Let the walls say their peace - Yecid Ortega
The Peace Lines or Peace Walls are a series of separation barriers in Northern Ireland that separate predominantly Irish republican and nationalist Catholic neighbourhoods from predominantly British Loyalist and Unionist Protestant neighbourhoods. They have been built at urban interface areas in Belfast and elsewhere as symbols of history and identity that currently are in danger of extension due to sociopolitical tensions and citizens' concerns about uprising violence. The wall on Crumlin Road came down in 2016 but the risk of other walls coming down has been in people’s minds in the last few years, therefore culture, history and identity as pictured in the walls might be at risk of disappearing.
In this multimodal exhibition, we hope to demonstrate that the city is not an isolated and siloed space but a sentient living being in which histories, languages and cultures emerge, interweave and synergically live together bringing life to communities and providing spaces for learning and understanding about others. Ultimately, this exhibition will lead to the achievement of impact to motivate emerging researchers and practitioners to promote the importance of cultures and languages at the centre of pedagogical approaches to amplify the knowledges of diverse communities and celebrate their identities to foster a more welcoming society for all.