Screenings of Two Indonesian Films

The lastest screenings "Screening Violence" project took place in Dungannon on 16 January 2020, with the support of the Dungannon Film Club, showing two Indonesian films followed by a discussion with participants. The films were Sowan (The Visit) which documents the friendship of two young women, Mien and Murti, who end up on different sides of the political troubles of the mid-1960s. The second film Provocator Damai (Peace Provocateur) is short documentary charts the experiences of Christians and Muslims residing with families of the opposite faith. The second film, in particular, raised an important discussion about the impact of cross-community work in Northern Ireland, with a range of divergent views.

Scene from The Visit (Sowan)

The AHRC Project "Screening Violence: A Transnational Study of Post-Conflict Imaginaries" is undertaken with partners in Newcastle and Bristol University, and works with co-investigators and partners in Algeria, Argentina, Colombia, Northern Ireland and Indonesia.

Screening Violence: Argentinian Films

The lastest screenings of the Screening Violence Project took place in Dungannon on 7 November 2019, with the support of the Dungannon Film Club, showing two Argentinian films followed by a discussion with participants.

The films shown were "Padre/Father" (Director Santiago Bou Grasso), a short stop motion animation piece that portrays the day-to-day life of a woman who looks after her bedridden military father. The second film was "Who am I?/Quién soy yo?"(Director Estela Bravo), a documentary about the stolen babies of the 1976-83 military dictatorship in Argentina who have recovered their true identity. Needless to say, the films provoked an interesting discussion.

The Argentinian animation can see below, and if you further questions on the project or want to participate contact me.

PADRE from opusBou on Vimeo.

The Chair has continued work on AHRC Project "Screening Violence: A Transnational Study of Post-Conflict Imaginaries" with partners in Newcastle and Bristol University, and works with co-investigators and partners in Algeria, Argentina, Colombia, Northern Ireland and Indonesia.

Exodus at New Gate Fringe Festival

The "Screening Violence" project partnered with the New Gate Fringe Festival in Derry/Londonderry, which included a screening of the film "Exodus" and focus group discussion after on 31 July 2018. A panel discussing the movement of Protestants from the City side of Derry was then undertaken and filmed in the evening including panelists Gregory Campbell, Eamon McCann, Pauline Gardiner, Niall Gilmartin, and Adrian Grant.

Panelists Gregory Campbell, Eamon McCann, Pauline Gardiner
Niall Gilmartin, and Adrian Grant

This event was part of the AHRC Project "Screening Violence: A Transnational Study of Post-Conflict Imaginaries" with partners in Newcastle and Bristol University, and works with co-investigators and partners in Algeria, Argentina, Colombia, Northern Ireland and Indonesia.

"Falsos Positivos" Second Screening

I have been continuing work on AHRC Project "Screening Violence: A Transnational Study of Post-Conflict Imaginaries" with partners in Newcastle and Bristol Universities, and works with co-investigators and partners in Algeria, Argentina, Colombia, Northern Ireland and Indonesia. Further data collection was undertaken in the summer, including the screening of the Colombian film "Falsos Positivos" in partnership with the Dungannon Film Club and a focus group following the film to engage the "social imagination of violence" on 14 June 2018. Film trailer below.

Screening Violence: "Falsos Positivos" in Northern Ireland

The field work from the AHRC Project "Screening Violence: A Transnational Study of Post-Conflict Imaginaries" with partners in Newcastle and Bristol Universities, and works with co-investigators and partners in Algeria, Argentina, Colombia, Northern Ireland and Indonesia began this month. Data collection was undertaken in partnership with the Nerve Centre which included the screening of the Colombian film "Falsos Positivos" (see details). A focus group discussion took place following the film to engage the "social imagination of violence".

Historical Urbanism Project

Historical Urbanism is an AHRC-funded interdisciplinary research project that aims to understand how urban design influenced by historical and heritage data can be used to address issues such as ethnic/religious/class segregation in cities, as well as contributing to environmental sustainability and better public health. The project team is made up of academic researchers from Ulster University with interests in history, policy, architecture and design, planning, psychology, and peace and conflict studies. They are joined by project partners in local government departments of planning, regeneration and the environment; partners in the museums and heritage sector, and creative social entrepreneurs who provide digital fabrication skills to people living in an area of high unemployment and low educational attainment.

