Annual Human Rights Conference

On Friday I attended NICEM's annual Human Rights Conference. Held in Belfast with speakers from the UK, Ireland and Switzerland, the conference focused on the relation between the European Convention of Human Rights and the Strasbourg Court.

The full programme and notes from the speakers' presentations can be accessed here. I particularly enjoyed the presentation by Gabrielle Toggenburg, programme manager at the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, on the Lisbon Treaty.

Plus it turns out you can get an app for the Charter of Fundamental Rights of The European Union. Check it out here: fra.europa.eu/charterapp

Exploring Engagement Seminar

I just attended one of Belfast City Council's free lunchtime Exploring Engagement seminars, organised by the Good Relations Unit. Held in the City Hall on the first Thursday of each month, this was the first of the seminars that I have attended.

The speaker was Madeleine Leonard, Professor of Sociology at Queen's University in Belfast who has been working on a recent project on teenagers' perceptions of Belfast, the peace walls, and the city as a divided or shared city. The talk was extremely informative, and I was interested to hear of the way in which teenagers viewed Belfast, and particularly their views on whether or not the peace walls should remain. For more information, I thoroughly suggest reading Bringing Down the Walls: Young People's Perspective of Peace Walls in Belfast, Leonard, M and McKnight, M (2011), International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 31, 9/10, 569-583.

Street Art

I recently went to see the Street Art exhibition at the Ulster Museum. An excellent exhibition consisting of works from local artists such as KVLR and international street artists like Banksy, it got me thinking of the role art, and street art, plays in depicting a city. I find street art and murals particularly interesting where they crossover with politics and public opinion. When they make a statement. Banksy does this extraordinarily well the world over, combining recognisable pop culture figures with the imagery of war to convey a powerful message with striking visual vocabulary. Napalm is the best example of this that comes to mind.

Belfast is of course well know for its political murals, and while there are still many murals depicting men in balaclavas toting guns, newer murals trend towards a celebration Northern Ireland's cultural and social history without portraying the violence. In comparison to the gritty murals, Belfast does of course have its fair share of commissioned art out on the street. Pieces such as the Beacon of Hope and the recent sculpture Rise emphasise the positive changes in Belfast following the Good Friday Agreement. These do not have the immediacy of street art nor represent the public opinion. Instead they speak of what Belfast hopes to become.

To me, street art and art on the street seem to hold very different purposes. Street art is the message of the person on the ground, simply showing others how they see things while art on the street reflects how political figures hope to influence the way others view the world.

Edited to add: Speaking of art, check this out.