Never let it be said that I don't like sharing my space with others. The Editor said "Give our new Visual Arts Correspondent some space or you're out on your Arts" or words to that effect, so I was only too happy to oblige. So, for the first time, presenting our visual arts column, 'Sez Anne':

Sez Anne:
Visual Arts Correspondent Anne O'Front reviews the Wind-Driven Textile Installation currently on display throughout Northern Ireland

It was Hans Johst (and not Hermann Goering, as usually attributed) who came up with the phrase "When I hear anyone talk of culture, I reach for my revolver." How fantastic it is, then, to find somewhere that art is taken seriously, that colour is worshipped, and where people are totally unafraid to pin their artistic susceptibilities (and a few other things besides) to the wall in pursuit of true beauty. They must truly be a people in touch with their inner selves and their creative souls.

The people of Northern Ireland are really dedicated to colour and gaiety (I can use that noun without connotations of homosexuality can't I? - Anne) (Billy - Of course, so much for all those eejits who bemoan the loss of the adjective 'gay', they can still use the noun. No one has accused the 'Gaiety' theatre in Dublin of 'Gay'ness have they, it was the Gate in Edwards/MacLiammor days, and the Abbey in its peasant-production mode, which were typified as 'Sodom and Begorrah'). Everywhere, particularly in the summer when locals put extra effort into bedecking streets with sheaths of vibrant, living colour, there is a real sense of carnival and joie de vivre. They are truly a people dedicated to culture in its most joyous sense, the people of Northern Ireland ensure that there is hardly a lamp post or gable end which remains undecorated in this great depth of colourful extravaganza.

There is so much of it about that I have decided to restrict my review to the wind-driven textiles currently on display. It is fascinating that each year so much effort is put into renewing these textiles so the place appears at its best. What is also particularly fascinating is the way that some areas favour particular colour schemes, and even within areas favouring one particular colour scheme there can still be sub-texts in terms of choice of colour and design. And even though there are two great schools of thought in relation to colour scheme, the 'blue and red' and the 'orange and green', the common use of the colour white, the colour of peace, clearly shows the unity in diversity and the deep commitment to peace which fills the hearts of the people of Northern Ireland. What work and commitment there must be to put all these textiles on display! To think of the dedication of all those aesthetes with ladders.

The areas favouring blue and red colour schemes probably have a more vibrant choice of colour. One particular design, the neo-cubist division of a white rectangle into four squares by what is effectively a red cross, is spoiled somewhat by excess ornamentation with what appears to be a red glove in the centre (usually with something like a headdress above the glove). Perhaps this is really a highly sophisticated in-joke by the artist who is saying "Caught me red-handed destroying this neo-cubist design!". What a sense of fun and humour people have! The most common design this year is a complex motif of red and blue on a white background which, while departing from neo-cubist principles, retains something of that quality. Reminiscent of a starburst design, it is not strictly speaking symmetrical, those with an eye for detail will observe, as the diagonals do not 'join' across the centre; the whole comes across as an advanced design of overlapping crosses and triangles in red, white and blue. The prevalence of this particular design this year is notable and a bystander explained it to me as being something to do with some anniversary, maybe that of the extinct Jubilee maternity hospital in Belfast. I understand the same design is popular in Britain with some people.


Although retaining the 'blue and white' theme, but this time without any red, the 'starburst' motif is continued in a crypto-minimalist textile widely on display this year. This has two horizontal blue lines top and bottom on a white background, with a hexagonal pointed star made up of two overlapping triangles in the centre. It is hard to detect the influence here but would I be wrong at hazarding a guess of some Middle Eastern influence? This again shows the great cultural maturity of people that they are unafraid to show their cultural influences for all to see. Less on display this year, although still in evidence in the 'red and blue' areas, are other complex motifs featuring crests, lettering and horses (the Irish love horses). I will just pass comment on one of these which bears the lettering 'U', 'V' and 'F'. The balance and proportionality is the letters 'U' and 'V' is spoiled somewhat by the 'F' which leans to one side. But I was astounded to learn that while the people are clearly ecstatic about colour and textile displays, the authorities are sometimes somewhat less so, and that this particular motif is actually technically illegal (though clearly no effort is made to put the law into practice as these textiles still remain on display). Everywhere you get Philistines.


Departing from the normal colour scheme in the 'red and blue' areas, my favourite is a relatively rare super-minimalist orange rectangle with a mauve or mauve-purple star. While currently positioned in the centre, when I have previously seen the star in the mid-upper-left this is a superb piece of design with a great feel of richness and pageantry despite its simplicity (positioned in the centre it is over-symmetrical).


The 'orange and green' supporting areas, if I may call this artistic tendency so, favours a more clean cut, simple approach to colour and design, at least in their wind-driven textile displays (if not in their gable end masterpieces). Most in favour is equally sized vertical stripes of orange, white and green, moving from right to left. These are quite ubiquitous in such areas. While the simplicity of design is to be admired, their choice of colour is questionable, and I am afraid I have to ask the question, "DO orange and green really go together?". There is not a lot of evidence to show that they can be a harmonious part of a greater artistic reality.


