In Northern Ireland: the Irish Linen Memorial 2001-2005 Lycia Danielle Trouton University of Wollongong
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University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2005 An intimate monument (re)-narrating 'the troubles' in Northern Ireland: the Irish Linen Memorial 2001-2005 Lycia Danielle Trouton University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Trouton, Lycia D, An intimate monument (re)-narrating 'the troubles' in Northern Ireland: the Irish Linen Memorial 2001-2005, DCA thesis, Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong, 2005. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/779 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] An Intimate Monument An Intimate Monument (re)‐narrating ‘the troubles’ in Northern Ireland: The Irish Linen Memorial 2001 – 2005 A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree Doctor of Creative Arts University of Wollongong Lycia Danielle Trouton 1991 Master of Fine Arts (Sculpture), Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA 1988 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) (Sculpture), Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA 1997 Licentiate Teacher’s Diploma (Speech and Drama) Trinity College London 1985 Associate Teacher’s Diploma (Speech and Drama) Trinity College London The Faculty of Creative Arts 2005 ii Certification I, Lycia Danielle Trouton, declare that this thesis, submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Creative Arts, in the Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Lycia Danielle Trouton Date ________________ iii Figure 1: Australian Indigenous artist Yvonne Koolmatrie (left) with Diana Wood Conroy, 2002 Adelaide Festival of the Arts, South Australia. Woven Together The wider political fabric is composed of like and unlike groups of people woven together. The comedy of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata had analysed the various parts of the carding, spinning and weaving of wool as a way of resolving bitter conflict. In all the struggles for political control in the Hellenistic and early Roman period weaving could still be a ‘sign’ that demonstrated the bringing together of dissimilar elements – warp and weft… (1999:126) From ‘Oblivion and Metamorphosis: Australian Weavers in Relation to Ancient Artefacts from Cyprus’ By Diana Wood Conroy, Reinventing Textiles Vol.1: Tradition and Innovation (ed. Sue Rowley) iv Care Care is the thread that weaves through the disjunctures of a divided society (1998:55). From ‘Identity, Location, Plurality; Women, Nationalism and Northern Ireland’ By Elisabeth Porter, Women, Ethnicity and Nationalism: The Politics of Transition (ed.s Rick Wilford and Robert L. Miller) v Figure 2: First exhibition of The Irish Memorial: Between Worlds – The Common Body, September 7, 2001, USA. Thanks to The Canada Council for the Arts, 2001, & The Canadian High Commission, Canberra, ACT, 2004. vi Dedication To my first Fine Arts teachers who encouraged me to pursue my ‘calling’ at a young age – Carolyn Kramer, Painter Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, California, USA BS(Art Ed) Kent State University, Ohio, USA Gay Wisdom (nee Scrivener), Actress In memory 1914‐2000 The Old Vic Theatre School, London, UK Hon. FTCL, FTCL, LTCL (Honorary Fellow, Fellow, Licentiate) Trinity College London, UK and To my relatives and friends in Northern Ireland who live with trauma. vii Time The side bar of this book lists all the names of those killed, following the updated 2001 publication of Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children who died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles by David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney and Chris Thornton. The time code, which also substitutes as a page number, represents the time it takes to read aloud one column of names per page. For assistance with the design and technical requirements of this document, my thanks go to: Stan Gielewski, BSc (Eng) of Cre8rix Tiffany Patten BI Arch (Hons.) Steve Perrett, PhD (Psych.) and computer coach Wes Wickham, MCA of No Logo Design Co. viii Figure 3: Map of Ireland and Northern Ireland ix TABLE of CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................................................................................................xiii Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Background to my concept development of The ILM..................................................................................................................................................3 The Creative Project.....................................................................................................................................................................................................4 Chapter 1 My Creative Project: The Irish Linen Memorial........................................................................................................................................8 Descriptive Details.....................................................................................................................................................................................................19 Details of technical processes and international collaboration...................................................................................................................................20 Interdisciplinary collaborative work with The ILM (see accompanying booklet, DVD) ...........................................................................................21 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................................................................21 Endnotes.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................24 Chapter 2 Northern Ireland Context: A brief overview of the troubles, 1968 – 98: feminist (re)imaginings of political communities in Northern Ireland...........................................................................................................................................................................................................31 Introduction................................................................................................................................................................................................................32 Northern Ireland (N.I) Context ..................................................................................................................................................................................33 Northern Ireland Contemporary Ethnography ...........................................................................................................................................................36 The Construction of Violence and a Feminist Cartography of the Dead ...................................................................................................................37 Nationalism................................................................................................................................................................................................................39 Feminism and Nationalism ........................................................................................................................................................................................40 The ILM as a feminist cultural project utilizing ‘soft’ power.....................................................................................................................................42 Brief Artist Case Study: Kathy Pendergrast and the Cartography of Loss.................................................................................................................43 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................................................................45 Endnotes.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................46 Chapter 3 Material Culture Context: Irish Linen, a cultural history of a memorial fabric ..................................................................................50 Linen and Flax in Northern Ireland............................................................................................................................................................................54 The poetics of linen....................................................................................................................................................................................................64 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................................................................72