Subjectivity: New Work from the Belfast School of Art

Graduates and students from the Photography department of the Belfast School of Art present work that explores systems, beliefs and narratives of cohesion and fracture. Northern Ireland’s troubled history has cast a long shadow, leaving traces of latent threat hidden in streets, landscapes and memories. Aware that the dominant narratives often tell a different tale to that learnt through experience, the photographers here challenge the clichéd images of violence, presenting instead more subtle, personal explorations. Sensitivity characterises the work of the Belfast School of Art, whether in examining familiar landscapes and communities, the comfort of shared rituals and stories, the fracture of domestic violence or prospects affected by the economic crisis. With peace, what was buried unseen and unspoken can now begin to be acknowledged. The work presented here seeks to recognise the subjectivities that contribute to our understanding of the past and hopes for the future.