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Exhibition Opening: Thursday 10th October, 6-9 pm 2019

Exhibition Continues: 11th – 30th October 2019

 

Featuring works by

Adam McIlwaine,

Array Studios,

Brennagh & Niamh Seana Meehan,

Kate Guelke & Chris Thompson,

Laura Holmes,

Lee Hamill, &

Sinead Cameron.

 

Curated by Adrián Ramos & Siobhán Kelly.

 

THE OTHER TROUBLES

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The cleanest version of history would suggest that The Troubles ended with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. There is a generation born just before or just after this pivotal moment and coming of age, well, now. This generation is living between what was, and what is not yet, and facing
a future as uncertain as it is full of new ideas and possibilities. The aim of The Other Troubles is neither to dismiss history and its consequences, nor to provide ‘the solution’, but to create a space for conversation and exchange of ideas. This project invites young and
emerging artists practicing in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to respond to the deliberately open question – “What do we think after The Troubles?”
The result is a curated group exhibition, featuring works by artists based North and South of the border. While their practices are varied – each utilising different approaches and methods for artistic expression – the selected works speak to social and physical barriers, collective identities and the struggle for human rights and dignity. The Other Troubles is marked by generational perspectives, including difficulties inherited from the past, as well as those that, like them, were born in this strange present. Artist selection has been carried out by independent curators Adrián Ramos and Siobhán Kelly,
supported by academic advisor Dr Giuliana Monteverde. The organisers reviewed artistic and
professional references, as well as proposals and projects related to the themes of the exhibition.
Importantly, this project would not be possible without the guidance and support of Platform Arts.

Progeny

I was born just before the Good Friday agreement, and I feel the weight of a past that I have not experienced first hand. However, the burden of the troubles has shaped everything I know.

The two equal and opposite triangles represent the balance between the past and the future; with the egg in the middle creating a sense of uncertain hopefulness. In paganism the triangle represents fire and the inverted triangle represents water. Placed in this way they signify two powerful opposing forces.
Using such overt symbolism creates an unmistakable sense of familiarity. Feelings of uneasiness are intensified by placing familiar imagery in such an unfamiliar way. This obscurity provokes a sense of terror wherein there is supposed to lie an undecipherable truth of a dreadfulness that cannot be grasped or understood.

The light coloured inverted triangle projects an idea of hope and possibilities for the future yet its instability is highlighted due to it being precariously balanced and held in place by a dark past. One which is secure and fixed in our collective memory. This juxtaposition of equal opposites insists and forces us to remember our past. An unforgettable poignant regret which we painfully make our own.
 

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Past

Future

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Present

The stability of the bottom triangle reflects the familiarity we have with our violent past. We have grown accustomed to this pain, therein exists a fundamental security in the lack of peace. The thought of something new invading this familiarity brings about negative connotations. Therefore the foreign notion of peace is met with apprehension. 
Thus forming a mild anxiety in the present. This anxiety is represented by the egg; holding us in limbo between the familiar and the sublime (the master category of aspiration, nostalgia, and the unattainable). 
This promise of a sublime future can be seen as threatening the familiar. With the familiar in this case being ‘the troubles’. When we are accustomed to darkness and fear the prospect of hope and peace can be seen as hostile. Leaving us in an awkward point in time; held in a precarious balance between two extremes both of which hold equal amounts of fear and uncertainty.
Eggs conjure up a myriad of symbolic significance, partly because they are a visual shorthand for new life and un-hatched potential. Often the egg represents hope, new beginnings, and fragility or purity amidst the surrounding chaos.
In this instance, the egg has become a symbol of hope and rebirth. It is the vessel from which we may begin to move forward!  Alive with the potential to escape from the bounds of familiarity.

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