An original musical score was produced for the film by Brian Byrne. The Silent Testimony exhibition was developed in partnership with WAVE Trauma Centre and the Ulster Museum, and portrays 18 individuals who suffered loss as the result of the conflict and was the most viewed exhibition in history of Ulster Museum. The film has been shown internationally (most recently at an LA festival), and the exhibition travels as well (most recently to the UN). The recent WAVE photography exhibition will also be considered alongside Davidson’s paintings. Organisers / Practitioners: Brendan J Byrne (filmmaker); Brian Byrne (composer); Colin Davidson (painter); WAVE Trauma Centre; Ulster Museum; QFT. Funders (not exhaustive): Film - Arts Council, NI Screen; Exhibition funding primarily via WAVE, Ulster Museum. Theme: Victims and survivors. AfR Methodology: Professional artist led.
A cinematic tribute to those who suffered loss as a result of the Northern Irish conflict (1968-1998, timed to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement that brought violence to an end, and based on artist Colin Davidson’s elegiac exhibition of paintings, Silent Testimony. When Davidson began working on his signature portraits, he became increasingly preoccupied with his sitters' status as human beings, and each of the portrait sitters are linked by profound loss, with their own unique story to tell. Their common humanity is captured in the understated expression each of them shares.
The documentary breathes cinematic life into the stories of the people featured in Silent Testimony and is centred around a special hanging of the exhibition in a former ironworks building in Belfast City Centre, Riddel’s Warehouse.
Further Information
- Culture Northern Ireland Review [WaybackMachine]
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