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1916:Home:2016 Project to open in NUI Galway October 7-8th & 27-28th

Friday, October 07, 2016

‘1916:Home:2016’ is a unique project that juxtaposes the centenary year of Easter Rising with the 20th anniversary of the closing of the Republic of Ireland’s last Magdalene Laundry through two academic conferences and an international programme of artistic events. The first conference takes place in the Moore Institute, NUI Galway, October 7 and 8.

Taking the Proclamation’s claim to ‘cherish all children of the nation equally’ as its starting point, ‘1916:Home:2016’ draws attention to the collision of these two anniversaries in order to interrogate the homes we have made, the homes we hid and the homes that we are yet to imagine and build for 2016 and beyond. Keynotes and confirmed performers at the event in Galway include Speaking of I.M.E.L.D.A. a direct action feminist performance group that challenges the ongoing problem of Ireland Making England the Legal Destination for Abortion, and Irish playwright, poet, novelist and artist, Patricia Burke Brogan. Catherine Connolly, TD for Galway West, will chair a question and answer session after the Speaking of I.M.E.L.D.A.
performance.

These conferences will interrogate the tension between the ideals of citizenship and inclusion underpinning the Proclamation of the Irish Republic and the events of Easter Rising, and the failure to realise them in practice in the States that resulted on the island of Ireland.

The Magdalene Laundries were only one set of institutions in a larger church and state-run network also including industrial and reformatory schools, Mother and Baby Homes and orphanages, which academic research and recent state inquiries, including the Ryan and McAleese Reports, have demonstrated intensified their operation post-independence. ‘1916: Home: 2016’ draws attention to this intensification and asks participants and audience members to interrogate what ‘home’ means now and for the future of the Irish nation?

“We will not only interrogate these ideas but consider the internationally located artistic projects that have been devised and staged in response to our initial call,” says Dr Miriam Haughton, Lecturer at the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, NUI Galway, one of the joint organisers of this event.

1916: Home: 2016 is designed to give a platform to the unknown heroes and the everyday battles that reflect the social experience in Ireland from the early twentieth century, as Dr Haughton explains, “We hope to facilitate space for reflection on key institutions within Irish society post-independence which contributed to the cultivation of Ireland’s highly institutionalized population, while considering the contexts of poverty, class, and gender politics that drove the formation of these histories. We hope to interrogate ‘Irishness’ in its many shades of grey, celebrating citizens that were sidelined to the shadows of national dialogue and consciousness.”

The second conference of the project takes place at University College, Dublin, October 27 and 28.

https://1916home2016.wordpress.com/

For more information contact:

Dr Miriam Haughton: miriam.haughton@nuigalway.ie

Phone: 086 469 3562 Website: https://1916home2016.wordpress.com/

Twitter: @1916_Home_2016

Conference Organisers:

Miriam Haughton & Charlotte McIvor (NUI Galway) Emilie Pine & Mary McAuliffe (UCD)

About the artist(s)

Speaking of I.M.E.L.D.A. (Speaking of Ireland Making England the Legal Destination for Abortion)

Speaking of I.M.E.L.D.A. is a direct action feminist performance group that challenges the ongoing problem of Ireland Making England the Legal Destination for Abortion. We challenge the restrictions placed on abortion services in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and campaign for access to safe, legal and free abortion services globally.

This performance presentation will be chaired by Catherine Connolly TD for Galway West

Youtube: Speaking of I.M.E.L.D.A.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW_F64htch9WiH5UzONwYQg Email:
speakingofimelda@gmail.com

Conference Keynotes include:

Mike Cronin (Boston College)

Marianne Hirsch (Columbia University)

Kathleen Gough (University of Vermont)

Cahal McLaughlin (Queen’s University, Belfast)

National University of Ireland, Galway (7-8 October 2016)

University College, Dublin (27-28 October 2016)

These conferences are supported through UCD’s 1916 Decade of Centenaries programme, the Irish Memory Studies Network at UCD, Women’s Studies at UCD, NUI Galway’s ‘A Nation Rising’ programme, NUI Galway’s Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance and NUI Galway’s Centre for Global Women’s Studies.

Starts: 7 October 2016
Ends: 28 October 2016