Life beside Belfast’s notorious peace walls is among the secret and taboo subjects that have been brought to life in a unique puppet exhibition created by local community groups now on display at the Ulster Museum during August Craft Month.
Whispering Belfast was developed by the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) working mainly with members of Forthspring Community Group on the Springfield Road and The Vine on the Crumlin Road who used hand-crafted puppets to explore the notion of things that people rarely say out loud or even admit that they are thinking.
“They have created puppets, whose characters have been uniquely shaped by past or present secret conversations. By using drama, story-gathering and visual art techniques, the demeanor and decoration of the puppets reflect how Belfast life has also shaped the characters of the participants,” explained Carole Kane of WEA who has worked on the project since last February.
Three of the puppets in particular represent one of Belfast’s biggest issues – 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 is flanked on either side by a puppet of First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness. The puppets are hung from such a way so that the walls divide the two ministers.
A whispered sound track was recorded and the lines depict local community frustration: “We didn’t ask for these walls. They just arrived.”
The 15 puppets, which include a life sized “godfather” type figure who represents Human Trafficking, are displayed on the fifth floor of the museum with the audio soundtrack being played on a continuous loop. A video of the project is also underway and will soon be posted on the WEA website.
Alan Kane, Chief Executive of Craft NI, said: “This exhibition shows how craft can be used as a form of story telling. Most of the people involved in this project had little or no craft background but the WEA worked closely with them to bring out their stories and to make puppets to bring to life their thoughts on Belfast.”
Whispering Belfast was supported by Belfast City Council’s Creative Legacies II programme, part of the Belfast PEACE III Plan by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund through the PEACE III programme.
The exhibition runs until 27th August, for more information on Whispering Belfast go to www.wea-ni.com. To find out what’s on during August Craft Month go to www.craftni.org.
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