Galeria Centrala pl. Ratajskiego 6a, Poznań śr – pt 15-19 oraz sb* 12-16 Night of Museums 20.05, 17-23.30
Mariusz Śmiejek’s NOT SURRENDERING exhibition is a visual story about loyalists’ struggle for their own identity in post-conflict Northern Ireland. The author introduces us to the everyday life of the British working class and members of its illegal paramilitary groups, until recently regarded as terrorist organizations that arouse respect, spread fear and control the province. It is a story about the space in which the project’s protagonists live and about the specificity of the “cage architecture” designed to separate the British from the Irish – the psychological state of being under siege in the working-class districts of Northern Ireland. The story also illustrates the atmosphere of hopelessness accompanying successive generations trapped morally and mentally in unresolved traumas of the past from which they fail to free themselves. The aim of the exhibition is to present knowledge about the processes of integration of post-conflict societies, which differ from each other for territorial, national and religious reasons. April 2023 marked the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Young loyalist at the UDA part of The Village district in Belfast.The Village, South Belfast, is partly subjected to the regeneration scheme. Some people already moved out, but some are still waiting for a relocation sponsored by Housing Executive. They might wait for years. Belfast 2011.One of the young loyalist jumps off from the shelter at the bonfire field.First layers of pallets at the Conway street bonfire. The most engaged constructors often spent a t least several hours daily on site; sometimes they start mustering up materials as early as January: wooden pallets, furniture or anything which can be set afire. Everything is gathered not far from the target site on which the towers will arise. Some of the bonfire structures contain quite a few tires, annually triggering stormy discussions in the local media about environmental protection; this, in turn, becomes a major argument against the British community of Northern Ireland. Year after year, step by step, community workers and NGO’s work with local residents to remove tires from bonfires.
Across the whole of Northern Ireland a few hundred structures come into existence each year, built in the British working-class neighbourhoods to commemorate an English victory over the Irish in the 1690 Battle of the Boyne. Belfast 2018The 1st of July parade on the occasion of the Battle of the Somme. One of the dozens of Loyalist bands marching in the streets of East Belfast, in the background a controversial mural representing the UVF paramilitary organization with the red violet flag of its 1912 forces flying just to the left.Car in fire at the republican dissidents Markets district in the city centre. Republican dissidents hijack cars around the town to train their members or for kneecapping (used as a punishment shootings for anti-social behaviour)Although the conflict between Irish and British in Northern Ireland officially ended in 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement, after 23 years of peace process – echoes back recurrently and significantly to this day. Even if the conflict’s amplitude has significantly weakened, deep hate divides most parts of the province. According to the Independent Reporting Commission report there are 12.500 existing British, illegal paramilitary members, formed during the conflict with the express intention of fighting the IRA. Those groups are still active and control most of the areas. Third generation from working class districts, still have big problem with unemployment, and since The Troubles the number of people who commit suicide in last two decades, is larger than people who been killed during the conflict. It clearly shows that the United Kingdom doesn’t know how to fix it. From 2007 to 2013, the EU spent € 2.4 billion on peace projects in the region and set community-building initiatives for 2014-20 (up to € 229 million) on projects aimed at integrating Protestants and Catholics.
After Brexit day, 31st January 2020 the United Kingdom is no longer a member of the European Union with an economic border at the Irish sea, which indicates that Ulster in the future will be part of Ireland.
The majority of loyalists are against Irish unity, and British paramilitaries called Boris Johnson’s deal with the EU a “Betrayal act”. Whatever the longer-term implications, Brexit with the sea border will create an immediate crisis for the peace process. Picture description: Tourists come to Belfast and from the distance of double-deckers watch the reality of divisions in the city. This is the longest “peace wall” in Belfast, dividing Catholics from Protestants. Belfast 2010Young loyalist at the UDA part of The Village district in Belfast.Only a seweral pro-Brexit members of the public gathered at the front gates of Stormont Parliament Buildings for a ‘Brexit Celebration’ event at 11pm. In referendum, England and Wales voted to leave but London, Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to stay. As a result the overwhelmingly majority of Irish nationalists voted to remain in the EU while Ulster loyalists voted to leave. Most of the loyalists and british illegal paramilitaries called the Boris Johnson deal with EU, with border at the Irish sea as “Betrayal act”.
Mariusz Śmiejek – an independent documentary photographer, dealing mainly with long-term social topics, e.g. everyday life in post-conflict Northern Ireland (2010-2020) and the causes and effects of migration from West Africa to Europe (2017-2022). Winner of many prestigious awards and distinctions in Poland and abroad, e.g. National Geographic magazine (2011, 2012, 2015) Grand Press Photo (2017, 2018), IPA in the USA and Sony World Photo Award. Author of many individual and collective exhibitions in the United States, Great Britain, Italy, Hong Kong, Ghana and Poland. He teaches photography in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Ghana. His photos have appeared in in: The New York Times, National Geographic, Time, Der Spiegel, The British Journal of Photography, FotoEvidence and many others. He has collaborated with from Deutsche Press Agentur and Visum Images – www.mariuszsmiejek.com
Organization of the exhibition: Centrala Gallery, Fotspot, Mariusz Śmiejek
Exhibition patronage: FOTOGRAFIA Quarterly, Wide Kadr, Fotopolis.pl, National Geographic, Traveler, FotoCamp, Foto-tapeta.org.pl, Kontynenty, IKS Monthly, NN6T, ZPAF, UAP, Estrada Poznańska, City of Poznań
