We started the day off by going to the Ulster Museum, which is in the Botanic Gardens we went to yesterday. First, we moved together as a group to look at The Troubles and the artworks of it. When I took the class, which was more than a year ago, I seemed to understand lots of information, but as time went by without revisiting my memories about Ireland, I forgot a lot of them and I have some vague memories of some of the information. The Trouble museum was a good way to remind myself of the important contexts and it actually helped me grasp a better understanding of what was going on. I set in front of a computer that was there that played some interviews with people who went through the events. One of the interviews I heard was about a woman who at the age of 27 as a Armagh Prison Officer got injured from a bomb in 1979 and through the rest of her life, she has to be on a wheelchair and she still has pain. Another interview talks about a mother who on St. Valentine's day in 1973 got shot in the thigh while pregnant. Luckily, her babies were okay, but even till today, she said that she gets scared to drive near soldiers due to the trauma.
Next, we as a group went to an art gallery, Art of the Troubles, which were artworks done by artists who were inspired to produce what we saw today by the event, The Troubles. There were two artworks that I wanted to take some notes of. The first one is an artwork named "Strata” done by Tom Bevan. Taking pictures weren't allowed so I don't have their artworks sadly. This art done by Tom got to me real fast the moment I saw it because it was done in a way that it was very easy to identify what he was trying to tell through his work. The top half of his art has four people eating dinner together on a table which looked like a very comfortable environment. The bottom half had drawings of skeletons and dead people, and his description said that one of the people eating dinner was him. This shows how some people were not even caring what was happening around them. This was so powerful that I could feel the indifference from the drawing.
The second artwork that fascinated me was an art done by Brendan Ellis, "A year in the Black Taxis." There were 12 images of people in the back seat of the taxi. In all 12 images, the only things that were different were the people and their clothes, but everything else was the same. The intention of this artwork was to show that there were people who were indifferent and I guess distant from the horrible events that were happening around them, or maybe they are purposefully turning a blind eye. The description said something along the line: normal life despite of riots and general civil disorder. This made me think that even though a lot of things have changed today, such as technologies and how things function, how people ignore and are indifferent about things they don't want to care about stays the same even till these days, which is really sad to think about...
I learned that Black taxis were used as an alternative to public transport in many parts in Belfast where buses were liable to be hijacked and burned – perhaps that's why we don't see many buses in Belfast even today?
One new phrase I learned today that I have never heard of before from the museum was Shankill Butchers. They are loyalist gangs who were responsible for 23 deaths mostly in Sectarian attacks. Shankill is one of the major Sectarian neighborhoods. The images of knives that were used by the gangs scared me a lot—they were not just regular small knives, but as the name says, they were big scary butcher knives that you would use for meats. This whole experience hit me harder because I was able to see the artworks and their emotions through them.
Next, we as a group went to an art gallery, Art of the Troubles, which were artworks done by artists who were inspired to produce what we saw today by the event, The Troubles. There were two artworks that I wanted to take some notes of. The first one is an artwork named "Strata” done by Tom Bevan. Taking pictures weren't allowed so I don't have their artworks sadly. This art done by Tom got to me real fast the moment I saw it because it was done in a way that it was very easy to identify what he was trying to tell through his work. The top half of his art has four people eating dinner together on a table which looked like a very comfortable environment. The bottom half had drawings of skeletons and dead people, and his description said that one of the people eating dinner was him. This shows how some people were not even caring what was happening around them. This was so powerful that I could feel the indifference from the drawing.
The second artwork that fascinated me was an art done by Brendan Ellis, "A year in the Black Taxis." There were 12 images of people in the back seat of the taxi. In all 12 images, the only things that were different were the people and their clothes, but everything else was the same. The intention of this artwork was to show that there were people who were indifferent and I guess distant from the horrible events that were happening around them, or maybe they are purposefully turning a blind eye. The description said something along the line: normal life despite of riots and general civil disorder. This made me think that even though a lot of things have changed today, such as technologies and how things function, how people ignore and are indifferent about things they don't want to care about stays the same even till these days, which is really sad to think about...
I learned that Black taxis were used as an alternative to public transport in many parts in Belfast where buses were liable to be hijacked and burned – perhaps that's why we don't see many buses in Belfast even today?
One new phrase I learned today that I have never heard of before from the museum was Shankill Butchers. They are loyalist gangs who were responsible for 23 deaths mostly in Sectarian attacks. Shankill is one of the major Sectarian neighborhoods. The images of knives that were used by the gangs scared me a lot—they were not just regular small knives, but as the name says, they were big scary butcher knives that you would use for meats. This whole experience hit me harder because I was able to see the artworks and their emotions through them.