ARTIST Lise McGreevy whose last peace and reconciliation project won the praise of former first minister Arlene Foster and the late deputy first minister Martin McGuinness, is to stage her next documentary installation in Belfast.
Abandoned; Not Forgotten? is phase two of a three-part self-initiated art project to promote peace and reconciliation at home and abroad. Its first live performance will take place at The Engine Room Gallery on June 1.
The photographic artist has collaborated with local film producer Jim Johnston and graphic designer Paul Whittaker to create a film to be shown as part of the installation where stills of her artworks are used as static backdrops. She has also asked composer Marie Therese Davis-Hanson to create an original composition to reflect the ethos behind the project.
McGreevy, from Newtownabbey, used Donegal as inspiration for her latest collection, her lens focussing in particular on derelict cottages in rural areas of the county.
"I took Donegal as my muse, reflecting that it represented both the north and south of Ireland," she explained. "The isolation I felt backed up the abandoned and lifelessness portrayed by these forgotten homes and the barren landscape that engulfed them. I knew then that I had chosen the right subject to portray the emotional, historical and cultural unity of our isle and ask the question, has it been forgotten by our society today?"
Last March McGreevy presented a piece entitled New Dawn to Mrs Foster, and a work called Power Foundations to Mr McGuinness at the launch of her Belfast-themed exhibition, Psychedelic Hitchcock Belfast, at Parliament Buildings.
:: Abandoned; Not Forgotten? The Engine Room Gallery, Clarence Street, Belfast, from June 1. More at facebook.com/lisemcgreevyphotographic
