State of the Art: Transformative Memories in Political Violence Multi-Media Exhibition and Installation – With MemoLabs: Performances, Workshops, Artist Talks

Book Your Place

Visitors welcome from Monday-Sunday, 3-23 October, 10am-6pm (16 October 2-6pm). Contact info@smashingtimes.ie

Artists

Mary Moynihan is a writer, poet, theatre and film-maker, and Artistic Director, Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, Ireland. Mary’s work explores stories linked to historical memory in  war and conflict and focuses on the role of the arts to promote equality, diversity,  human rights, gender equality and peace. Mary is Artistic Curator of the annual Dublin International Arts and Human Rights Festival (DAHRF) and is co-curator with Amna Walayat on the State of the Art: Transformative Memories in Political Violence multi-media exhibition.

Amna Walayat, visual artist and curator, Pakistan and Ireland. Co-Curator with Mary Moynihan for State of the Art: Transformative Memories in Political Violence Multi-Media Exhibition and Installation

Hina Khan,  visual artist from Pakistan and Ireland,

Dr Sinead McCann, visual artist working across the mediums of performance, video, installation and sculpture often in a context, site or community specific way.

Erika Diettes (Bogota, Colombia), visual artist and social communicator

Fernanda Barbosa, Photographer and Journalist, Colombia specialising in illustrations on land dispossession and peaceful democracies

Alit Ambara, visual and graphic artist and cultural activist, Indonesia

Jeff Korondo, solo musician, singer, songwriter, Uganda

Women’s Advocacy Network, Uganda with photography by Diana Ajok and the work is represented by Abiya Fatuma and Docus Atyeno, activists from Uganda

Juliane Okot Bitek,  Kenyan-born Ugandan-raised diasporic writer, academic and poet, who lives in Canada

Peter Morin, performance artist, a Tahltan Nation artist, author, curator and professor, British Columbia, Canada

Roberta Bacic, Curator of Conflict Textiles, Northern Ireland and Chile. Conflict Textiles is a large collection of international textiles which focus on elements of conflict and human rights abuses. The Conflict Textile pieces in the exhibition include works from Ana Zlatkes, Argentina, Linda Adams, England, Antonia Amador, Spain, Guadalupe Ccallocunto, Peru ,Sabah Obido, Syria, Irene MacWilliam, Northern Ireland, Roland Agbage, Nigeria,  and Deborah Stockdale, Republic of Ireland, and donations of pieces from relatives of the disappeared in Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

Artists/Speakers in MemoLabs (in addition to above artists):

Sandra Johnston, Northern Ireland, artist working in site-responsive performance and installation

Michael McCabe, actor, choreographer and facilitator with Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, Ireland

Carla Ryan,  singer and performer, with Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, Ireland

Rob Harrington, performer with Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, Ireland

Ciara Hayes, performer

Niamh Sweeney, performer

Hilary Bow, singer and songwriter

Lisa McLoughlin-Gnemmi, violinist

Olive Moore, Deputy Director of Front Line Defenders

Senator Mary Fitzpatrick

Cllr Donna Cooney, Deputy Lord Mayor, Dublin City

Full Event Details

The flagship event for the annual, international Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival 2022 is the State of the Art: Transformative Memories in Political Violence exhibition, a multi-media installation and exhibition displaying a selection of artworks reflecting at both personal and political levels on themes of arts, human rights and transformative memory in political violence impacting on communities across the globe. The exhibition features artworks in a multitude of forms –  film, video, poster art, visual art, photography, poetry, song, textiles, sculpture,  painting, live performance and installation – and can be viewed on site and online.

The State of the Art: Transformative Memories in Political Violence exhibition is hosted at The Chocolate Factory, King’s Inns Street, Dublin 1, and Gallery Space, dlr Mill Theatre Dundrum for the 2022 Arts and Human Rights Festival (14-23 October 2022) presented by Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and Front Line Defenders with a range of partners and supported by The Arts Council. In addition to the onsite exhibition, a selection of work is available online via the Smashing Times Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival gallery. 

