Fifteen years after the atrocity and original project, Carole went back to Omagh with journalist Malachi O’Doherty and engaged with some of the community who were involved in the Petals of Hope experience in 1998. They listened to conversations from various people who responded to our public invitation, as they where involved at one aspect or another of the original project. This became a longitudinal study of the creative process and the impact on the community at such as critical and painful time.

As you will hear when you listen to the stories, some left flowers, cleared them away as part of their council job, took part as a child or young person in the workshops as part of the arts project through their school or as a member of the Carrickmore sewing group, while others received pictures as bereaved families. They acknowledged that many, for their own reasons, had decided that their involvement stays within those early days of 1998-99. This too, was fine. They  respected their silence but all continue to be invited to listen or read the collection of experiences.

One fundamental theme shines through both phases of this creative expression and may be the reason, if any, why this tactile process has worked.  In a simple play technique, we mixed mulch and pulp with delicate flowers, into basins of water, piece by piece, practicing the ritual of rhythmic movement. This allowed us to find feeling from our hands to our hearts, as our heads tried or maybe stopped trying to make sense for a while. 

By working alone or in small groups, in silence and humility, without questions, hope started to appear and like “a sea-change”, we were changed. The result has given a different sense of worth in this memorial.

To find the written, audio and digital stories please go to:

http://www.omaghpetals.blogspot.co.uk

Talk presented in October 2014 at the HOLYWELL - DiverseCity Community Partnership, Derry- Londonderry:

Examples of projects which were devised and delivered by Carole during her time as a Development Officer for the Workers’ Educational Association. These case studies are creative responses to Community Development and involve community groups in and around Belfast.

Both MOMA Belfast and Whispering Belfast ran as part of the Creative Legacies programmes set up by Belfast City Council and programme and was funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Peace III programme.

MOMA Belfast

Murals on Museum Activity, Belfast brought colour to the walls of the Ulster Museum and community centers across Belfast.
In October 2010, the Ulster Museum hosted a stunning exhibition called MOMA Belfast, which comprised of digital murals and creative collages illustrating future visions of the city from the perspectives of citizens from interface communities in Belfast. This group was made up from the three community centres across Belfast: Forthspring Inter- community Group, the Vine Centre, and Ballynefeigh Community Development Association and art partner support was carried out by the Ulster Museum.

Background to the project can be found here:

http://weabelfast.weebly.com

A short documentary describing the background to the MOMA Belfast project can be found below:

Visual presentation of the artwork can be seen here:

Whispering Belfast

The ‘Whispering Belfast’ project involved participants from the Vine Centre and Forthspring Intercommunity Group, Belfast. The drama aspect of this experience was delivered by Charmaine McBride.

They created puppets, whose characters have been uniquely shaped by past or present secret conversations. By using drama, story-gathering and visual art techniques, the demeanour and decoration of the puppets reflected how Belfast-life has also shaped the characters of the participants.

Three of the puppets in particular represented one of Belfast’s biggest issues and a poignant theme in the project– the peace walls. A puppet was created to represent the walls, with an anonymous white mask for a face and the body decorated in maps of the city and newspaper clippings about the walls. It was flanked on either side by a puppet of First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

Link to the background of the work:

An exhibition showcasing an audio narrative and collection of Belfast puppets, hushed voices and withdrawn attitudes, was on display in the Ulster Museum in August, 2013.

Both MOMA Belfast and Whispering Belfast ran as part of the Creative Legacies programmes set up by Belfast City Council and programme and was funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the Peace III programme.