Q: What does a Peace Line look like?
A: It varies.
Within the Pale: Belfast Peace Lines - Processing Peace
A place is not only a name; it is a location grounded in history. My work frequently examines this complex sense of place – the human experience that is tied to terrain; whether urban or rural.
This project begins with an installation of photos depicting contemporary Belfast, including images of some of the 99 peace lines and defensive architecture that have marked the city since the first wall was constructed in the summer of 1969.
The walls were to be a temporary solution to the violent conflicts that erupted that August, after British Unionist supporters burned to the ground 45 of the 65 houses of Irish Catholics living on Bombay Street in West Belfast.
That event sparked what came to be known as the Troubles, and resulted in the British Army constructing that first peace line in order to separate the adjacent Protestant and Catholic communities. Over 40 years later, and 15 years after the Good Friday Agreement, these peace lines remain. In May 2013 the British government announced plans to take down the walls over the next 10 years.
Phase two of this project will use video interviews to document the thoughts of the local communities about the presence, and possible absence of the walls. British Unionist and Irish Republicans do not necessarily welcome the proposed elimination of the walls, and younger generations have no memory of a Belfast without these divisions.
Phase three will be determined by the responses gathered in the second phase, and will take the form of a film.
Deborah Meehan, NYC
Photographs will be on exhibition from March 6 - 29, 2014 at:
Opus Project Space
526 W. 26th Street, Studio 705
New York City
Contact: within.the.pale@gmail.com
Photos © Deborah Meehan 2013 -2019
All rights reserved