“Visual Geographies: Ways of Embodied Looking and Urban Representation”

“Visual Geographies: Ways of Embodied Looking and Urban Representation”

Representations of Trauma, Memories, & Identities: A Visual Negotiation for History, Territory, and Progress it Northern Irish Cities
-Alexis Buckley

This presentation considered violent conflict depicted through murals and the politics surrounding murals in Northern Ireland. Alexis spoke to the seeming disconnect between peace talks and positivity surrounding these relations in the media and broader discourse as opposed to on-the-ground conflict in Irish and British Ireland communities. There is a desire to talk about these issues, such as the painting over of paramilitary mural with “peace-devoted” murals, that is addressed somewhat in the murals.

The politics of these murals occur at two levels, the painting of murals and the removal of and painting over of murals, either sponsored by the government or through “paint bombing”. Whereas the original painting of murals speaks to issues surrounding violence and corruption that might be silenced in other ways, the painting over of murals is like a secondary silencing—the issues cannot be spoken in traditional ways, nor addressed through arts-making. “There are so many people who just want to be heard in this post-conflict conversation,” Alexis explained.

For example, the story of shared histories and conflict/violence is both addressed and given an opportunity to be spoken by the presence of these murals: “I know he [Ramond McCarthy] killed my cousin Walked right up and shot him on his front steps. (long pause- We used to play together as children. He was our friend.”

*Alexis wanted me to emphasize that these are individual opinions expressed, such as the view of McCarthy as a “murderer.”



The Politics of Homemaking: Black Women Transforming Politics in Newark, New Jersey
-Zenzele Isoke

Talking about the stories of Black women in Newark, New Jersey. How can we get beyond the rhetoric surrounding Newark--- a dystopic image of gentrification, deindustrialization, and chronic Black unemployment?

Zenzele created a portrait of Black feminist subjectivity, talking with folks from 20 to 70 years old in various locations and contexts. She came into contact with many of these women through gender justice and anti-violence organizations.

“Politics of homemaking” as a politics of resistance within the so-called private sphere. These women considered and developed what they meant by “identity,” rather than drawing upon traditional definitions. It is a politics of not forgetting and not looking away.

Three distinction of homemaking:
1) Politics of creating living history of resistance- Creating and participating in community resistance that consider Black history and engage in community activism.
2) Politics of reclamation- A politics of cultural and racial history–reclaiming Black cultural spaces in the city. Telling the story of Black local resistance. Reviving counter-narratives of Black activism.
3) Politics of selling in- Dedicating community and public life to the reclamation and uplifting of the city. Reveal and share these Black histories.

Zenzele told stories of women in the Central Ward, a predominantly Black district of Newark. These women talk about grappling with the histories of oppression difficulties surviving and educating, and engaging in community activism. In these stories, trauma is turned into action. Neo-slave narratives are transformed by these women into stories of empowering the Black woman in Newark through politics, reclamation, and public criticism.

In her research, Zenzele works to reconstruct Black women subjectivities through spacial geographies. The complexities of these women’s special stories were both therapeutic and disturbing, showing dire economic and social circumstances but also active spacial activism.


*Zenzele asks that feedback be sent to her.  I'm not posting her email here, but it should be pretty easy to find online :)