I Am Where I’m Not: Fading Orange Landscapes

Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation

Description

Taking inspiration from Foucault’s (1967) description of the mirror as one type of his conceptualisation of the heterotopia, my research explores Orange Halls across Ireland photographically. As an outward-facing marker of a Protestant culture – into which I was born, but to which I do not subscribe – my research explores identity and belonging through my subjective relationship with these halls, which number approximately 700 across Ireland. Orange Halls exist on a ‘spectrum of transition’ in a society defined as increasingly areligious by the realities of demographic and societal change. Providing a vital historical record of one cultural tradition in Ireland, they can appear variously fortress-like and impenetrable, vandalised and derelict, or quaint, well-tended and accessible. Many are even repurposed as shared community spaces, classrooms or weekday creches to ensure their survival. This visual paper will present an overview of my research and through image analysis, identify recurring visual strands which suggest a possible typology with which these halls might be read.
Period13 May 2022
Event titleFestival of PhD Research
Event typeConference
LocationBelfast Show on map
Degree of RecognitionLocal

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