PROTEST! Photography, Activism and Social Change in Ireland
Chapter 2 in our In Our Own Image survey of photography practices in Ireland
21 April - 11 June 2022
Peter McKee, Young man after being hit by a rubber bullet, Belfast, 1972
PROTEST! looks at the vital role photography has played in recording and making visible the struggle for equality, diversity and inclusion in Ireland. Over recent decades we have witnessed unprecedented change with systemic inequalities challenged and, in some cases, overcome. This social revolution has encompassed a broad spectrum of local and national issues, from civil rights, political struggle and conflict, women's rights, LGBTQIA+, institutional abuse, social and economic issues, Travellers’ rights, through to international movements for change, including anti-war, climate change, Black Lives Matter and #MeToo.
Outlining a broad range of photographic practices from the late 1960s to the present day, PROTEST! features work by Irish and international photojournalists, social documentary photographers, socially-engaged artists, citizen journalists, and activists together with photographs from leading newspapers and NGOs, many exhibited here for the first time. Dramatic images of conflict shown alongside photographs documenting individual actions and collective protests combine to reflect different vantage points and perspectives, giving an insight into the often protracted nature of resistance. PROTEST! charts the impact of digital technologies on the representation of activism, charting the shift from images made for print media to those produced to function across social media platforms.
Featured artists include Paula Allen, Wally Cassidy, Samuel Casey, Eoin Campbell, Rose Comiskey, Donna DeCesare, Colman Doyle, Tessy Ehiguese, Brian Farrell, Eamonn Farrell, Brenda Fitzsimons, Sean Gilmartin, Tom Grace, Christine Hallsall, Olivia Harris, Jordan Hearns, Conor Horgan, John Kelly, Bill Kirk, Catherine Leroy, Pat Langan, Eric Luke, Stanley Matchett, Sara McCarroll, Peter McKee, Fiona Morgan, Martin Nangle, Joanne O’Brien, Tony O’Shea, Gilles Peress, Frankie Quinn, Christopher Robson, Crispin Rodwell, Pete Smyth, Rosalind Fox Solomon, Christine Spengler, Derek Speirs, Mark Stedman, Donal Talbot, Oscar Torrans, Siele Turner, Dana Tynan, Philip Woods and the staff photographers from The Irish Times and RollingNews.ie.
PROTEST! Curatorial Panel: Brendan Maher, Kate Horgan, Pauline Vermare (independent curator) and Trish Lambe.
With support from Belfast Exposed Gallery, National Library of Ireland and XR.
PROTEST! Guest Curator Spotlight
Pauline Vermare – Independent Curator
Troubles I’ve Seen Ireland, North and South, by women photographers, 1970s-1990s
Pauline’s selection includes the work of seven photographers, presented chronologically: Christine Spengler, Catherine Leroy, Christine Halsall, Paula Allen, Donna DeCesare, Rosalind Fox Solomon, and Dana Tynan. Most of them worked in the North, with the exception of Rosalind Fox Solomon, who also photographed in the South. The photographs have remained largely unseen, and Catherine Leroy’s Irish work is shown here for the very first time.
Presented as part of In Our Own Image: Photography in Ireland, 1839 to the Present - Photo Museum Ireland’s landmark centenary programme that examines how photography has served as a mirror for shifting experiences of what it means to be Irish, charting how the medium has both reflected and shaped Irish cultural identities, from the work of the earliest photographic pioneers up to today acclaimed contemporary artists.
Multi-site exhibitions, events, interactive timeline, online programmes and publications combine to examine how photography has recorded and shaped diverse cultural identities in Ireland. Innovative public art and online programmes invite audiences to contribute to conversations around what it means to be Irish today.
The In Our Own Image one-day conference addressed the role of photography in recording our unfolding histories and in shaping what is remembered, and what histories are omitted. Across three panels, speakers considered the politics of representation that underpin the mediation of photographic images. As we move towards the final years of the Decade of Centenaries commemorations, this conference brought together leading historians, academics, artists, curators and cultural figures from across Ireland, Northern Ireland, Great Britain and the U.S. to reflect on issues of equality, diversity and inclusion and how we might better reflect diverse histories and perspectives. Organised by the Photo Museum Ireland and Creative Centenaries.
Panel discussions were chaired by Tommy Graham (History Ireland), Mark Duncan (Century Ireland) and Paul Mullan (National Lottery Heritage Fund). Contributors included: Feargal Fitzpatrick, photo historian, NCAD, Joy Carey, Digitisation Manager, PRONI, Mark Sealy, curator, cultural historian and Director of Autograph (Association of Black Photographers), William Blair, Director of Collections, National Museums NI, Orla Fitzpatrick, photo historian, Sinead McCoole, historian and Curator of Mná100, Erika Hanna, academic, University of Bristol, Pauline Vermare, independent curator & photo historian, Brian Newman, photographic artist.
