This article has been subjected to double blind peer review

This article has been published in: Ocula 28, Public Art and Urban Spaces

author: Gabriella Rava (Charles University, Faculty of Humanities, Prague, CZ)

Public Art in Belfast. Between re-imagination and urban amnesia

language: italian

abstract: On the basis of some recent studies that, from an interdisciplinary perspective, have focused in particular on the socio-political dimension of public art, this paper aims at analyzing the controversial use of public artworks in post-conflict Northern Ireland. Sculptures such as RISE and Beacon of Hope, located in the capital city Belfast, are part of a wider project aimed at “reimagining” the sense of place according to globalizing dynamics (Hocking 2015) which are alien to the (often conflictual) memories inscribed in the territory. When such artworks do not favor an actual “amnesia” (Crinson 2005), they reveal the fundamental inability to establish meaning relationships (Zingale 2017) with the space in which they arise and the local communities they claim to represent. And yet, public art can only manifest its political and social value when adopting an approach able to bring out the set of relationships that connect the artwork to the place and its memories.

citation information: Gabriella Rava, Arte pubblica a Belfast. Tra re-immaginazione e amnesia urbana, "Ocula", vol.24, n.28, pp.252-270, December 2023. DOI: 10.57576/ocula2023-22

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