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Chapman Students meeting with Kate Turner and Brandon Hamber<\/p><\/div>\n
We first heard from Kate Turner, director of Healing Through Remembering (HTR), and Brandon Hamber, professor and board member of HTR. Their work centers on how society deals with the legacy of the Troubles through five main themes: Day of Reflection, Memorialization, Truth Recovery and Acknowledgement, Oral History and Personal Narrative, and Commemoration.<\/p>\n
The Day of Reflection occurs each year on June 21, offering space for individuals to reflect on the past and ask personal questions such as \u201cWhat role did I play in the conflict?\u201d The day also features art created by a student artist known as the \u201cArt of the Day\u201d and explores themes of memory and identity and ritual.<\/p>\n
The Truth Recovery theme focuses on the impact of language in storytelling, while the Oral History and Personal Narrative component formed the basis of a diverse network for individuals to work together and help each other known as the Stories Network. The final theme, Commemoration, addresses how to ethically remember events of the conflict through a network of grassroots groups.<\/p>\n
One interesting project Turner and Hamber shared was \u201cEveryday Objects Transformed by the Conflict,\u201d an exhibition showcasing items like kerbstones or lampposts that gained political meaning during the Troubles. The project emphasizes how seemingly normal objects can be transformed into powerful symbols of division, identity, or healing. Art installations such as Rita Duffy\u2019s Veil represent forgotten narratives and voices, especially the experiences of women during the conflict and the grief they experienced.<\/p>\n
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Images of Mailboxes in Republican and Unionist areas to mark the territory.<\/p><\/div>\n
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\u201cVeil\u201d by Rita Duffy. Mixed Media Art Installation featured in Everyday Objects Transformed by Conflict<\/p>\n
For more information on Healing Through Remembering: https:\/\/healingthroughremembering.org<\/a><\/p>\n Turner and Hamber also discussed the challenges of involving women in the post-agreement reconciliation process. Women were often excluded from the formal peace dialogues, and when they did share stories, they often centered men\u2019s experiences or experiences of others rather than their own. Everyday Objects challenges this by offering space for women to reclaim their narratives outside hierarchical victim\/perpetrator roles.<\/p>\n This theme was expanded in our second lecture by M\u00e1rie Braniff, who discussed how legacies of conflict continue to shape the present. Braniff explained how suicide rates are now higher than those from the Troubles. Poverty is entrenched and has deepened, and Northern Ireland has one of Europe\u2019s highest rates of violence against women.<\/p>\n Braniff also emphasized that peace for many women means working to make sure a conflict like this never happens again, but despite this, they are often denied seats at the negotiating table. She highlighted UN Resolution 1325, which calls for women\u2019s inclusion in peace processes but was not implemented in Northern Ireland due to the United Kingdom\u2019s role in the conflict. She also explored how many women lost jobs to returning male ex-prisoners, reinforcing systemic marginalization and disenfranchisement.<\/p>\n To address this, initiatives like the Shared Island Initiative\u2019s \u201cBirds of a Feather\u201d project emerged, connecting women across the North and South through cultural exchange. Women share crafts like textile work and storytelling while also engaging in conversations about identity, religion, and politics, building cross-community dialogue through arts like crafts, music, and dance.<\/p>\n For more information on M\u00e1rie Braniff: https:\/\/pure.ulster.ac.uk\/en\/persons\/maire-braniff#:~:text=Biography,involved%20in%20international%20research%20partnerships<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more information on UN Resolution 1325: https:\/\/www.un.org\/womenwatch\/osagi\/wps\/<\/a><\/p>\n For more information about the Shared Island Initiatives \u201cBirds of a Feather\u201d project: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=s3Toz2nacvU<\/a><\/p>\n Two core themes I saw emerge from today\u2019s sessions were the role of women in peacebuilding and the power of art in memorialization and activism.<\/p>\n In Chapter 3 of Bridging Divides Through Gender-Just Citizenship<\/a>, the authors highlight how \u201cwomen\u2019s work\u201d (e.g. raising families, sharing stories, and caring for others) became political acts during the Troubles. Holmgren, shows how while women were mostly erased or viewed in supportive roles during the conflict, they were foundational for resistance and survival during the conflict. Building networks and organizing cross-community dialogues (e.g., Mothers of Belfast) became a form of resistance for women, allowing them to bridge the divide in Northern Ireland and contribute to peace. Despite this, they remained excluded from politics. The chapter emphasizes women\u2019s leadership in organizing grassroots peace initiatives, even when denied formal recognition in the peace process.<\/p>\n The Everyday Objects exhibition reflects the idea of everyday spaces being turned into political sites, but on a smaller scale. Displaying objects and their stories shows how these objects became political. It disrupts dominant narratives by offering multiple voices and experiences. Similarly, maternal activism, focused on care for family and future, reflects how women often frame their peace work. This connects directly to projects like Birds of a Feather, which uses craft and community to bridge divides and restore confidence in women excluded from traditional political processes and work across political divides to overcome division and work towards a better future for other generations.<\/p>\n Women\u2019s creative work becomes a form of resistance nurturing solidarity while building economic empowerment. Groups like Women in Politics also provide confidence-building workshops to support women’s political engagement, illustrating Braniff\u2019s call for seeing women as \u201cagents of change.\u201d In addition, the work of organizations to fight for their role in leadership as seen by the groups of women that elected two representatives into the Good Friday Agreement challenges the structural barriers keeping them from power.<\/p>\n The second theme art and everyday items for social activism and memory also played a central role in both lectures. In Chapter 3 of Visual Activism in the 21st Century, titled By a Thread. The space left to activism when fashion deals with the refugee \u2018crisis\u2019 <\/a>\u00a0by Elise Gomis, textile and fashion arts are seen as means of resistance. Gomis explores how clothing becomes a tool for visibility and storytelling, particularly for displaced and oppressed communities.<\/p>\n One example is the use of refugee blanket-inspired garments worn by celebrities at a peace gala, intended to draw attention to displacement of refugees. Textile art, like that of Birds of a Feather, functions similarly: it preserves memory, expresses identity, and fosters healing. The women use textile crafts to connect and reclaim space in post-conflict society, with some selling their work to sustain themselves economically and attain autonomy.<\/p>\n This practice aligns with Miriam Schapiro\u2019s concept of \u201cfemmage<\/a>,\u201d which reclaims undervalued \u201cwomen\u2019s work\u201d (like quilting or sewing) as legitimate art. Femmage challenges the art world\u2019s gender biases, making the personal political. Artworks like Veil and objects in the Everyday Objects exhibit use this framework to tell complex, underrepresented stories.<\/p>\n By turning everyday items like prison doors, trash can lids, and kerbstones into political artifacts, these projects subvert traditional historical narratives. They honor grief, memory, and identity, showing that healing requires more than formal policy; it needs storytelling and recognition of all voices and truths, especially those overlooked in the conflict.<\/p>\n Overall, our morning activities have given us a better sense of the ways gender and art play roles in the peace building processes. From Everyday Objects to Birds of a Feather, women\u2019s stories told through the arts, stories, and memories offer paths towards healings and challenges community division. They show us how we can preserve the past while simultaneously uplifting the hidden or overlooked voices to make progress across communities for the future.<\/p>\n Gomis, E. (2023). By a thread: The space left to activism when fashion deals with the refugee \u201ccrisis\u201d. In E. Gola\u0144ska & I. J. Petersen (Eds.), Visual activism in the 21st century: Art, protest and resistance in an uncertain world (pp. 47\u201363). Palgrave Macmillan. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/978-3-031-33488-7_3<\/a><\/p>\n