Another textile widely on display this year in the 'orange and green' areas is horizontal stripes of green, white and black with a red triangle to the left. While continuing the 'green and white' colour choice, the combination of those with black and red makes for a unique design which, again, I would suggest evokes cultural influences from outside Northern Ireland. However that juxtaposition of a triangle and rectangles makes for a visual impression of conflict, turmoil and trouble, and you wonder about the personal trauma behind this design.


A rare but noticeable design in the 'orange and green' favouring areas is basically the same as the 'neo-cubist' design that I already commented upon in my survey of 'blue and red' areas. But instead of the background being white for the four squares divided by a red cross, in this case the background is yellow. This reminds me of nothing so much as the use of flags in Skone, the southern part of Sweden where they take the yellow cross of Sweden but, instead of the blue background on that country's flag they use the red background of Denmark, to show their historical and cultural heritage associated with the latter. Isn't it amazing how choices in such a textile display in neighbouring areas can evoke comparisons with national complexities regarding flags and emblems! Maybe Skone is where the Stone of Scone in Scotland came from (British Israelites please note). (Billy - That would be not so much a turnip for the books as a Swede!)


A final and relatively rare textile which I noticed continued the star theme so popular in all areas. This one was dark blue with stars arranged in a sort of saucepan shape. The fantasy colour combination is interesting because in reality you do not see stars against a blue sky but a black or night-time one. Somehow or other the stars, representing as they do the same infinite concept as grains of sand, reminded me of grains of rice, and that and the saucepan shape made me think of giving this textile the title 'The pilau and the stars', but maybe someone could cook up a better title for it.


I have very much enjoyed reviewing this display. Its ubiquity is truly amazing. If you want colourful houses, go to the Republic of Ireland. If you want colourful textile displays and such a rich and vibrant heritage and culture which is prepared to sacrifice so much for Art, indeed - speaking metaphorically of course - where people would kill for their art, Northern Ireland is your only choice.


May I say in closing that it is a pleasure to join the team on this newsheet (despite Billy King's bellyaching) and maybe next year I will review the Mobile Hand-Held Textiles which are paraded through the streets ten days or a fortnight into July each year.

- Anne O'Front.

War Persisters’ International
As the War Resisters' International Triennial conference meets in Dublin at the start of August (drop in for a day at DCU if you can't make it to the whole affair) I bring you exclusive news of another, similarly named, organisation, the War Persisters' international, which has rather opposite values. Just how many exclusives can this Colm bring you? (Ed - leave out the 'l', 'i' and 'v' from 'exclusives' and that's more like it!)

Anyway, the War Persisters International (WPI) has a pledge: "War is a necessity for humanity. I am therefore determined to support any kind of war backed by NATO, the USA or the UK, and to persistently strive to support the war effort in any such case."

But not only do we reveal to you the pledge of the WPI, we can also share the values which it espouses. These are as follows:

"1. War is necessary to maintain armies and state control; without a war for some number of years both of these look somewhat dodgy.

2. War, and the threat of war, is necessary to maintain the flow of natural resources to the West and the Northern hemisphere, and global inequality in general.

3. War is also essential as a means of population control. Without it and the ensuing starvation and medical emergencies, our planet risks being seriously overpopulated.

4. War and armies are essential in developing the EU as another superpower. While it may seem to many people that a more powerful EU will act as a counterweight to the hegemony of the USA, this is actually a sophisticated plan for NATO/USA/EU cooperation which will ensure that the rich countries maintain the resources that they need to keep them rich and others poor. There is no serious risk of the EU acting as a real counterweight to the policies of the leader of the Free World, the United States of America."

A further protocol to this summary of values, which looks like it has been added for the benefit of (the Republic of) Ireland goes as follows;

"4a. Above all, stealth and secrecy in the development of support for war policies is essential. The peace and neutrality-loving people of Ireland have been warning of the dangers of EU militarisation for so many years now that it is a case of crying 'wolf'', and they can be accused of scare-mongering.. Of course the reputation of the wolf is an appropriate one for the developing EU policies but the changes have been so slow to make that arriving at real military power for the EU is being hidden from them. It must continue to be hidden from them so that they continue to back the growing process of EU enlargement and militarisation."

So there you have it. Has Bertie joined the WPI? There certainly seem to be a lot of members about.

