16th January 2008
‘Every Picture Tells A Story’ @ the Leitrim Design House & the Dock
Every Picture Tells A Story, (or EPTAS for short), is an exciting and innovative art exhibition from the WAVE Trauma Centre, detailing the experiences of children and young people that have been affected by the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland. In this article, Youth Worker Alan McBride describes the thinking behind the exhibition and recounts some of the stories of those that got involved.
‘The WAVE Trauma Centre was set up in 1991 to help victims and survivors of the violence to deal with the resulting trauma. We now have 5 centres throughout the North providing a range of services to groups and individuals, for example, psychotherapy, welfare support, complimentary therapy, youth work and much else. A key aspect of the work involves the use of story telling through creative means - by ’story telling’ I don’t mean the fictional ‘once upon a time’ kind, but rather peoples personal narrative of types of experience they have been through as a result of the “Troubles”. One such project is the EPTAS book and exhibition. - Initially launched at the Ormeau Baths Gallery in Belfast during the autumn of 2003, EPTAS brings together 8 creative storytelling processes under one roof. In total around 70 children and young people took part, with stories highlighting issues such as, murder, loss, intimidation, punishment beatings and the witnessing of violent acts, amongst others. The types of artwork used are also varied, from work with ceramic, to paint and wooden sculpture.
At the outset the aim was not to showcase the work but rather to confine its use to that of a therapeutic process, of benefit only to the individual concerned. But as time moved on it became apparent that so much quality stuff was being generated, that there might be some value in letting wider society view it, if for no other reason than that it would send out a very powerful message that the types of experience detailed by the children, should never be tolerated in a democratic society. Experiences, for example, like Gavin’s, (aged 8 ) who got involved in Jigsaw, (one of the exhibits on display), Gavin’s father was shot dead when he was 3 years old - his artwork describes the funeral, and he explains, “I remember the big iron gates and the men carrying my daddy. I remember the church and the priest and them putting my daddy into the ground”.
Another one of the exhibits centres on a group of children that were all burned out of their homes during sectarian attacks. Each member of the group used a large canvas to portray how they felt - Barry, (aged 11) describes the night his house was attacked, “our windows came in next, so we had to move out…after us there was loads more…I don’t know why they wanted us out”, David, (aged 7) adds, “bad people burned us out of the estate…I had to leave my friends and all…I can’t remember their names now”.
Sometimes in the midst of the process the children would say something, which in actual fact was quite funny, but it also reinforced the sense of sadness felt. For example, Zoe, (aged 8), who lost her mother in a bomb when she was 2, describes how she remembers her ‘mummy’, “In the picture she is wearing a dress and she has brown curly hair, although she has straight hair in this picture because I don’t know how to draw curly hair”. Or Ciara, (aged 7 ), whose father was shot dead when she was 5 - Caira’s picture was of her daddy working in the garden, she says, “I remember daddy with dark hair, which was like black and brown…I like drawing but not as much as singing”.Several of the projects highlighted issues in addition to telling the personal narrative - for example, Saoirse who participated in the ‘Tunnel’ Project, (not currently on tour), talks about ‘forgiveness’ - “I can’t deal with things like hatred or forgiveness - who should I hate or who should I forgive, no one was caught for my daddies murder”. Or Paddy, who took part in the ‘Childs play Project’ - Paddy highlights the issue of paramilitarism in Northern Ireland, “paramilitaries suck you in by getting you to do small jobs, like putting somebody’s windows in - next time its something a wee bit more, like giving someone a beating, before you know it, your in too deep and can’t get out.
Some of the artwork on display in EPTAS is of a very high standard, however the strength of the project lies not in its ability to stand alone as a piece of art, but rather has more to do with the particular journey each young person was on to arrive at their final piece. In some cases that journey took 3 years to complete and involved the use of support, both from the youth worker and artist that were assigned to each project - psycho therapeutic support was also available for those children and young people that required it. In addition to this and perhaps more importantly, support was given from within the group amongst their peers. All groups were set up on a cross community basis - WAVE prides itself in being able to work in this way, whilst from time to time it does throw up certain tensions, it also demonstrates that no one side of the community in Northern Ireland has a monopoly on pain and suffering. This type of engagement is essential Northern Ireland is to truly emerge from generations of protracted conflict.
I would like to thank Leitrim Design House for grasping the vision in bringing EPTAS to the ‘Dock’, and I would like to encourage as many as possible to come and see the exhibition. One of the fears that the children and young people had in putting their experiences into the public domain was that no one would come and see it. EPTAS has travelled around Ireland since its launch in November 2003. It has appeared in numerous festivals and public buildings. This is the first time in County Leitrim and is appearing there by invitation of the Leitrim Design House at the Dock in Carrick on Shannon. When I was first contacted by the Design House I was very excited, namely because this was a new part of Ireland for the exhibition to visit - with its location close to the border with Fermanagh, who of itself witnessed some of the violence, it seemed like an ideal location.
When I first visited the exhibition I was greatly impressed - it was professionally hung and showed the artwork in all of its glory - I recall remarking to the workers Anna-Marie and Geraldine, that it was the best it has looked since the initial launch at the Ormeau Baths in Belfast.I was there to give a workshop in relation to the exhibition - I have to say I was rather nervous at the start as it appeared that not many people had turned up - this was to prove unfounded as over 30 people showed, (apparently they were working in Leitrim time). The workshop was broken into 2 parts, first of all I wanted to contextualise the work and my own involvement with it. I explained how I my self had suffered the loss of my wife in a bomb and how it was that the ability to share that story had helped me to move on. The second part began with a small introduction, via DVD into the work of WAVE, and concluded with a walking tour of the exhibition. As with all of these things, there simply wasn’t enough time, however I think most people that attended got to hear more about the conflict in the North, and especially the experiences of the children and young people. I would like to thank Leitrim Design House for their vision in bringing the exhibition down and to congratulate them for the success of the launch.
Alan Mc Bride
Manager of The WAVE Centre Belfast
The Tunnel is a 20ft wooden sculpture on the theme of Human Rights, currently at the WAVE Trauma Centre in Belfast. Childs play is a 16ft wooden jigsaw highlighting the issue of child soldiers.