1970s public housing development in the
Fountain estate in Derry-Londonderry
Photo: Dr Adrian Grant

The project begins from the premise that good urban design should be cognisant of the needs of the people who live in, and use, the space in question. Therefore, urban design and regeneration projects should build from and be respectful of emotional connections to space and place formation. We intend to explore these connections through a historical prism by focusing on emotional memory and the connections people feel to the spaces in which they have lived, worked and socialised throughout their lives. The resultant research data will then be used to facilitate collaborative work between the researchers, case study area residents, local stakeholders, and planners, designers and architects.

The research team are Adrian Grant (Principal Investigator), David Coyles (Co-Investigator) and Brandon Hamber (Co-Investigator). Working closely with Derry City and Strabane District Council and the The Nerve Centre. The project runs from January 2019 — January 2021.

See all posts related to the Historical Urbanism Project.

Screening Violence Project

I am delighted to be part of the Screening Violence Project. Screening Violence is a four-year research and documentary filmmaking project sponsored by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The project is based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Bristol and Ulster University, and works with co-investigators and partners in Algeria, Argentina, Colombia and Indonesia. Screening Violence is an innovative engagement with communities that have experienced prolonged and entrenched violence of different kinds: from guerrilla warfare, to state sponsored persecution of particular groups, to mass murder, to sectarian conflict. It aims to achieve a new understanding of how social imaginaries shape civil conflicts and transitions to peace. This project recognises visual culture as a key imaginary space where meaning is made about conflict and violence. We therefore engage with communities that have experienced violence through the medium of cinema and documentary film.

For more detail on the project visit the website.

To see all the posts related to this project and ongoing activities, click here.

Cartographies of Conflict: Belfast, 1969-1994

All Cartographies of Conflict project posts.

I am part of a new project called "Cartographies of Conflict: Belfast, 1969-1994". The project, funded by the AHRC and running from May 2015 for three years, assesses the impact that the Troubles had on the architecture of Belfast’s residential communities. There are many visible architectural remnants of the Troubles in Belfast, most notably the ‘peace-walls’ between a number of Protestant and Catholic communities. However, looking beyond the immediately visible we can see examples of divisive architecture within individual communities in Belfast. Housing developments, roads, landscaping and other structures completed during the period of the Troubles continue to divide and fragment communities. For example, streets that once provided pedestrian and vehicular access to services were closed off or restricted through the erection of barriers, landscaping or the placement of new housing. Many of the open terraced streets that formed the fabric of the inner city were redeveloped in the form of inward looking cul-de-sacs. These changes to the architecture of Belfast have changed the city’s appearance and have had an impact on how people move around their immediate areas.

The main aims of the project:

• Identify the relevant architecture throughout the city.
• Engage communities to attain detailed information on how people interact with this architecture.
• Use the research and engagement to inform policy discussions nationally and internationally.

The project consists of a city-wide study of Belfast’s relevant Troubles era architecture in order to gauge the extent and impact of the changes to the built environment that occurred in the period, and that continue to have an impact on the daily lives of the people who live in the areas. Firstly, the relevant architecture was identified through research and consultation with the local communities in six case study areas. These residents were engaged in order to find out what people actually think about this ‘divisive architecture’ (or what we now call "hidden barriers") and how it affects their daily lives, if at all. The research will then be used to help inform policy discussions relevant to the areas and the issues they face. Finally, the lessons for other communities nationally and internationally are being considered from the research and engagement carried out as part of this project.

Project Team: David Coyles (PI), Donovan Wylie (CI), Brandon Hamber (CI), Greg Lloyd (CI) and partners at the London School of Economics (LSE, Ann Power), as well as researchers Adrian Grant (Ulster) and Laura Lane (LSE).

See all the posts and activities about Cartographies of Conflict project.