FIELD NOTES FROM THE BORDER #1

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I had a little time to kill yesterday around the Eustace Street area, so I popped in to Meeting House Square to check out the Gallery of Photography's latest exhibition. It's theme is the border with Northern Ireland, and though it has three contributing artists I had only time to quickly check out that of Anthony Haughey who occupies the main space. This alone made the visit worthwhile.

I think this exhibition must be the least cluttered I've ever been at, and it is all the better for it. The sparseness adds an intensity to the exhibits, particularly appropriate with a subject as emotional as the Border and in the current circumstances of an attempted Brexit.

Still photos included this Burnt-Out Bar, Armagh which took a while to sink in.

And this broken bridge across a river.

The general impression was of a border which, despite its violent past, was steadily withering away.

But, even if you could no longer see it, it was there and in some cases had to be taken into account. For example, in this video, the cyclists from the Direct Provision Centre in Monaghan could roam free in the countryside but dare not cross the border.

As the soothing and envigorating scenery is silently penetrated by the cyclist, it is punctuated with an uneasy feeling of what may lie ahead.

I was only too happy to fill out the card shown at the top of this post.

Check out an Irish Times Review of the exhibition, which lasts until 7 April 2019. A further version #2 opens in Letterkenny today (29 March 2019).