Starry starry night
Well, did you ever read such drivel in your life as Anne O'Front had the temerity to come out with above in her scratch her Arts column (Now, now, calm down - Ed). I ask you. What will we have next? Northern Ireland's sectarian customs being packaged up as quaint folk customs to bring in tourists? Leprechauns rioting? Who knows? But the starry eyed bit in Anne's piece reminded me of my favourite comic story of the Troubles. It's by Kevin McAleer and features on the first "So you think you're funny Irish" video from Irish Amnesty International which came out of a gala comedy evening in February 1997 (which is longer ago than you think, the gala was introduced by the late Dermot Morgan). Anyway, as Kevin McAleer tells the story, when he was young he used to wake up at night and go out for walks. One beautiful starry, frosty night, and this was Co Tyrone, he got up at 2 a.m. and went for a walk down a small country road and ended up leaning against a gatepost getting philosophical and thinking about the meaning of life: "Who am I? What am I doing here?", that sort of thing. And lo and behold, along comes a British army patrol and a young man his own age from the patrol comes over and asks him exactly those questions - "Who are you? What are you doing here?". Well, he was overjoyed to find a soulmate who was grappling with the same questions as himself. They continued talking and were joined by the rest of the patrol who were also very interested in him and wanted to know all about him, which he found very gratifying, and they were very concerned about his lack of identity. In fact they were so concerned about his lack of identity - he had said he didn't know who he was - they invited him back to their place . He was reluctant to take up their time but they were very insistent and practically dragged him to their truck. So he went off with them and he was delighted that they spent the whole night talking, it was fantastic he said.

Car carry-on (1): A Cavalier attitude
I don't always respond to the first e-mail/letter/phone call because there is too much on my desk and things can rapidly sink below visibility level. But after a couple of gentle reminders I certainly try to deal with the matter in hand. Officialdom is the same except that sometimes it needs a bit of embarrassing as well in the shape of publicity or whatever. Belfast gay activist PA MagLochlainn is evidently a man after my own heart, judging by a piece in the 'South Belfast News' of 8/6/02. The police showed no interest in removing an abandoned, untaxed Vauxhall Cavalier car on his street. So he declared it a piece of modern art, had his own wine and cheese party to launch it as the latest form of modern art....and invited along the local press. Thus he got a big photo and accompanying article. Like to bet it has now been removed? You can come up with your own wacky idea next time you meet an immoveable bureaucratic object.

Car carry-on (2); Being given it on a plate
Are there other European countries apart from the UK where you can buy 'cherished' (= vanity) number plates which represent something to do with you? OK it's common in the U States but in Europe most car registration systems, as the very sensible one in the Republic (year abbreviation, county or city abbreviation, and number), gives your car an identity for life and no transferring is possible. In Britain and Norn Iron you can, if your nickname is 'Baz' get a 'BAZ' registration to a) personalise your car b) show how important you are to have a personalised number plate and c) set you apart from the common crowd who don't. Some numbers fill in for letters, '1' for 'i', '9' for 'e' or whatever. So is this really a cult of personality run amok or just an attempt by the ordinary Joe or Joan Soap to make life a bit more personable? Given the prices paid for some plates my tendency would be to see it as the former, but the latter is I suppose possible. Though it does remind me of the time on a bus an English woman in her 60s was puzzled to see so many German cars driving around Dublin - she thought the 'D' for Dublin was D for Deutschland!

Anyhow, our objections to personalised number plates didn't run too deep, at least not so deep as to object to selling our registration number when a firm offered us œ200 if they sold it (which they did) (sold out on your principles again - Ed). So somewhere around the UK our 'KAZ' registration will be zooming any time soon representing someone's name or nickname (Kevin Alexander Zebedee?!). The œ200 was the same amount we were offered by the insurance company for our elderly car which had been written off at Easter - within an hour of a 'joy'rider (so named about Mountyjoy Prison, I'm only joking) stealing it from Belfast city centre it was wrapped at speed into a gable end in west Belfast . The police reckon the driver was injured but he had a 'support vehicle', probably another stolen car, with him and got into that and away. Dublin and Belfast could have a competition to see which was worse for car thievery. Though Dublin wins the competition for car congestion. 'Bring back the bike!' (as the man shouted after a bicycle thief).

But the strangest use of personalised number plates I have seen concerned a neighbour some few years back who was done (the second time) for selling, indeed exporting, illegal body building steroids (a couple of people in Norn Iron have died from such substances); for a second offence he was lucky to get off with a suspended sentence and a hefty fine and not a hefty time inside. Anyway, our neighbour had a large top of the range car in a very flashy colour. And a personalised number plate which spelt out his personal name. Now, if you were up to no good and didn't want to be caught doing illegal acts, would you drive around in a car which was immediately recognisable before you even saw the number plate, and one which with the number plate on it left you in no doubt as to who it was? If police had to follow him it must have been so easy. So if you're a villain up to no good and don't want to be caught, my advice is go for nondescript. Which is what most of the rest of us do automatically.

Hail (the weather) and farewell
Anyhow, that's me for this month, indeed for this two months, until the September issue comes on your screen (don't you mean 'scream'? - Ed). May the rain hold off for an hour or two between this and the start of September. Hope you get to the WRI Triennial or Ecotopia or wherever you want to get. I have quoted different bits of Christy Moore's 'Lisdoonvarna' a couple of times before in this Colm, and doubtless I will again. May you get a good break, "Everybody needs a break, climb a mountain or jump in a lake", and find yourself somewhere that you can say to yourself:

"This is heaven, this is hell

Who cares, who can tell

'Anyone for the last few choc ices now? ' ".

Yours working on his rain tan, 

Billy.