In 1921, the partition of Ireland resulted in its division into Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State. While the Irish Free State became an autonomous nation state, Northern Ireland remained (and still remains) a constituent domain of the United Kingdom. In 1947, India’s independence movement culminated in its division into India, Pakistan, and (later) Bangladesh. Thus, Ireland and India share similar histories of both British colonial rule and partition. Yet they experienced these events uniquely, encountering a range of “troubles”* that still impact the lives of people today.
With this backstory in mind, The “Troubles” of Partition is a digital art exhibition designed by undergraduate students at Georgia Institute of Technology. It features a range of collaboratively-created artwork on themes related to these regions’ tumultuous partitions. This artwork is paired with original Artist Statements, essays that explore how each installation conveys a particular vantage point of partition. Inspired by works of fiction, nonfiction, and scholarly sources, these statements offer keen insights both into the artists’ motivations and into the history and visual representation of partition itself.
This project is directed by Dr. Julie McCormick Weng and first debuted as a live event attended by Georgia Tech faculty in the Stephen C. Hall building on April 5, 2017.
*The “Troubles” is the common term used to refer to the post-partition conflict in Northern Ireland.
