Peter Neill
For the past number of years, I have been making Artwork under the heading of 'History Memory Myth'. My images have previously explored my understanding of the Great War and its place in Ireland's history, politics and subsequent partition. I have tried to respond to how that conflict has been remembered and commemorated and its place in Irish culture and society.
The 'troubles' in Ireland occurred during much of my life - they lasted from 1969 until the Good Friday Agreement on April 10, 1998. I have been making images in reaction to the futility and endlessness of political violence and conflict.
The pieces in the current RUA exhibition, 'Irish Philately' and 'Irish Numismatics' are each from a turbulent time in Ireland's history. I am interested in how the 'overprinting' and symbolic disfigurement of official emblems of state has been used in Ireland to make a poignant political statement.
'Irish Philately':
In 1922, with the establishment of the Irish state, British stamps were overprinted on two occasions, first to acknowledge the Provisional Government of Ireland (Rialtas Sealdac na h'Éireann) in February, and again in November to identify the creation of the Free State of Ireland (Saorstát Éireann) on 6 December 1922 when definitive Irish stamps were first issued.
'Irish Numismatics':
There had been mixed coinage between North and South until Ireland floated its own currency in 1979. During the troubles, Irish coins appeared in circulation which had been overstamped with loyalist paramilitary lettering or a strong political statement. The rawness and ferocity of the branding echoing the partisan feelings of the time