The chapter of the exhibition at The Chocolate Factory features the work of artists responding creatively to themes of freedom, remembrance, political violence, transformation, power and control.   The exhibition highlights the role of art in post-conflict transformative work and in transforming memory arising out of political violence, bringing together the work of twenty artists from the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Pakistan, Canada, Uganda, Indonesia, Colombia and Argentina, whose work explores conflict, war and the telling of stories arising out of political violence. The artists’ work is a response to conflict in a range of countries including the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Uganda, Indonesia, Colombia, Argentina, Nigeria, Syria, Chile, Palestine, Peru, Mexico, Spain, Poland and Germany and is also a means through which society can examine historic conflicts, enabling open discussion and exploration to play a part in the healing process, to provoke conversations, questions and an exploration of key issues.

The exhibition is curated by Mary Moynihan and Amna Wayalat and accompanying  by a series of MemoLab activities – talks, workshops and live performances. The chapter of the exhibition hosted at the dlr Mill Theatre gallery features the work of writer and artist Mary Moynihan and visual artist Aman Walayat responding creatively to themes of freedom, change, transformation, power and control. 

State of the Art MemoLabs

The State of the Art: Transformative Memories in Political Violence exhibition and installation is accompanied by an eight-day programme of State of the Art MemoLab activities made up of talks, workshops and performances presented by international artists working with local artists from Ireland and Northern Ireland. The MemoLab talks, workshops and performances are open to the public and take place over three days at the Chocolate Factory, 26 King’s Inns Stree, Dublin 1, on the  14, 15, 16 October and for five days in Northern Ireland on the 17-21 October.  The talks and workshops feature artists and researchers from Ireland, Northern Ireland and around the world talking about their art based methodologies and creative artworks and how the arts can be used to transform society in the wake of political violence.

The MemoLab programme of work in Dublin is presented as part of the State of the Art Artist Development programme and the annual networking day for the Arts and Human Rights European Network attended by artists, citizens, communities and human rights organisations, supporting artists to engage in artistic practice promoting equality, human rights and diversity. The MemoLab programme of work in Northern Ireland is facilitated by Ulster University and Healing Through Remembering (HTR), and includes sessions with Conflict Textiles, the Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and National Museums NI on their new “Troubles and Beyond” exhibit at the Ulster Museum.

Key Questions:

What is the role of the arts in promoting transformative remembrance arising out of political violence and in remembering responsibility for mass and state sponsored violence and how can art arising out of political violence be transformative?

How does remembering responsibility in a creative way, shape present and future relations and ways of being together in land, community, country and global politics?

What are the processes of art from the ground up in making impactful activism using culture, creativity and memory?

Political violence impacts on communities and lives across the globe. It is a multi-faceted issue, and can take many different forms. Certain specific conflicts are addressed in this exhibition, while other pieces interrogate the emotions that such violence produces. The exhibition comprises of artworks across all forms reflecting on the role of the arts in highlighting the issue of political violence, and the ways in which the arts can help people to reflect and move forward in its wake. These artists offer insights into conflicts and post-war communities across the world through their evocative and poignant work.

The Artists for the State of the Art: Transformative Memories in Political Violence Exhibition and MemoLabs are:

Mary Moynihan is a writer, poet, theatre and film-maker, and Artistic Director, Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, Ireland. Mary’s work explores stories linked to historical memory in  war and conflict and focus on the role of the arts to promote equality and human rights. Mary is co-curator with Amna Walayat on the State of the Art: Transformative Memories in Political Violence multi-media exhibition for the 2022 Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival and is Artistic Curator of the Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival (DAHRF).

Amna Walayat, visual artist and curator, Pakistan and Ireland, specialising in Pakistani miniature painting. Her work explores a range of themes including violence against women and feminism. Amna is co-curator with Mary Moynihan on the State of the Art: Transformative Memories in Political Violence exhibition for the 2022 Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival. https://www.westcorkartscentre.com/amna-walayat

Hina Khan is a visual artist from Pakistan and Ireland,  specialising in Pakistani miniature painting. Her work explores themes of migration, racism and human rights. https://visualartists.ie/arts-directory/directory-of-members-_/#!biz/id/5d39abdbf033bfab33f21b4c

Dr Sinead McCann is a Dublin based visual artist working across the mediums of performance, video, installation and sculpture often in a context, site or community specific way.

