Real Scars and Imaginary Healings: staging Derry-Londonderry in the Year of Culture.

Having been designated as the inaugural UK City of Culture for 2013, Derry-Londonderry staged a significant number of large-scale outdoor events over the course of that year. These events had multiple purposes and functions, including contributing to economic regeneration and re-imaging the city, repairing the damage of the decades of violent conflict in Northern Ireland generally and economic under-investment in the city in particular. Focusing on the use of the former military base at Ebrington as a cultural and performance venue, this paper explores the relationships between the different publics of its past and present. The re-developed site itself is materially marked by its various historical uses (palimpsests), while at the same time specific redevelopments have created gaps (scars) that silence this history. The argument is that the site hosted multiple performances that articulated conflicting discourses while at the same time making material an environment through which peace might be experienced.