Ulster Museum: Powerful portraits of people who lost loved ones in the Troubles to return
Artist Colin Davidson said painting these people changed his life
A powerful exhibition about people who experienced loss through the Troubles has returned to Belfast.
Silent Testimony shares the stories of 18 individuals from Belfast and beyond - all of whom are connected by their experience of loss in the many years of violence and conflict.
Since its debut at the Ulster Museum in 2015, the exhibition has toured Paris, Derry, Dublin, England, and was even presented to the United Nations in New York.
The 18 large-scale portraits were created by internationally-renowned artist Colin Davidson, who wanted to highlight the injustice for victims of the troubled past.
Colin told Belfast Live : “There was nothing in the Good Friday agreement for victims and survivors of the Troubles.
“As time went on, I sort of hoped that the issue of victims and survivors in the past would be sorted out, and it really has not been.
“In some ways, we have gone backwards on that front. Victims and survivors are paying the price for everyone else's peace. They are foregoing their need for answers, for justice, for a greater good.”
While the past remains significant in telling these stories, the artist wanted to ensure the exhibition stayed contemporary.
He said: “This exhibition isn’t really about the past, it’s actually about right now.”
Colin was introduced to the people in his portraits by Wave Trauma Centre, which provides support to anyone who has been affected or has lost loved ones in the Troubles.
The Co Down based artist spent around a year producing the portraits and meeting the people from a range of religious, political and cultural backgrounds.
“In some ways it changed my life,” Colin said, “It reinforced the passion I had in the years before that for this massive section of our community.
“It reinforced the fact that until we as a society acknowledge these many thousands of people who live in our midst, we really are going to struggle with the future in this place.”
Mo Norton was one of the 18 people who was painted by Colin for the exhibition.
She said being included in the exhibition some years ago was “cathartic” and that revisiting Silent Testimony is “an emotive experience”.
And while it may be six years since the exhibition was created, it is clear the work still has great significance now.
Colin said: “I suppose I felt in 2021, I wanted to give people who lived here the opportunity to see their stories again, to look into their eyes again, to see where they are now. And maybe to reflect on the last 100 years in the context of where we are right now.
“It’s always about here. Silent Testimony has its home here. It was born here, it’s about here.”
Silent Testimony is open now and will run until January 2022. Admission is free and you can book tickets here.
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