Erika Diettes (Bogota, Colombia) is a visual artist and social communicator who graduated from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and has a master’s degree in Anthropology from the Universidad de los Andes.  Erika’s work focuses on victims of violence. One of Erika’s focuses is her outstanding work with victims of the Colombian armed conflict, an exhaustive work that has been recognized and supported by each of the mourners and victims, who have contributed for her images not only their stories but the objects and crucial references in her creations. She is known internationally thanks to the different places she has taken her exhibitions and the awards she has received. https://www.erikadiettes.com/

Fernanda Barbosa, Photographer and Journalist, Colombia specialising in illustrations on land dispossession and peaceful democracies. https://www.musicinafrica.net/directory/jeff-korondo

Alit Ambara is a visual and graphic artist and cultural activist from Indonesia, specialising in poster art. He has engaged in various movements for upholding human rights and social justice in Indonesia and Timor Leste since the early 1990s creating posters to respond to social-political issues. He is the founder of Nobodycorp Internationale Unlimited, an initiative to encourage serious discourse about social or socio-political issues through its posters and under this label, he regularly disseminates political messages in thousands of images through various social media channels. https://indoartnow.com/artists/alit-ambara

Jeff Korondo is a solo musician, singer and songwriter from Uganda, whose work promotes a range of human rights issues including children’s rights and peaceful democracies.

Women’s Advocacy Network, Uganda:   Artworks are on display from the  Women’s Advocacy Network, Uganda with photography by Diana Ajok and the work is represented by Abiya Fatuma and Docus Atyeno, activists from Uganda, who present on the Bead Project, on Ugandan textiles and on the Women’s Advocacy Network. The Women’s Advocacy Network (WAN) is an association of women working for a better future after a long war in northern Uganda.  The women were abducted as schoolgirls by the Lord’s Resistance Army, (LRA) who fought the Government of Uganda between 1987-2008 and forced into so-called marriages with rebel commanders with whom they bore children.  On return, the women organized to support each other, share their stories, and encourage each other, telling their stories as survivors of conflict related sexual violence so that others with know exactly what happened. WAN has collaborated to tell their stories for more than a decade with the Transformative Memory International Network members Erin Baines (University of British Columbia) and poet Juliane Okot Bitek (Queen’s University) through life history books, publications, poetry and art.

Roberta Bacic, Curator of Conflict Textiles, Northern Ireland and Chile. https://www.beyondskin.net/roberta-bacic-dancing-together Conflict Textiles is a large collection of international textiles which focus on elements of conflict and human rights abuses.The Conflict Textile pieces in the exhibition include works from Ana Zlatkes, Argentina, Linda Adams, England, Antonia Amador, Spain, Guadalupe Ccallocunto, Peru ,Sabah Obido, Syria, Irene MacWilliam, Northern Ireland, Roland Agbage, Nigeria,  and Deborah Stockdale, Republic of Ireland, and donations of pieces from relatives of the disappeared in Chile, Colombia and Mexico.

Sandra Johnston, Northern Ireland, artist working in site-responsive performance and installation, often exploring the aftermath of trauma through developing acts of commemoration as forms of testimony and empathetic encounter. https://imma.ie/artists/sandra-johnston/

Michael McCabe is an actor, choreographer and facilitator with Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, Ireland

Carla Ryan is a singer and actor with Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, Ireland

Rob Harrington, Performer with Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, Ireland

Producing Team

Freda Manweiler is Company Manager and Producer for Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality

Ciara Hayes is Festival Producer for Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality

Professor Brandon Hamber, John Hume and Thomas P. O’Neill Chair in Peace, International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE), Transitional Justice Institute (TJI), Ulster University, Northern Ireland

Dr Pilar Riaño-Alcalá, Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, UBC (Anthropology),  The University of British Columbia.

Dr Erin Baines, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, UBC (Political Science), The University of British Columbia.

