Belfast’s Queer + Feminist Arts Activism: Gender/Sexuality and Conflict Legacies

• In Event: Poster Session: Gender and Comparative and International Politics & International Relations Theory
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Gender and Comparative and International Politics

Abstract

2023 marked the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. These past 25 years have been years of turbulent change in Northern Ireland. This is especially true for women and queer Northern Irish people, for whom the last decade in particular has been a period of rapid change. Prior to 2019 – Northern Ireland’s laws regarding marriage equality and abortion were some of the most conservative in Western Europe, but were both legalized in quick succession in December of 2019 and January of 2020. This paper will focus on the activism of feminist and queer artists and arts-based activist organizations in Belfast. Northern Ireland has a long history of arts-based activism and resistance, and as such, the study of arts-related activism regarding gender and sexuality in Northern Ireland offers important insight to rapidly shifting norms and laws. This paper will ask: how are feminist and queer artists using art as a form of resistance and activism in post-conflict Northern Ireland? Campaigns by art collective Array Studios suggests the peace process maintained the injustice of British occupation and links the partition of Ireland with contemporary attacks on healthcare, women’s reproductive rights, and marriage equality by the conservative (Unionist) party, and feminist photographers have produced exhibitions honoring the incredible work of women activists – particularly women who were prominent figures in the 1998 peace process who have been leveraging that status to advance women’s equality in Northern Ireland. Interviews with feminist and queer artists, arts-based activism organizations and curators along with participant observation of these individuals and groups as they set up exhibitions and galleries for Belfast Pride reveal continuing contestation over peace and justice in post-Belfast Agreement Northern Ireland.

Author

• Alex Jenson, UC Irvine