Across and In-Between, 2018
Created in collaboration with communities in Ireland from both sides of the border, almost 100 years since the partition of Ireland, Across and In–Between explores the profound impact the border has on the lives of people living there during a time of intense international focus around Brexit. The project now exists as an installation of photos, videos, writings and documentation of a performance spread across two actions.
Across and In-Between generated a response by over 300 border residents interrogating a line on a landscape with a collective, metaphorical act of 'drawing and erasing.' In five rural regions where the borderline between Northern Ireland and Ireland is indiscernable, residents engaged in playful construction of unique 'actions' expressing their various sentiments and hopes for the future of their region. The actions were filmed, resulting in a three–screen film projection made with farmers, horse–owners, scouts, hikers and villagers from communities across Fermanagh, Donegal, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan. The actions that took place over the summer were filmed, and the The Yellow Line became a three screen projection and a documentary film.
These video works were projected upon and staged at Ulster Museum in Belfast from 16th to 23rd October, 2018. On 20th October, at the height of the Brexit crisis, 150 people from the border filming arrived at Northern Ireland's Parliament Buildings, Stormont, for a participatory performance. As co-creators of The Border People's Parliament, guests were part of a carefully staged event, their opinions recorded in Parliamentary committee rooms and their photographic portraits captured. Over dinner they participated in drafting The Yellow Manifesto - A True Account of a Border and its People launched on the Today programme, BBC Radio 4, 22nd October, 2018.
Across and In-Between is a creative collaboration between Suzanne Lacy and Cian Smyth with Helen Sharp, Garrett Carr, Eva Grosman, Helen Sharp, Helen Sloan, Pedro Rebelo, Mark Thomas and Soap, Inc.
The project was co-commissioned for 14-18 NOW and the Belfast International Arts Festival and co-created with participating communities in Pettigo, Tullyhommon, Cuilcagh Mountain, Castle Saunderson, Magheraveely and Newtownbutler.
A museum installation will premier at the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester in Spring 2021.