Dr Paolo Vignolo, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, (History), The University of British Columbia.

Nila Utami, Transformative Memory Network Coordinator, PhD Researcher, Canada

Cate Turner, Study Visit Coordinator, Executive Director, Healing Through Remembering, Northern Ireland

Partners

Ulster University

Conflict Textiles

Healing Through Remembering

Justice and Reconciliation Project, Uganda

University of British Columbia

National Museums NI, Northern Ireland

Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality

The Transformative Memory International Network

The Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights Network

PhD Organizing Group for the Transformative Memory International Network

Ketty Anyeko, Uganda. Ph.D. candidate, ISGP, University of British Columbia

Fernanda Barbosa dos Santos, Colombia. Ph.D. candidate, University of British Columbia

Alejandra Gaviria-Serna, Colombia. Ph.D. student, GRSJ, University of British Columbia

Nila Utami, Indonesia. Ph.D. candidate, History, University of British Columbia

Aaron Weah, Liberia, Ph.D researcher, Law, Ulster University

Paula Surgenor, Northern Ireland, Ph.D candidate, Anthropology, Ulster University

The Artists

The artists in the exhibition are Mary Moynihan, Writer, Theatre and Film-Maker, Artistic Director, Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, Ireland; Amna Walayat, visual artist and curator, Pakistan and Ireland; Hina Khan, visual artist, Pakistan and Ireland; Sinead McCann, Visual Artist, Ireland; Erika Diettes, visual artist and social communicator, Colombia;  Fernanda Barbosa, Visual Art, Photographer, Colombia; Alit Ambara, visual and graphic artist and cultural activist, Indonesia; Jeff Korondo, solo musician, Uganda; Juliane Okot Bitek, Poet, Canada; Peter Morin, performance artist, a Tahltan Nation artist, author, curator and professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design, born in British Columbia, Canada and identifying as a member of the Crow Clan;   Roberta Bacic, Curator of Conflict Textiles, Northern Ireland and Chile. The Conflict Textile pieces in the exhibition include works from Ana Zlatkes, Argentina, Linda Adams, England, Antonia Amador, Spain, Guadalupe Ccallocunto, Peru ,Sabah Obido, Syria, Irene MacWilliam, Northern Ireland, Roland Agbage, Nigeria,  and Deborah Stockdale, Republic of Ireland, and donations of pieces from relatives of the disappeared in Chile, Colombia and Mexico. Artworks are on display from the  Women’s Advocacy Network, Uganda with photography by Diana Ajok and the work is represented by Abiya Fatuma and Docus Atyeno, activists from Uganda, who present on the Bead Project, on Ugandan textiles and on the Women’s Advocacy Network.

Smashing Times State of the Art: The Nation State as both Violator and Protector of Human Rights – Artist Development Programme for the Arts and Human Rights, Supported by the Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights Network and Resource and Advice Service

Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality runs an annual  Arts and Human Rights Artist Development programme called State of the Art; The Nation State as both Violator and Protector of human rights and is part of a programme of work supporting artists who are dedicating to use their art to promote equality, human rights and diversity. The programme features performances, exhibitions, workshops, talks, mentoring and peer learning.  The programme is supported by the Smashing Times Resource and Advice Service (currently in development by Smashing Times) and the Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights network which is open to all artists, activists, citizens,  communities, human rights organisations and the general public to join.

The programme is  made up of three components. The first component is an Arts and Human Rights Artist Development programme bringing together artists through six exchanges and ongoing collaboration and research, who are dedicated to using their artforms to promote equality, human rights and diversity.

The second component is the creation of  new productions and exhibitions  to be presented for the annual Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival. For the 2022 Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival the company created State of the Art: Transformative Memories in Political Violence Multi-Media Installation and Exhibition on display at the Chocolate Factory, Dublin 1,  and at the dlr Mill Theatre Gallery, Dundrum, with MemoLabs consisting of Performances, Workshops and Artist Talks.

