov 2009.