The State of the Art: Transformative Memories in Political Violence multi-media exhibition is hosted at The Chocolate Factory, King’s Inns Street, Dublin 1, and Gallery Space, dlr Mill Theatre Dundrum for the 2022 Arts and Human Rights Festival (14-23 October 2022) presented by Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and Front Line Defenders with a range of partners and supported by The Arts Council. The exhibition displays artworks reflecting at both personal and political levels on themes of arts, human rights and transformative memory in political violence impacting on communities across the globe and  features artworks in a multitude of forms –  film, video, poster art, visual art, photography, poetry, song, textiles, sculpture,  painting, live performance and installation, with artworks by artists from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Colombia, Indonesia, Uganda, Canada,  Chile and Argentina. The Co-Curators are Mary Moynihan and Amna Walayat. Artists include Hina Khan, visual artist, Pakistan and Ireland; Sinead McCann, Visual Artist, Ireland; Erika Diettes, visual artist and social communicator, Colombia;  Fernanda Barbosa, Visual Art, Photographer, Colombia; Alit Ambara, visual and graphic artist and cultural activist, Indonesia; Jeff Korondo, solo musician, Uganda; Juliane Okot Bitek, Poet, Canada; Peter Morin, performance artist, a Tahltan Nation artist, author, curator and professor;  Roberta Bacic, Curator of Conflict Textiles, Northern Ireland and Chile and artists and members of the Women’s Advocacy Network, Uganda. In addition to the onsite exhibition, a selection of work is available online via the Smashing Times Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival gallery.   

The exhibition is accompanied by MemoLabs, a series of talks, workshops and performances held as public events from the 14-16 October 2022, Dublin and 17-21 October, Belfast, as part of State of the Art: Transformative Memories in Political Violence Multi-Media Installation and Exhibition in the 2022 Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival. MemoLabs bring together artists, activists, community members and the public to explore the arts and themes of equality, human rights and Transformative Memories in Political Violence.

A chapter of the Transformative Memories was created and ran at the dlr Mill Theatre Gallery in Dundrum.  The State of the Art: Transformative Memories in Political Violence Visual Art, Photography and Poetry Exhibition at the dlr Mill Theatre Gallery features the work of writer and artist Mary Moynihan and visual artist Amna Walayat responding creatively to themes of freedom, change, transformation, power and control.  The exhibition runs from the 20 September to the 29 October 2022.

The third component of State of the Art is the holding of an annual Arts and Human Rights networking day held as part of the European Arts and Human Rights network which aims to bring together artists, citizens, communities, human rights organisations and the general public and is open to all those interested in using the arts to promote equality, human rights and diversity.  The annual networking day for 2022 consists of the Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival launch and the four MemoLab events held at the Chocolate Factory, Dublin for the Transformative Memories in Political Violence exhibition.

Networks

Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights Network

The Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights Network is open to all, artists and activists, organisations and individuals, who believe in using the arts to promote equality, diversity and human rights for all. The Network offers opportunities to meet, discuss and explore human rights, human rights defenders, and the artists who use their work to stand up and speak out for the rights of others. The Network is free to join, and includes information and resources emailed throughout the year. Join now: https://smashingtimes.ie/signupform/

Transformative Memory Network

Established in 2019 following nearly a decade of informal exchange and research collaboration between partners, the Transformative Memory International Network is a collective of scholars, artists, social movement leaders, community-based organisations and policymakers, engaged with the question of what makes memory transformative of legacies of violence, our sense of self and responsibilities to others. Network members are from Colombia, Uganda, Indonesia, Canada and Northern Ireland. Our lines of inquiry and methodology build on knowledge exchange amongst Network members and partners around key questions: How do we remember responsibility for mass and state-sponsored violence? What do we learn from the strategies of powerful actors to deny responsibility? How does remembering responsibility shape present and future relations and ways of being together in land, community, country, and global politics?

Organisations Involved / Partner Organisation(s):

The exhibition and accompanying MemoLab talks, workshops and performances are presented in partnership with Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, Ulster University, University of British Columbia, the Transformative Memory International Network, the Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights Network, Healing Through Remembering, Conflict Textiles, Justice and Reconciliation Project, Uganda and National Museums NI.

Venue Information: